Belgium crushes New Zealand 5-1 to win Group G outright

Belgium did more than beat New Zealand 5-1 at BC Place in Vancouver. It controlled the match from the first whistle, passed through the defense in waves and turned a group-stage decider into a statement about depth, rhythm and attacking range.

Leandro Trossard opened the scoring in the 28th minute and struck again in the 50th, giving Belgium a lead that never looked in doubt. Kevin De Bruyne added the third in the 66th minute, Romelu Lukaku made it 4-1 in the 86th and Alexis Saelemaekers finished the rout in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Elijah Just scored New Zealand’s only goal in the 84th minute, but it changed nothing about the flow of a match Belgium had already taken over.

The numbers underlined the gap. Belgium finished with 35 total shots and 10 on target, compared with New Zealand’s six attempts and two on target. Belgium also held 54.6% of possession to New Zealand’s 45.4%, a split that reflected a side moving the ball with patience and then attacking from multiple angles rather than relying on one outlet. The starting shapes, both 4-2-3-1, still produced very different realities: Belgium used the system to feed Trossard, De Bruyne, Lukaku and the supporting runners around them, while New Zealand spent much of the night trying to survive the pressure.

The result sent Belgium to the round of 32 as the outright winner of Group G and eliminated New Zealand, which finished with only one point. Belgium will face Australia on July 3, 2026 in Dallas, a test that now looks more like a gauge of how far this group can go than a simple knockout tie. Trossard was named Player of the Match after the two-goal performance that set the tone for the rest of the evening.

There was also a milestone for Thibaut Courtois. The Belgium goalkeeper made his 18th World Cup appearance, the most by any Belgian in the tournament, passing Enzo Scifo, and he kept a clean sheet in half of those outings. Against a team that created little and conceded early control, Courtois spent much of the night as the last line of a side already imposing itself everywhere else.