Published on •Updated
Belgium thumped New Zealand 5-1 in Vancouver on Friday to secure their spot in the World Cup knockout stages.
A brace for Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard, as well as goals for Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Saelemaekers, put the Belgians top of Group G and safely through to the round of 32 despite having racked up two draws from their first two games.
Belgium were held to a 1-1 draw against Egypt, who have also qualified for the knockouts, in Seattle in the opening fixture of their World Cup campaign before playing out a goalless second match against Iran.
Iran now face an anxious wait to see if they’ll progress to the knockout stages after their final group game finished 1-1 against Egypt.
Belgium’s win over New Zealand means the Kiwis bow out of the tournament after picking up just the one point.
Trossard opened the scoring with an instinctive finish from a corner in the 28th minute and volleyed home a second early in the second half.
A low, left-footed strike from De Bruyne from outside the box put Belgium 3-0 up, before Lukaku nodded in a fourth and Saelemaekers rounded things off with a fifth.
Belgium will go on to face a third-place finisher from one of groups A, E, H, I or J in Seattle next week.
Egypt are now set to play Australia in Dallas after finishing as Group G runners-up, while Iran’s fate rests on the outcome of the final fixtures in Groups J, K and L.
Elsewhere, Uruguay’s tournament is over after they were beaten 1-0 by Spain in Guadalajara.
A goal from Álex Baena was enough to see out the win for the Spanish and put them top of Group H, avoiding a potential clash with Argentina. They will now play the runner up of Group J in Los Angeles, which is set to be either Austria or Algeria.
France also beat Norway 4-1 on Friday to maintain their perfect start to the tournament and finish top of Group I. Norway and Senegal have also qualified from the group.
France will play Sweden at MetLife stadium in the round of 32, while Norway will come up against the Ivory Coast.