Belgium Dominates New Zealand 5-1: Trossard, De Bruyne, and Lukaku Shine as Red Devils Rally to Top World Cup Group

LEANDRO TROSSARD grabbed two goals before Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku also scored as Belgium topped Group G.

The Red Devils overcame a slow start at the to advance to the knockout round with a 5-1 victory over New Zealand on Friday night.

Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku both scored Credit: Reuters Leandro Trossard found the back of the net twice Credit: AP

began their campaign with draws against both Egypt and Iran.

And the pressure was on to reach the knockout stages, let alone top a relatively weak group.

They did so with a scoring burst.

And as a result, their reward is facing a 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.

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.

But lashed home a double either side of half-time.

added a third from range.

Elijah Just pulled one back for , who needed to win outright to have a chance at advancing.

That momentarily saw Belgium drop to second behind Egypt on goals scored.

But .

And Alexis Saelemaekers wrapped it up in style.

Trossard lashed home emphatically Credit: Getty Kevin De Bruyne scored from the edge of the box Credit: Reuters Lukaku headed in late on Credit: Reuters New Zealand finished bottom of the group Credit: Reuters

Belgium were eliminated in the group stage in Qatar four years ago after finishing third at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

But they avoided a repeat early exit this time around.

The All Whites head home without a first-ever World Cup win.