0-2. Tielemans leads a prestigious win over Croatia

Belgium signaled its intent to avoid a repeat of its group-stage exit from the last World Cup by securing a prestigious 0-2 victory over Croatia. The win, achieved on Tuesday, offers a significant confidence boost to the Belgian squad, which underperformed four years ago in Qatar.

Key to Belgium's solid performance was the reliable goalkeeping of Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois, who made a decisive save against Luka Modric late in the first half. The attacking dynamism of Jeremy Doku also proved instrumental. However, it was midfielder Youri Tielemans who truly shone, demonstrating the excellent form that has made him a vital player for Aston Villa, winners of the Europa League.

“

Youri Tielemans, who already scored in the Europa League final, did not waste a loose ball inside the Croatian area, after another incursion down the left flank by Doku, to establish the 0-1.

Tielemans, entrusted with the captain's armband by coach Rudi Garcia despite the presence of veterans like Courtois and Kevin De Bruyne, opened the scoring in the 38th minute. He capitalized on a loose ball inside the Croatian penalty area, following a probing run by Doku down the left flank, to put Belgium ahead.

Croatia had chances to equalize, with striker Ante Budimir hitting the crossbar shortly after coming on as a substitute. Belgium extended their lead in second-half stoppage time when Romelu Lukaku finished off a counter-attack initiated by Hans Vanaken, who had come on as one of eight second-half substitutions. The match also saw the debut of Spanish-born attacker Matías Fernández-Pardo for Belgium.

“

Who did not miss was Romelu Lukaku who signed the definitive 0-2 in stoppage time by culminating with his usual power a counter-attack launched by Vanaken.