The United States men’s national team will be going dark mode in its World Cup round of 16 match against Belgium.
The U.S. will don its dark blue “Stars” kit for the second time at this tournament when it takes on Belgium on Monday at Seattle with a quarterfinals spot on the line.
The USA in its secondary dark blue uniform. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
The team is 0-1 so far when it wears the kit, having lost 3-2 on a last-second goal to Türkiye in the group stage finale. It has gone 3-0 when it wore the red-and-white “Stripes” jersey at the tournament with wins over Paraguay, Australia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The USMNT wore dark blue shorts against Australia, having won white shorts in those other games.
The decision to wear the dark blue kit against Belgium will help alleviate a contrast issue that occurred when both teams played a March friendly in Atlanta in which the USA donned the “Stripes” look while Belgium used a pink-and-light-blue look that was inspired by Belgian artist René Magritte and the country’s surrealist art movement.
The USA-Belgium uniform matchup caused some confusion in March. (Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
