With World Cup hopes alive in Seattle, Belgian fans raise a glass to the city
A foamy beer. A bag of frites. Devil horns. Even a smurf's bonnet.
The headwear of the Belgians assembled at Seattle's Victory Hall on Wednesday featured many tongue-in-cheek odes to the country of less than 12 million people, which reached the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup in the Emerald City this week.
Stunning Senegal Wednesday with a late comeback to win 3-2, the Belgian national team will return to Seattle Stadium on Monday evening for another knockout game. They'll play the United States, with a trip to the quarterfinals on the line.
With Belgian fans flooding Pioneer Square Wednesday morning for the match against Senegal, Jean-Marc Rary took the cake for the most intricate - and perhaps apropos - hat. He was sporting a construction helmet painted in the country's colors of black, yellow and red that was Jerry-rigged with a double-beer-drinking-system and topped with a flashing light.
Rary, who came all the way to North America from near Charleroi, Belgium, to stay for the entire tournament, said his cousin had conceptualized this hat because Belgians "love to party." He plans to stay in the U.S. as long as the Belgians stay in the tournament.
"If the Belgians play the finals, we stay until the finals," he said.
Rary accurately predicted that Wednesday's match would be stressful, but the atmosphere was jubilant that morning at Victory Hall, at the edge of Pioneer Square and Sodo, where the beer was a'flowing as a DJ hyped up the crowd with electronic hits.
The family has mostly cooked at the Airbnb during their stay, Rary said, but his daughter did make him try a Seattle dog while in town.
"Il ne faut pas mourir idiot," he said in French, or: "one must not die an idiot," meaning he was game to try a new experience.
Inside the bar just before the match, a group of nine friends was drinking Stella Artois, the Belgian pilsner popular worldwide. They'd come to Seattle from Leuven, Belgium, to visit a friend who lives here and works for Amazon.
Jacob Nijs and Wim Naets said the friends had planned the trip hoping the Belgian team would advance to the later stages of the tournament, taking a bit of a leap of faith.
Nijs described Seattle as a "hidden gem."
"Many people don't know how clean Seattle is," he said. "The weather (last) week was exceptional. But aside from that, it's green. We've spent a lot of time on the water with a boat. Super cool! We've visited bars and breweries."
"There are tons of opportunities to do outdoor sports," Naets said. "You have lakes, you have mountains; nothing is far away. You have a really cool city. And yes, I think it's in terms of location a paradise."
Aside from local beers and sports, the group has been eating their way through the American food experience in Seattle: pizza, sandwiches, steak, chicken.
"We will have gained weight after next week," Nys said.
Naets figures that's in part because of what they chose to eat. The friends noted also that eating healthily is more challenging in Seattle, because healthful options tend to be more expensive.
Overall, their experience has been nothing but positive: While they felt a bit of a culture shock, they said Americans tend to be more friendly and open than their experiences with strangers back home.
Naets said he appreciates how easy it is to approach strangers in America, while doing so can feel unusual in Belgian culture.
"What I would say to Seattle people is come visit Belgium and we will also welcome you very warmly. We may seem reserved sometimes … but when you come to us, come to Leuven, we will welcome you like you've never been welcomed before."
In a sea of black, red and yellow marching to the match was Wim Celen, a Belgian who lives in New York. Celen said he traveled to Seattle for his home country's match against Egypt in June, noting that he's felt a warm welcome on both trips.
"Many Americans or people of all nationalities walking around here with a Belgian shirt," he observed. His prediction for today's match? 3-1, Belgium.
"I said 5-0 against New Zealand and it was 5-1," he said.
Though the Red Devils were triumphant, 3-2, the win was far from comfortable. Nevertheless, the Belgian team and its fans will extend their stay in the Seattle area, where they've made themselves at home this spring.
Though it was the Belgians who left Seattle Stadium elated on Wednesday, they mixed with Senegalese fans around Seattle as well as neutral fans embracing the Emerald City's World Cup fanfare, drawn by the city's reputation as a standout host city.
Cheikh Diaw came from Senegal for the matchup, predicting a score of 2-1 before the opening whistle. A business owner, Diaw had previously secured a visa to travel to the U.S.
Dame Seck, a Senegalese-born New Yorker, said he's been to all four of Senegal's matches so far in the 2026 World Cup.
When asked when his love for soccer began, Seck closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.
"I don't remember," he said. "Asking that question is like asking an American when you start loving baseball or football. It's simply in my DNA."
He knows there were people in Senegal who were willing to spend the money to come but were hindered by visa issues.
"I am lucky," he said. "It is not a given to come to a World Cup. I am so blessed to live in the United States and to be able to come. This is a dream."
A small but devoted crowd from the local Senegalese diaspora went to the game in green, yellow and red regalia. Just over 1,100 people in the Seattle metro area identify as Senegalese, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
With U.S. travel restrictions barring fans from Senegal from entering the country, the local community said before the match that they will proudly support the Lions of Teranga - a nickname evoking the strength of the king of the savanna and the spirit of generosity associated with the Wolof word "teraanga."
Cheikh Yirim Seck, a performing artist who lives in the Central District, said that "as soon as I heard that Senegal was going to be playing in Seattle, it was a no-brainer. I had to be there."
"You got to show up and represent your country and your culture," he said. "We're proud of our music, culture, heritage, language, everything."
But after 85 minutes of dominance by Senegal and anxiety for Belgian supporters on Wednesday, Belgium pulled off a historic comeback to nullify a 2-0 deficit. The Belgians rode 180 seconds of pure chaos in regular time then roared to victory in extra time, with a coup de grace in the form of a penalty shot from Youri Tielemans.
His strike late in extra time floated into the goal's top corner, eliciting heartbreak for Senegal and triumph for Belgium.
Werner Follom was watching with a slightly pained expression after his team went down 1-0. The 64-year-old is a member of the 1895 De Bemvoort supporters group, which was packed into an upper corner at Seattle Stadium.
"We knew Senegal would be a tough team. Physical, very strong. They keep running," he said, mulling the early deficit.
Follom said during the match that he'd be happy no matter the result, having drank his fill of soccer in Seattle, L.A. and Vancouver over the past couple of weeks. He even collected unique souvenir bracelets along the way.
He could only shake his head in gleeful disbelief after the comeback.
"My heart!" he exclaimed. "I'm five years older now."
He said Wednesday that he wishes he could stay in Seattle for the next game but must get back to Belgium for work.
"We didn't look that good, but we won," he said. "The most important thing."
Seattle Times reporters Alex Yoon-Hendricks, Daniel Beekman, Sofia Schwarzwalder, Tim Booth and Andy Yamashita contributed reporting.
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This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 4:50 PM.