The home fans showed up to Monday Night Football at Seattle Stadium willing to believe their team had what it would take to advance to the quarterfinals.
Instead, it looked like they never had a chance.
Charles De Ketelaere put a quick end to the excitement building in and outside of the stadium with the first goal in the ninth minute – the second-earliest goal ever conceded in a knockout match on soccer’s biggest stage.
De Ketelaere would add another goal and assist to become the first Belgian player on record to be directly involved in three goals in a single tournament match.
While Malik Tillman’s free-kick goal gave the USA life, an error by goalkeeper Matt Freese in the second half led to Belgium taking a 3-1 lead on a goal by Hans Vanaken that stands as the second-furthest goal of this tournament in terms of distance.
Belgium went on to win the match 4-1 in regulation.
The USA would finish with its fewest shots and goals in any match of the tournament, including zero shots from star striker Folarin Balogun.
All three host nations exited in the Round of 16.
All three host nations conceded three or more goals.
Meanwhile, Spain sent Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal home with a 1-0 win in a game that featured far more scoring chances than the final score would indicate.
While Ronaldo led Portugal in shots and expected goals, Spain kept its fifth consecutive clean sheet to begin the tournament, joining Italy (1990) as the only countries to ever open the tournament with five straight shutouts.
Spain’s odds to lift the trophy were cut from +550 to +360 as the second choice behind France (+175).
Next up, they’ll be a heavy favourite to advance in their quarterfinal versus Belgium, which remains a +3000 longshot to lift the trophy at FanDuel.
Turning the page this morning, the focus shifts to the final two Round of 16 matches.
First up, Argentina is a massive favourite versus Egypt.
Later, Colombia will face Switzerland, with the winner expected to play Argentina in the quarterfinals.
My FanDuel Best Bets went 1-1 in Monday’s column, with a bet on Both Teams To Score cashing in the late game.
Let’s see if I can bounce back with a couple of winners in this Morning Coffee for Tuesday July 7th, 2026.
Will We See More Messi Magic For Argentina Versus Egypt In Round Of 16?
As we counted down to the biggest tournament of the summer, I took every opportunity to remind readers what made this event so different than anything else on the sports betting calendar.
Unlike other sports, every chance they get on soccer’s biggest stage is a once in a lifetime opportunity to redefine their legacies forever with the entire world watching them.
So, if you were expecting anything other than the very best to rise to the occasion, I’m not sure what to tell you.
Just don’t say that I didn’t warn you.
At 39-years-old, Lionel Messi is taking advantage of the opportunity to chase down another trophy with Argentina and potentially lead the tournament in goals.
Messi has scored a goal in a record eight straight tournament appearances.
He’s riding a five-game tournament knockout stage goal scoring streak dating back to Argentina’s run in 2022.
Today, Messi can become the first player ever to score a goal in six consecutive knockout stage matches.
He’s already the first to hit 20 career tournament goals.
After scoring in all four of Argentina’s matches so far, is there any reason to expect anything different versus Egypt this afternoon?
Messi anytime goal is now -145 at FanDuel.
Messi to score the first goal is +210.
Messi to score 2 or more is +370.
Finally, Messi to score or assist is -280, which makes sense when you consider his 12 career goal contributions in tournament knockout stage matches, which is tied with Kylian Mbappe for the most over the last 60 years.
Unfortunately for Messi, Mbappe and France appear up to the challenge after falling just short in 2022.
France is the favourite to lift the trophy at +175.
Mbappe is the favourite to lead the tournament in goals at +100 at FanDuel this morning.
France and Argentina are on a collision course to meet in a rematch of the 2022 Final.
While Messi and Mbappe go head-to-head in battle to be the tournament’s leading goal scorer, it’s created a unique opportunity for us to cash some massive tickets over the past few weeks at FanDuel.
Can the best in the world possibly run it back again?
Mbappe scored the lone goal for France via penalty in a 1-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday.
Mbappe to score the first goal versus Morocco in the quarterfinals is +280 at FanDuel this morning.
A parlay with Messi to score the first goal today and Mbappe to score the first goal on Thursday pays +1078.
A parlay with Messi and Mbappe to score an anytime goal in their next matches pays +222 at FanDuel.
Eventually, one of the greats will slow down, right?
In the meantime, I’ll continue to roll the dice on Messi and Mbappe as they attempt to lead their respective countries back to the final, including today with Messi anytime goal -145 and first goal at +210.
As for my FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll parlay Argentina and Colombia to advance to the next round at -125.
Argentina has been a force and while they were frustrated by Cabo Verde, I believe that will help them moving forward against Egypt this afternoon.
Meanwhile, Colombia has been an intriguing sleeper team to watch, keeping a clean sheet in each of their last three matches while marching on to the Round of 16.
Switzerland has managed to come this far on the strength of wins over Canada and Algeria, but they conceded goals in all three group stage matches including their opener versus Qatar, and this will be the toughest test they have faced so far.
I’ll play the two favourites to advance as my best bet.
Hopefully, soccer’s biggest stars can continue to shine.
Have a great day, everyone!
