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QuickTake:
While most American fans were left heartbroken, Tommy Tofi had plenty of reasons to celebrate Belgium's victory in Seattle.
Not every Oregon Duck was heartbroken by Belgium’s 4-1 dismantling of the United States in Monday’s FIFA World Cup round of 16 in Seattle.
Following the Americans’ loss to the Belgians, UO freshman offensive lineman Tommy Tofi reposted a photo of himself and his two brothers posing in front of the Atomium, the famous monument in Brussels.
Tofi captioned the picture with three Belgium flag emojis.
And for anyone confused why a 6-foot-6, 330-pound offensive lineman from San Francisco was suddenly supporting Belgium after one of the most embarrassing losses in U.S. soccer history, Tofi quickly followed with the explanation.
He retweeted a post from his father, John Tofi.
“My family lived in Belgium for 10 years,” John wrote. “My 4 older sons were all either born or raised in Belgium… speak Flemish fluently. That place is our 2nd home! Naturalized! … Absolutely LOVE MY BELGIAN FOLKS! Rootin for Belgium doesnt make me us traitors LOL”
Still confused?
The context is that John Tofi is a 6-foot-9 former professional basketball player. He played center at the University of Texas at El Paso before spending eight seasons in the Belgium Pro Basketball League, where he won the 2016 MVP award after leading Okapi Aalstar to the championship round.
Tommy Tofi and his older brother, John Jr., were toddlers when the family moved overseas, spending much of their childhood in Belgium. They spoke English at home but Flemish at school, played basketball, followed soccer and mostly experienced American football from afar.
It was a good life that brought the Tofis closer together while also forcing them to branch out.
“Life was a lot slower,” John Tofi said last summer. “People enjoyed their days a lot more than they do here in America. If it wasn’t for us coming from such a big family, we always told the boys that I don’t think we would have even moved back to America. That’s how much we loved living in Europe.”
The move back did nothing to salvage the U.S. men’s team’s chances in this year’s World Cup, but it is setting up to help at least one American institution: the Oregon football team.
Tofi, the 43rd-ranked prospect in the 2026 signing class, has size, strength and was praised throughout spring practice for his work ethic. And while he’s still relatively new to this brand of football, there doesn’t appear to be much risk of losing him down the road to a more worldly game.
“Once Tommy found out you could be as physical as you want playing football, that was it for him,” John Tofi said. “He loves to play physical.”
