Belgium secured their place in the round of 32 and first place in Group G of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after their 5-1 victory against New Zealand in their final group match on Friday in Vancouver, Canada.
For this crucial match, Rudi Garcia made several changes to his starting eleven, bringing in Timothy Castagne, Hans Vanaken, and Jérémy Doku, who had initially been named a substitute by Garcia after attending the birth of his son earlier in the week.
Belgium went on the attack from the opening minutes, and Leandro Trossard came within a whisker of opening the scoring. Set up by Vanaken, the Arsenal player saw his shot hit the post before being cleared off the line by Tyler Bindon (11th minute).
The Red Devils were then awarded a penalty for a handball by Finn Surman on a Trossard shot, but Jordanian referee Adham Makhadmeh overturned his decision after a VAR review (21st minute).
Trossard was involved in all the good moves and secured the victory for Belgium shortly after the water break. The Belgian number 10 capitalized on the New Zealand defense's hesitation on a corner kick, sending the ball into the roof of the net (28th minute, 0-1).
After a brief lull, the Belgian players resumed their assault on the All Whites' goal, but Doku's long-range shot went wide (40th minute), and Charles De Ketelaere was denied by Max Crocombe when he found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper (43rd minute).
Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne celebrates after scoring the Red Devils' third goal in their 5-1 victory over New Zealand during the final Group G match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada, on Friday 26 June 2026. Credit: Belga / Bruno Fahy.
Rudi Garcia's men continued their momentum in the second half, and it took Trossard just five minutes to grab his second goal. Set up by Kevin De Bruyne, the striker's initial shot was blocked before he finally beat Crocombe with a volley (50th minute, 0-2). Belgian chances then multiplied, with Crocombe making a save from Arthur Theate's shot (62nd minute) before Matias Fernandez-Pardo, who had come on for Doku, lacked precision on a counter-attack (65th minute).
The third Belgian goal finally came from De Bruyne. After good work by Trossard, 'KDB' received the ball at the edge of the penalty area and unleashed a shot that gave the New Zealand goalkeeper no chance in the 67th minute. This goal made De Bruyne the oldest Belgian goalscorer in the World Cup at 34 years and 363 days.
Guilty of a lapse in concentration, the Red Devils were punished from a corner. After a ball was parried by Thibaut Courtois, who was celebrating his 18th appearance in the World Cup, breaking Enzo Scifo's record, Elijah Just was left unmarked by the Belgian defence and his shot gave Courtois no chance in the 84th minute.
Coming on as substitutes, Nicolas Raskin and Romelu Lukaku immediately put Belgium back on track with their first touches of the ball. Raskin delivered a precise cross onto the head of Lukaku, who scored in the 86th minute, his 6th in the World Cup, becoming Belgium's all-time leading scorer in the tournament. Having scored, Lukaku then turned provider for Alexis Saelemaekers, who finished the job with a shot from the edge of the penalty area four minutes into stoppage time.
Thanks to their thumping victory and the draw between Egypt and Iran (1-1), Belgium finished top of Group G with 5 points, ahead of Egypt on goal difference. In the round of 32, the Red Devils will face a third-placed team from the group on Wednesday, 1 July at 10:00 PM (Belgian time) in Seattle.
