There are far biggest tests to come for Belgium, starting with England in Kaliningrad on Thursday, but they have signalled their intent early on, racking up maximum points from their opening two matches, scoring freely and looking like a team that plans to live up to their billing as one of the World Cup’s favourites.
It was a landmark afternoon for Romelu Lukaku, who created a little bit of history when he registered his third and fourth goals at these finals to draw level with Cristiano Ronaldo as the joint leading scorer. Lukaku has now scored more goals in World Cups and European Championships than any other Belgian. He also became the first player to score two goals or more in successive World Cup games since Diego Maradona in 1986.
Lukaku would probably have gone on to score a hat-trick had Roberto Martínez not decided that Belgium were comfortable enough with half an hour remaining. They were already 4-1 up at that stage and the Belgium manager, with an eye on the challenges ahead, gave Lukaku a breather.
Eden Hazard, who also scored twice and now has 10 goals and 12 assists in his past 20 appearances, was also withdrawn shortly afterwards as Belgium cantered to a victory that laid down a marker ahead of the England game.
Aided by some dreadful defending, Belgium were rampant and should have scored again long before Michy Batshuayi, Hazard’s replacement, took one of the five chances that fell to him in the final 20 minutes.
Tunisia – and perhaps England – will take some encouragement that they scored twice. Dylan Bronn scored two minutes after Belgium had gone 2-0 up and Wahbi Khazri got the goal he deserved when he swept home in injury time, yet their elimination from the World Cup will be confirmed if England get at least a draw against Panama on Sunday.
It quickly became clear that this was going to be another of those games where nobody would complain of a lack of action. We were treated to four goals by the time the interval arrived, including two for Lukaku, and Belgium could easily have scored more. With their slick interchanges and fluid movement, they are a joy to watch going forward.
There were six minutes gone when Hazard opened the scoring. Syam Ben Youssef, who was one of two Tunisia players to go off injured before half-time, made a reckless challenge on the Chelsea forward, scything him down as he darted into the area following a lovely passage of play involving Dries Mertens. After a slight delay while the video assistant referee checked whether contact was inside the area, Hazard calmly rolled his spot-kick into the corner of the net.
Hazard should have scored a second seven minutes later but scuffed his shot from Lukaku’s low centre, yet Belgium did not have to wait long to double their lead. Mertens, capitalising on a heavy first touch by Ali Maâloul, the Tunisia left-back, broke forward from the halfway line and released Lukaku, who steadied himself before shooting low across Farouk Ben Mustapha.
It was easy to fear for Tunisia at that point but, to their credit, they responded immediately. Khazri delivered an inswinging free-kick that Bronn, who plays in Belgium for Gent, met with a fine header that flashed past Thibaut Courtois. Unfortunately for Bronn, his afternoon ended in tears six minutes later, when he left the field on a stretcher with what looked like a serious knee injury.
Although Tunisia had some success attacking on the flanks, where there was plenty of space in behind Thomas Meunier and Yannick Carrasco, and Khazri stung Courtois’s hands with a rising shot from just outside the area, Belgium were menacing whenever they attacked. Carrasco’s hooked effort was beaten away by Ben Mustapha and Lukaku, running onto a pass from Kevin De Bruyne, allowed the ball to get away from him as he bore down on goal. He was not so generous with his next chance.
Once again Maâloul made a pig’s ear of things with a poor clearance that gifted Belgium possession deep inside the Tunisia half. What followed, though, was quite brilliant. Meunier, who was always a threat on the right with his eagerness to get forward, slid an exquisite reverse pass into the path of Lukaku and as Ben Mustapha dashed from his line, trying to narrow the angle, the striker deftly lifted his shot over him with a pitching-wedge finish.
Tunisia started the second half brightly and refused to accept the inevitable but Belgium soon had their fourth. Toby Alderweireld’s long pass picked out the run of Hazard in behind a square defence and there was only going to be one outcome. Hazard expertly lifted the ball past Ben Mustapha, who was caught in no man’s land, and slotted a left-foot shot into the unguarded net.
Batshuayi was then introduced and got the biggest cheer of the afternoon when he finally added Belgium’s fifth, set up by Youri Tielemans, another substitute.
By that point Batshuayi had one shot cleared off the line, another hit the bar and a third saved at point-blank range. He could have made gone on to make it 6-1 before Khazri converted Tunisia’s consolation second in the third minute of added time.