Lumen Field—sorry, “Seattle Stadium” as we shall call it for a few more days—is home to the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, and it will be the setting for one of the biggest World Cup matches the United States men have ever played.
Despite a very controversial and harsh-looking red card on star striker Folarin Balogun, the Americans not only hung on with a man disadvantage against Bosnia and Herzegovina, they extended their 1-0 lead (provided by Balogun) with a Malik Tillman free kick that sent
Levi’s Stadium Lumen Field South San Francisco Bay Area stadium into a frenzy.
The USA’s 2-0 win over the heavy underdog Bosnians is the first World Cup knockout stage win for the US men since 2002, which is also the last time they reached the quarterfinals. Their best ever finish at a World Cup was the inaugural edition in 1930, back when there were only 13 teams and not 48.
Up next for the Americans are Belgium, who extraordinarily and improbably rallied from 2-0 down against Senegal to win 3-2 in extra time (in Seattle, no less!) just hours before the USA game. Belgium are not nearly as strong as they were when they eliminated the US in the 2014 World Cup and finished third in 2018, but they’re still the best side the Americans have faced all tournament. The Balogun red card also means he will be suspended for the next match, which is a huge blow given he’s the team’s leading scorer.
USA vs. Belgium will be the final match in Seattle for the tournament, and the atmosphere should be buzzing even more than it did when the Americans beat Australia 2-0 in the group stage. Seattle Stadium was filled to capacity and there was plenty of Seahawks royalty in attendance. There will surely be a heavy Seahawks presence and almost certainly a considerable presence of Seahawks fans who will flip their 12 flag for the American flag on Monday, July 6.
As an aside, the US have played all of their matches exclusively in NFC West stadiums, and a quarterfinal game would be in Inglewood, home of the Los Angeles Rams and site of next year’s Seahawks Super Bowl victory.
