The Red Devils secured a date with European champions Spain in the next knockout phase after an eye-catching 4-1 win in Seattle as controversy reigned at Lumen Feld.
The build-up to the game was dominated by FIFA's call to overturn Folarin Balogun's one-match ban after he was shown a straight red card in their Round of 32 victory against Bosnia & Herzegovina.
The decision to remove Balogun's ban sent shockwaves through the tournament after USA President Donald Trump confirmed he asked FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to look into the matter and the call was made with little reasoning to absolve the Monaco striker.
England head coach Thomas Tuchel was among those to criticise FIFA's decision and the influence of outside non-football agencies over the move - but Belgium had the final say with a cheeky post-match social media update of 'Overturn this' at full-time.
Belgium captain Youri Tielemans stated the row had given his players extra motivation in the game as the USA joined fellow co-hosts Canada and Mexico in exiting the competition in the last 16.
"We told ourselves we had to respond on the pitch. That's what we did."
After a slow start, Rudi Garcia's team are slowly building into the World Cup, and their 3-2 comeback win over Senegal in the previous round could prove to be a springboard for Belgium ahead of that all-important clash with Spain.