U.S. and Belgium have brief history at World Cup
The last time the No. 13 U.S. and No. 11 Belgium played in the World Cup, they sailed there.
Yes, sailed. The teams embarked on ocean steamer voyages to make it to the first-ever World Cup in 1930, hosted by Uruguay.
Except the tournament wasn’t so much hosted by Uruguay, at least not in the modern understanding of having a country host the World Cup. All of the games took place in one city, Montevideo. Compare that to this year’s World Cup, which Brazil has put on in 12 cities.
But on July 13, 1930, the U.S. defeated Belgium, 3-0, in the second World Cup match in history, watched by 18,346 fans.
Bart McGhee, Tom Florie and Bert Patenaude scored for the U.S. Remember those names in case you ever find yourself playing obscure soccer trivia, a real possibility if the U.S. advances further.
Most recently, the two teams met May 29, 2013, in Cleveland for an international friendly. Belgium picked apart the U.S. defense while cruising to a 4-2 victory.
These names might sound more familiar: Geoff Cameron (22’) and Clint Dempsey (80’) scored for the U.S. For Belgium, Christian Benteke (56’, 71’), Marouane Fellaini (64’) and Kevin Mirallas (6’) found the net.
The U.S. played Belgium to a first-half, 1-1 tie, but Belgium took the lead on Benteke’s wide-open, 56th minute goal after a turnover by Brad Davis and a clearance failure by Omar Gonzalez. Belgium kept pressing, scoring two more second-half goals.
The good news for the U.S.: Belgium scored three of its four goals in the second half after reserve goalkeeper Brad Guzan took over for Tim Howard. The U.S. will have the veteran Howard in the net for Tuesday’s game.
Howard allowed only Mirallas’ goal after blocking an initial shot from Romelu Lukaku. With Howard scrambling to stand up and the U.S. defense rushing to get into position, Benteke lofted the ball over Howard.
The bad news: Belgium essentially fielded their World Cup roster against the U.S. in Cleveland. They’re still fast. They’re still aggressive. All of their goals so far have come late in games and tend to be scored by subs, meaning Belgium packs depth.
But a World Cup knockout round matchup is no friendly.
Eighty-four years later, the U.S. and Belgium write the second chapter of their history playing head-to-head at the World Cup. They didn’t travel to Brazil by ship, but the U.S. and Belgium meet in the round of 16 Tuesday at 1 p.m. PDT in Salvador, Brazil.
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