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2 hours ago
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Key events
69 mins: Hydration break. With that third goal, Belgium leap-frog Egypt in Group G to go top on goal difference, with Egypt still locked at 1-1 with Iran. This means the Socceroos may be facing the might of Mohamed Salah in the round of 32 if scores remain the same.
67 mins: New Zealand were their own worst enemies there, with two Belgian players able to dance around the penalty area as five white shirts slipped and slid around in desperation. De Bruyne rolls the ball under his foot near the D and opens up, sending it into the net and sending the stadium into raptures.
GOAL! New Zealand 0-3 Belgium (De Bruyne, 67)
Belgium’s talisman lasers the ball into the bottom corner and drives a nail into New Zealand’s World Cup coffin.
65 mins: Belgium with a brilliant counter-attack, starting in their own penalty area from a corner. The ball spears right to Trossard who threads it behind New Zealand’s scrambling back-line to Fernandez-Pardo storming in from the left, but his shot just skims over the crossbar.
64 mins: New Zealand make two more substitutions. Joe Bell and Tim Payne are off, Michael Boxall and Callum McCowatt are on.
64 mins: New Zealand are back on the ball now, moving it around in a horse-shoe as Belgium settle a bit more into their two defensive lines. Randall finds himself one-on-one with Castagne, and sends a cross in from the left which is deflected out for a corner.
62 mins: Belgium almost make it three! Another corner is driven in low by Fernandez-Pardo from the right, with De Bruyne clipping around one defender before rocketing a shot through a forest of players in the penalty area. Crocombe makes an excellent save and it’s cleared.
60 mins: A gorgeous through-ball from Fernandez-Pardo slices in behind New Zealand’s back line from the left in towards the sprinting De Ketelaere, whose cross is shinned out for another Belgium corner.
58 mins: A nice positive passage for New Zealand down the left, with three All Whites rotating before Stamenic sends a lovely chip in behind for Randall. It comes off a Belgian head for a corner, which is punched away and volleyed over the crossbar.
56 mins: Belgium make their first substitution as Jeremy Doku is replaced by Matias Fernandez-Pardo.
56 mins: Another yellow card for New Zealand, this time for Eli Just who tugs Trossard backwards as the Belgian tries to scamper away.
55 mins: A chance for New Zealand! Eli Just picks up the ball in deep midfield and just… runs. He tears past three Belgian players, as the Red Devils’ back-line backs off and off, into their own penalty area. Just has a team-mate tearing down the left, but a corridor opens in front of him so he shoots instead, with Courtois palming away.
53 mins: Belgium keep coming, with Doku down the left doing a little dodge to create some space for himself to cut the ball back into a crowded penalty area, but Surman throws his big noggin in the way and heads clear.
51 mins: Some great individual quality from Trossard, who controls a ping-ponging ball in the penalty area on his chest before volleying it past two All Whites defenders, leaving Crocombe planted in the grass. There’s a brief VAR check, but the goal stands.
GOAL! New Zealand 0-2 Belgium (Trossard, 50)
A brace for Leandro Trossard and puts Belgium comfortably into second spot in Group G.
47 mins: Kevin De Bruyne is somehow in plenty of space just outside New Zealand’s penalty area, and he receives an easy square pass from Doku. Trossard is sprinting into space down his right, but the midfielder opens up and shoots instead. He doesn’t get much power behind it though and it rolls wide of the far post.
46 mins: The first yellow card of the match is given to Marko Stamenic for bringing down Youri Tielemans as he tried to gallop away with the ball.
Second half kick-off!
New Zealand with a double-change at half-time as Ben Old replaces Ryan Thomas, while Jesse Randall is on for Sarpreet Singh.
Some illustrative stats, with Belgium dominating New Zealand in literally every category:
Shots: 15 to 0.
Shots on target: 4 to 0.
Possession: 62% to 38%.
Pass accuracy: 89% to 88%.
Passes: 321 to 176.
Corners: 4 to 1.
Elsewhere, it’s 1-1 between Egypt and Iran in Group G’s other match. A crazy goal, a penalty miss… that game has certainly been full of drama.
The live ladder looks like this:
1. Egypt (5 points)
2. Belgium (5 points)
3. Iran (3 points)
4. New Zealand (1 point)
Speaking of disappointment, Uruguay’s group-stage exit early today was a sour end to yet another sour World Cup campaign. Could this be the end for Marcelo Bielsa? Here’s Jonathan Wilson:
Marcelo Bielsa leaves his job as manager amid acrimony and intense disappointment. He is 70 and, while it’s hard to imagine him leaving football, the likelihood is that that is the last we see of him at a World Cup. Like his first campaign, with Argentina in 2002, it ended in frustration, third place in the group and a first-phase exit. Leeds may turn out to have been his last positive experience in management. He has been a brilliant coach, one of the most influential of the past three or four decades, but the light fades for everybody eventually.
What have you made of this half, team? Are you surprised to see Belgium going into half-time with the lead?
Based on how they started, I’m a bit surprised they took their foot off the gas half-way through that first half. They seem to be taking one touch too many in and around the penalty area, when what they really need is someone to just put their foot through it.
New Zealand, meanwhile, were so scattered before the first hydration break, and were lucky to only go into the sheds 0-1 down with that goal-line clearance. While they clawed a bit more control back after the quarter-time restart (ugh), they still look all out of ideas around how to bring Chris Wood and Ryan Thomas into the game.
Half-time: New Zealand 0-1 Belgium
It’s been all Belgium this half, with New Zealand not having a single attempt on goal.
45+5 mins: Ryan Thomas, New Zealand’s young forward, is getting frustrated. He’s barely touched the ball this half, and after a potential foul against team-mate Chris Wood was waved away, Thomas gets into a tangle with Youri Tielemans and gets a talking-to from the referee.
45+3 mins: Belgium with two half-chances in the past two minutes, but there’s just nobody on the end to crash any of these balls into the net. The last one saw Doku float a cross from the left back towards the penalty spot, with New Zealand’s defenders scattered, but Vanakan shanks it over the crossbar.
45+1 mins: A nice series of recycling passes from New Zealand on the left side of their attacking third as it’s Belgium’s turn to bunker in and defend. But Cacace seems to run out of patience and hoofs a cross way too deep into the box, with Chris Wood chasing forlornly. Silly decision.
45 mins: Six minutes of added time in this first half.
45 mins: Belgium creating plenty of overloads in and around New Zealand’s penalty area, trying to find any open channel for a shot. The All Whites are scrambling brilliantly to shut down every avenue, though, and eventually clear the ball away.
43 mins: Belgium almost make it two! A sharp pass from Trossard finds De Ketelaere near the top of New Zealand’s box, who’d pulled off the shoulder of Surman. He takes a touch with his left foot and tries to shoot towards the far post, but Max Crocombe gets down quickly and palms it back into the field. Great save.
42 mins: Belgium pounce on Courtois’ clearance and immediately come down the other end, with a neat one-two seeing the ball fall to the foot of De Bruyne. He shapes to shoot just near the penalty spot but skies it.
41 mins: New Zealand full-back Liberato Cacace swings in a dangerous cross from the left side now, arrowing it towards the six-yard area for Just to try and get a toe to, but Courtois swings a long leg and clears it away.
39 mins: Jeremy Doku has faded in and out of this half, but the winger is back on the ball now, dancing around the left side of New Zealand’s penalty area. Tim Payne slips and falls into the grass, giving Doku a channel to step into and shoot, but he swings the ball just wide of the far post.
38 mins: Just as I say that, Tim Payne sends a gorgeous bending ball from deep on the right side of midfield in towards Belgium’s six-yard area. There are no New Zealand players there to meet it, but it pings off the shin of Theate and out for a corner, which the towering Courtois collects.
37 mins: In a good indication of the momentum of this match, Belgium have had 10 shots (3 on target) to New Zealand’s 0 (0).
35 mins: Some better spells of possession for New Zealand now after that first 30 minutes of pressure. They’re finding a bit more time and space in midfield, but can’t find those final passes forward into Wood.
33 mins: A half-chance for New Zealand as Just delivers a deep cross from the left side towards captain Chris Wood, who’s being marshalled by two Belgian centre-backs. The ball is just too heavy and drifts over the striker as he stretches every sinew in his neck to try and reach it. Bummer.
32 mins: Eli Just gets in behind De Cuyper for the first time, having swapped wings with Ryan Thomas. He nips onto a long-ball by Payne and tries to cut back for a team-mate, but it’s well intercepted by Belgium who come forward again.
31 mins: Belgium go down the other end and create yet another chance with De Cuyper squaring for any red-shirted runners, but a white shin sweeps the ball away just in time.
30 mins: New Zealand with their first corner of the match after a nice through-ball from Tim Payne into Sarpreet Singh. They won’t be getting much of these moments based on the past half-hour, but Thibault Courtois launches up into the air and catches comfortably.
29 mins: You’d have to say that goal was coming. Belgium have been relentless since the opening whistle, and they were only a New Zealand mistake away from taking the lead. Trossard has been the most active for the Red Devils in attack so far, so it’s fitting it was him to score the nation’s first goal of this World Cup.
GOAL! New Zealand 0-1 Belgium (Trossard, 28)
A De Bruyne corner is poorly defended by New Zealand and Trossard reacts first, poking it into the net.
26 mins: Play resumes with a Belgium free kick.
23 mins: Scratch that, it’s a restart for New Zealand for some reason. Crocombe launches it up field, with Wood trying to get his first touch on the ball. There’s a scramble away and the referee signals for the first hydration break.
22 mins: No penalty! It would’ve been extremely harsh if it had been given. The referee rules Surman’s arm was in a natural position. Corner for Belgium.
21 mins: Penalty to Belgium? VAR are checking the play as the ball seemed to whack the arm of Surman as he came in to block Trossard’s shot. The referee signals his little rectangle in the air and trots over to the sideline.
20 mins: So close for Belgium! A brilliant move started by De Bruyne, who picks up a Doku pass near the centre-circle and charges forward, before sending a pass into Trossard’s feet. The winger cuts inside and shapes to shoot as two New Zealand defenders close down the angle, with the ball ricocheting off the white shirts and deflects over the crossbar.
18 mins: Belgium with another corner, which De Bruyne sends short into Doku. The Manchester City winger tries to cut back to a team-mate in acres of space near the top of the box, but it’s intercepted by Joe Bell who whacks it up-field. Any outlet will do.
17 mins: The stadium bell tolls and Iran have equalised in today’s simultaneous game: Egypt 1 – 1 Iran.
