Belgium earned a 2-0 victory in its penultimate World Cup warm-up match against a largely toothless Croatian side. The Red Devils conceded very little defensively and were able to rely on the quality of their squad in attack.
For Belgium, Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois, a world-class player, stood between the posts. In front of him, Frankfurt’s Theate started alongside Onana and Ngoy in central defense. Up front, Tielemans, de Ketelaere, De Bruyne, and Doku, among others, were tasked with creating special moments.
Croatia’s coach Zlatko Dalic sent two Bundesliga players onto the field from the start alongside veterans Modric, Perisic, and Kovacic. In addition to defender Vuskovic, who is still under contract with HSV, Stanisic (Bayern Munich) also started.
The first half in Rijeka, Croatia, was a quick story. Both teams neutralized each other for long stretches—with a slight edge for the Belgians, who had slightly more possession. Both the Red Devils and the Croatians showed occasional flashes of good attacking play, but precision was lacking, especially in the final third.
Doku breaks away, Tielemans scores
Since both teams also avoided taking unnecessary risks, there were no real top-class chances for a long time. In the 38th minute, Doku sprinted past Stanisic, was unstoppable, and cut the ball back, where Tielemans slotted it low into the right corner.
After Belgium took the lead, the pace of the game picked up. The Red Devils kept the pressure on through Doku; after another burst of speed, his shot from the center was saved by Livakovic (41′). At the other end, Croatia suddenly had a chance to equalize. Because Modric’s technically demanding shot was denied by a brilliant save from Courtois, Belgium went into halftime with the lead.
After the break, there was another lull for a while. Belgium now dropped deeper and waited for counterattacks. Defensively, the Red Devils stood compact and concentrated on repelling the Croatian efforts.
Budimir heads the ball onto the crossbar
The best chance for the hosts fell to substitute Budimir, who headed the ball onto the crossbar from an unmarked position (61′). Apart from that, Croatia’s attacking efforts remained largely harmless. Meanwhile, numerous substitutions on both sides disrupted the flow and rhythm of the game—and so the match drifted toward its conclusion in fits and starts.
In the closing stages, Belgium was closer to making it 2-0 than the Croatians were to pulling one back: Vanaken hit the crossbar with a header (74′), and six minutes later, Livakovic made a save on the line (80′). Croatia kept trying but simply couldn’t create any scoring chances and, after Lukaku’s final goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time (90’+6), ultimately had to accept a deserved 0-2 defeat.
Both nations will travel to the United States in the coming days, where they each have one more friendly match ahead of the World Cup. On Sunday, Croatia will face Slovenia at 8:45 p.m. Belgium will take on Tunisia on Saturday (3 p.m.).
