Belgium 5-2 Tunisia: Man of the Match Eden Hazard serves notice of World Cup ambitions

It took less than 20 seconds for Man of the Match Eden Hazard to collect his first foul of the day and less than six minutes to score his first goal as Belgium ran roughshod over a willing but rather poor Tunisia on Saturday in Moscow. Hazard would add a second six minutes into the second-half as well, though by that time the result was more or less decided already.

Belgium took a 3-1 lead into half-time, with the third, and Lukaku’s second, just before the whistle putting an end to Tunisia’s minor resurgence after Bronn’s goal (no relation to the Game of Thrones character) cut the early lead to 2-1.

After Hazard’s second goal it became just a question of how many more would Belgium score, and while the surprising answer to that question was just one, the overall performance was good enough to serve notice of Belgium’s true intentions this World Cup.

Lukaku made way on the hour-mark and Hazard for Batshuayi followed a few minutes later. Michy then proceeded to miss several excellent chances, including hitting the bar from six yards out, before finally netting in the 90th minute. Tunisia scored their second in added-on time, but nobody other than Courtois, who played the full game as usual in his 60th cap, cared.

So, well done Belgium, who are thus assured of a spot in the knockout rounds. An effervescent Eden Hazard, a willing Lukaku, with plenty of support from De Bruyne, Mertens, Carrasco, et al ... this Belgium team could very well be the odds on favorites at this point.