{"id":747221,"date":"2026-07-06T21:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/747221\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T21:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:40:12","slug":"usas-passing-triangles-could-be-the-key-to-beating-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/747221\/","title":{"rendered":"USA&#8217;s Passing Triangles Could Be the Key to Beating Belgium"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A win Monday night would send the United States to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. Standing in the way: ninth-ranked Belgium, a step up from the 17th-ranked Americans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the data gives the U.S. a real case for advancing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wide passing triangles have powered the American attack throughout the tournament. Three players link up in a triangle shape to move the ball forward \u2014 but the real engine is movement, not just passing. Every pass triggers a run, dragging defenders out of position and creating open space for teammates elsewhere on the pitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The graphic below traces the U.S. passing triangles from its first four games. The attack typically starts with Tyler Adams, Tim Ream, and Chris Richards trading passes before pushing up the flanks \u2014 Antonee Robinson, Christian Pulisic, and Malik Tillman on the left; Weston McKennie, Sergino Dest, and Alex Freeman on the right \u2014 all working to set up finishers for scoring chances.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ngn-media-305646\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"1100\" width=\"634\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/us_network_triangles_combined.png\" alt=\"Passing network diagram for the U.S. men's national team across four 2026 World Cup matches, showing average player positions grouped into defensive, midfield and wing clusters. The thickest connections run through the back line, especially between Ream and Richards, with lighter, more dispersed links connecting midfielders and wingers. Text below the graphic notes 291 passes per game and 101 passing combinations.\" class=\"wp-image-305646\"  \/>The graphic above traces the U.S. passing triangles from its first four games. Courtesy of NetSI Sport research group<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That triangle-based approach could be especially potent against Belgium, whose defense leans on a somewhat haphazard man-marking scheme, with defenders shadowing opponents closely to cut off the ball. Belgium ranks eighth in the tournament for \u201cchasing,\u201d or man-marking intensity. The encouraging sign for the U.S.: every team that chased more than Belgium is already out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Man-marking can smother build-up play and choke off playmakers \u2014 but the U.S. has shown an ability to make sharp, quick passes to evade pressure, and a knack for winning the ball back in midfield the moment possession slips away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defensively, the U.S. faces a different challenge: Belgium\u2019s attack. No remaining team fires more shots per game than Belgium\u2019s tournament-high average of 23. However, many of those shots aren\u2019t especially dangerous. Belgium\u2019s average xG per shot, 0.075, ranks second-lowest among the teams left standing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One player to watch is midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. Ten of his 18 shots have come outside the box, including his one goal.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ngn-media-305647\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"1100\" width=\"709\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/shot_map_kevindebruyne.png\" alt=\"Two-panel breakdown of Kevin De Bruyne's shooting across four 2026 World Cup matches. The top panel plots shot locations on the pitch, clustered mostly inside and around the penalty area with lines showing trajectory toward goal. The bottom panel shows a goal-mouth view of shots on target, with most attempts landing wide of the frame and one goal scored low in the corner. Text below reports 1 goal from 18 shots, a 5.6% conversion rate and 0.054 xG per shot.\" class=\"wp-image-305647\"  \/>The graphic above shows Belgium\u2019s Kevin De Bruyne\u2019s shot map through the first four games. He\u2019s taken 10 of his 18 shots outside the box, scoring one goal. Courtesy of NetSI Sport research group<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Data analysis provided by Brennan Klein, director for Northeastern University\u2019s NetSI Sport research group.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A win Monday night would send the United States to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24,84938,153412],"class_list":["post-747221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-world-cup","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}