Photo by Henry Rodenburg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

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The United States' hopes for a deep World Cup run at home ended when Charles De Ketelaere scored twice and assisted on another goal, helping Belgium expose the Americans' defensive liabilities in a 4-1 win Monday night that earned a quarterfinal berth.

While the U.S. was boosted by the presence of star forward Folarin Balogun, whose one-game red-card suspension was controversially lifted by FIFA, American defenders were at fault in a pair of first-half goals and goalkeeper Matt Freese's gaffe gave the Red Devils a third early in the second half.

Second-half substitute Romelu Lukaku added Belgium's final goal in the third minute of stoppage time.

Seeking its first World Cup title, Belgium knocked the U.S. out in the round of 16 for the second time in 12 years and extended its unbeaten streak to 18 games. The Red Devils play 2010 champion Spain on Friday at Inglewood, California, for a semifinal berth against France or Morocco.

Malik Tillman tied the score 1-1 midway through the first half with his second free kick goal of the tournament, but the Americans conceded just 61 seconds after the ensuing kickoff. U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino showed his frustration by kicking a rack in front of the bench, sending four water bottles flying.

American star Christian Pulisic could only watch from the bench after injuring his right foot when he hit a boot of Belgium captain Youri Tielemans on a 52nd-minute shot attempt. Pulisic favored his foot after that and was replaced seven minutes later.

After winning three games in a World Cup for the first time in this expanded 48-nation tournament, the U.S. failed in its quest to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002 and lost to Belgium for the seventh straight time since a victory at the initial tournament in 1930. The Americans have dropped 11 of their last 12 games against European opponents, winning only their round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

A heralded generation led by Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams only partially accomplished their goal of lifting soccer's stature closer to that of the NFL, MLB and the NBA.

De Ketelaere put Belgium ahead in the eighth minute, the first time in this year's World Cup the U.S. conceded first.

Tillman's goal in the 31st minute energized a largely red-white-and-blue crowd of 66,925 at Lumen Field, but De Ketelaere damped that and assisted on Hans Vanaken's 57th-minute goal after Freese lost control of the ball in front of his net.

Belgium, which left stars Jérémy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne on the bench, pressed from the start and exposed a defense that was regarded as the Americans' weak spot.

Dodi Lukébakio made a long diagonal pass to the opposite corner, leading to the opening goal. Leandro Troussard controlled the ball and his cross was blocked by Alex Freeman and popped into the air.

Freeman headed the ball into the penalty area and Timothy Castagne charged after it and hooked a centering pass around Chris Richards. De Ketelaere split Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson and with his right foot redirected the ball into an open net.

Tillman scored after Brandon Mechele knocked down Balogun about 25 yards from goal. Tillman's kick deflected off Vanaken's head and deflected to the left of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who had dived right.

Their task got more difficult in the 57th minute when Belgium made the most of an unforced error.

U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese came way off his line to meet a long ball but his attempted kick only found the turf, with the ball instead ending up in the possession of Hans Vanaken, whose shot beat defender Tim Ream and gave Belgium some breathing room.

The U.S. were desperate to claw one back, and substitute Sebastian Berhalter almost did just that with a shot from deep which just barely whizzed past the left post.

His attempt generated some much-needed momentum for the U.S., who spent most of the final stages of the match camped in their attacking third but could not find the back of the net.

A Romelu Lukaku goal in added time was ultimately the dagger in the heart for the U.S., with Belgium progressing to a quarterfinal clash with Spain.

Information from the Associated Press and PA were used in this report.