Swiss pound Belgium 5-2 in Nations League

IANS  |  Lucerne (Switzerland) 

fought back from a two-goal deficit to defeat 5-2 and claim a berth in the final phase of the inaugural

The Belgians, whose last defeat in an official match dates to 2016, came into the contest at the Swissporarena in Lucerne needing only a draw to advance from League A Group 2.

With nine points from three matches, the Red Devils led second-place by 3 points and even a loss would not have been fatal, as long the Belgians scored at least twice and the winning margin for the Swiss was no greater than one goal.

History seemed to be on the side of the visitors. had not defeated since 1983 and the team that finished third in led 2-0 after 17 minutes on a brace by the younger brother of superstar

Yet the tide began to turn in the 26th minute when scored from the penalty spot after Belgian fouled

The Swiss pulled level five minutes later as Seferovic beat Courtois after taking a perfect pass from

The stunned Belgian side failed to react and Seferovic got his second of the night in the 44th minute to give Switzerland a 3-2 advantage at the break.

Despite the setbacks, the Belgians, who beat the Swiss 2-1 in Belgium last month, faced a situation where they could still win the group if they kept a clean sheet in the second half.

But the Red Devils could not stop the Swiss, who increased their lead to 4-2 in the 62nd minute with Nico Elvedi's header off a Shaqiri cross.

And the Swiss weren't finished.

With five minutes left in regulation, Shaqiri deftly back-heeled the ball to Mbabu, who passed to Seferovic to complete the triple.

--IANS

gau/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, November 19 2018. 14:02 IST