During the US v Belgium World Cup match, social posts repeatedly invoked actor Jean-Claude Van Damme as a running joke and shorthand for Belgium. Posters compared Belgium to Van Damme alongside waffles and the Smurfs, with some calling Belgium "best known for Jean-Claude Van Damme." Writers imagined Van Damme doing victory splits atop the Space Needle, called for him to speak to FIFA, and proposed replacing penalty kicks with hand-to-hand combat featuring Van Damme against Steven Seagal. Others framed the match as a "Jean-Claude Van Damme Derby," joked that Van Damme could be on screen in the crowd, or pleaded for recognition that Americans know Van Damme. A few posts mixed Van Damme into broader Belgian references, listing him with figures such as Hercule Poirot, Tintin, Jacques Brel, and René Magritte, and one poster said they would refuse to see new Van Damme movies in theaters because of the match-related joking.
