New Zealand v Belgium: World Cup 2026 – live

A double for Leandro Trossard and goals to Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Saelemaekers cap off Belgium’s best performance of the World Cup. New Zealand, who pulled a goal back through Elijah Just, are out. 90+3 mins: The corner comes in low and cycles around the crowded penalty area before spreading wide to the right for Raskin, who clips a cross back in. Crocombe sticks a strong hand into its path before a panicked bicycle kick from a defender sees the ball spin away up-field. 90+2 mins: Belgium almost make it five! Some slick passing around New Zealand’s box following a sloppy give-away sees the ball fall to De Cuyper, who fizzes a shot towards the roof of the net, but Max Crocombe slaps it over for a corner. 90 mins:Belgium take a quick free kick, feeding the ball to Onana in midfield. He takes a stride forward and unleashes a shot, but doesn’t connect properly and it skims wide. 88 mins: Callum McCowatt races down the other end to try and latch onto a direct long ball, but he’s shepherded by two Belgian centre-backs. New Zealand aren’t giving up. 86 mins: What a response from Belgium’s substitutes, who came on just a moment ago. A brilliant clipped cross from Raskin – his first touch of the match – falls right onto the head of Lukaku, who sends his bullet header past Crocombe and into the net. 82 mins: Argh! New Zealand race forward with numbers after a quick free kick, but McCowatt sends his pass behind the sprinting Just who holds his arms out and looks up into the sky. 80 mins: Both teams looking a bit gassed now. Belgium sends a hopeful switched pass out to the substitute Saelemaekers, who’s isolated against De Vries, but he swings wildly at the volley and sends it up into the stands. 78 mins:New Zealand put basically everyone in the wall, with Eli Just lying down behind them all. De Cuyper takes two steps forwards, but flings his free kick well over the bar. 76 mins:New Zealand almost pull a goal back! A neat interception in midfield sees the ball fed into Wood, who’s wrestling with his back to goal just inside Belgium’s penalty area. He spins and feeds Eli Just, who takes a touch and shoots… but the ball deflects off the thigh of a defender and spins out for a corner, which comes to nothing. 74 mins: Belgium are having fun now, with some sharp single-touch passes zipping around New Zealand’s penalty area. One passage of zig-zags almost lands at the foot of De Ketelaere, but it pings off his hand instead for a merciful free kick to NZ. Marty has a fun suggestion to give lower-ranked sides a bit more of a shot in World Cup matches like this: “If FIFA really want to make things fair, they should make top tier teams give lower ranked teams their best player at half time. De Bruyne playing in White here would make this half quite interesting.” 71 mins:Belgium make two substitutions at the break. Their two goal-scorers, De Bruyne and Trossard, are off. Their job is done. Alexis Saelemaekers and Amadou Onana are on. 69 mins: Hydration break. With that third goal, Belgium leap-frog Egypt in Group G to go top on goal difference, with Egypt still locked at 1-1 with Iran. This means the Socceroos may be facing the might of Mohamed Salah in the round of 32 if scores remain the same. 67 mins:New Zealand were their own worst enemies there, with two Belgian players able to dance around the penalty area as five white shirts slipped and slid around in desperation. De Bruyne rolls the ball under his foot near the D and opens up, sending it into the net and sending the stadium into raptures. 65 mins: Belgium with a brilliant counter-attack, starting in their own penalty area from a corner. The ball spears right to Trossard who threads it behind New Zealand’s scrambling back-line to Fernandez-Pardo storming in from the left, but his shot just skims over the crossbar. 64 mins:New Zealand are back on the ball now, moving it around in a horse-shoe as Belgium settle a bit more into their two defensive lines. Randall finds himself one-on-one with Castagne, and sends a cross in from the left which is deflected out for a corner. 62 mins:Belgium almost make it three! Another corner is driven in low by Fernandez-Pardo from the right, with De Bruyne clipping around one defender before rocketing a shot through a forest of players in the penalty area. Crocombe makes an excellent save and it’s cleared. 60 mins: A gorgeous through-ball from Fernandez-Pardo slices in behind New Zealand’s back line from the left in towards the sprinting De Ketelaere, whose cross is shinned out for another Belgium corner. 58 mins: A nice positive passage for New Zealand down the left, with three All Whites rotating before Stamenic sends a lovely chip in behind for Randall. It comes off a Belgian head for a corner, which is punched away and volleyed over the crossbar. 55 mins: A chance for New Zealand! Eli Just picks up the ball in deep midfield and just… runs. He tears past three Belgian players, as the Red Devils’ back-line backs off and off, into their own penalty area. Just has a team-mate tearing down the left, but a corridor opens in front of him so he shoots instead, with Courtois palming away. 53 mins:Belgium keep coming, with Doku down the left doing a little dodge to create some space for himself to cut the ball back into a crowded penalty area, but Surman throws his big noggin in the way and heads clear. 51 mins: Some great individual quality from Trossard, who controls a ping-ponging ball in the penalty area on his chest before volleying it past two All Whites defenders, leaving Crocombe planted in the grass. There’s a brief VAR check, but the goal stands. 47 mins: Kevin De Bruyne is somehow in plenty of space just outside New Zealand’s penalty area, and he receives an easy square pass from Doku. Trossard is sprinting into space down his right, but the midfielder opens up and shoots instead. He doesn’t get much power behind it though and it rolls wide of the far post.