Trossard, De Bruyne score and Belgium defeats New Zealand 5-1 to advance at the World Cup

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — With a flurry of of goals, Belgium finally found its footing at the World Cup.

Leandro Trossard scored a pair of goals and Belgium overcame a slow start in the tournament to advance to the knockout round atop Group G with a 5-1 victory over New Zealand on Friday night.

Belgium will face an as-yet undetermined third-place finisher on Wednesday in Seattle. The match was played simultaneously to the other group finale in Seattle between Egypt and Iran, which ended in a 1-1 draw, dropping Egypt out of first.

The Belgians went into the match a surprising third in its group after opening the World Cup with a 1-1 draw against Egypt and a scoreless draw against Iran.

“I think we had the chances as well in the first two games, and we didn’t take them. So it’s important that we took them today,” Trossard said. “And it’s always nice to score a lot of goals, and we’re just really happy to go through in first place as well, and yeah, a lot of joy.”

Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Saelemaekers also scored for the Belgians, who were eliminated in the group stage in Qatar four years ago after finishing third at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Elijah Just scored for New Zealand, which needed to win outright to have a chance at advancing. The All Whites head home without a first-ever World Cup win.

Should Belgium win its knockout round opener, it will face the winner of the match against the United States and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 16.

“First, we’ll have to win our round of 32 match. I don’t even know who we’ll be playing yet, so it would be disrespectful to start talking about the round of 16 already,” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said. “We’ll see who comes through.”

The finish atop the group also means the Belgium won’t have to travel far for their first knockout game. The team’s training base is in Seattle.

Trossard came oh-so-close to scoring early in the match, but goal-line technology determined that the ball did not cross the line.

New Zealand defender Finn Surman was called for a handball in the box in the 23rd minute, giving Belgium a penalty kick, but video determined that his arm was in a natural position and play continued.

In a scramble in front of the net, Trossard popped the ball up into the cross bar and it fell into the goal to put Belgium in front in the 28th minute.

It was Belgium’s first goal at the World Cup since Michy Batshuayi’s goal against Canada in the group opener in Qatar in 2022. Belgium’s goal in its 1-1 draw against Egypt in the opener of this tournament was an own goal.

Trossard scored his second early in the second half, striking a rebound off a New Zealand player past goalkeeper Max Crocombe.

De Bruyne added a stunning strike from outside the box in the 66th minute to all but put the game away for Belgium. He celebrated by making a heart with his hands for the sellout Vancouver crowd.

Just’s goal avoided the shutout for New Zealand in the 84th minute, but two minutes later Lukaku scored on a header for Belgium and blew a kiss to the fans. Saelemaekers scored in stoppage time.

“It’s been a long journey, and proud of the boys,” said Just, who had three goals in the tournament. “Everyone worked their hardest, It just wasn’t there.”

Winger Jérémy Doku started for Belgium after missing Sunday’s scoreless draw with Iran with an illness. He then flew to London for the birth of his son. He had only trained with the team once in seven days.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made his 18th World Cup appearance for Belgium, breaking the mark set by Enzo Scifo.

New Zealand fell 3-1 to Egypt on Sunday in Vancouver, as the Pharaohs won for the first time at a World Cup. The All Whites tied 2-2 with Iran in their group opener.

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