Belgium booked their place in the quarter finals with a 4-0 demolition of Hungary in Toulouse.
Marc Wilmots’ men were in control from the opening minutes, with Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne taking charge. The Red Devils took the lead with just nine minutes played, an unmarked Toby Alderweireld heading home from De Bruyne’s set piece.
With Hungary unable to generate any offensive flow through Zoltan Gera and Adam Szalai, it was veteran shot stopper Gabor Kiraly that kept the underdogs in the game, denying De Bruyne on multiple occasions.
With just 20 minutes to play Hungary were well and truly in the match, but a white hot Hazard found Michy Batshuayi for a second goal before adding one of his one, and substitute Yannick Carrasco capped off a big win.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Here’s an overview of how each player rated:
Belgium
Thibaut Courtouis – 7: Wasn’t often challenged by a wayward Hungary front line. Slipped over following a Vertonghen back pass and was lucky not to concede.
Jan Vertonghen – 7.5: Found plenty of space pushing up the pitch, turning Lang inside out on more than one occasion. Linked up well with Hazard.
Thomas Vermaelen – 7: Didn’t leave any gaps in defence. A solid performance.
Toby Alderweireld – 8: Closed down space for Szalai, Gera and Dzsudzsak, and snuck forward to score from a set piece. Well-disciplined in defence and opportunistic going forward.
Thomas Meunier – 7: A subdued but comfortable performance. Will be challenged more often in the next round.
Axel Witsel – 7: Looked a step ahead of a Hungary midfield that was off the pace all night, but only just. Had a chance to score, but the first touch was poor.
Radja Nainggolan – 6: Sat deep in Belgium’s half for most of the match, and was wayward when chances arose. Will be disappointed not to have made more of a starting opportunity.
Kevin De Bruyne – 8.5: Tormented Kiraly in the opening 20 minutes, but couldn’t chalk up a goal of his own. Found an unmarked Alderweireld for the opener.
Eden Hazard – 9: Took some time to adjust but had clearly come to play. Was the most influential on the pitch after De Bruyne’s opening burst. Played in Batshuayi to seal the result and fired in one of his own barely a minute later.
Romelu Lukaku – 7.5: Well held by Guzmics and Juhasz, but was able to keep possession and play back out to Hazard and De Bruyne. Missed a couple of tough chances.
Dries Mertens – 6.5: Put in a mountain of work, but didn’t often see the ball with most of the play directed through Hazard.
Substitutes
Yannick Carrasco – 7.5: A blistering run and finish capped off a classy cameo.
Michy Batshuayi – 7.5: Scored barely a minute after being substituted and played in by Hazard.
Marouane Fellaini – N/A: Had little time to impact the match, with the damage already done.
GERMANY 3 SLOVAKIA 0
Hungary
Gabor Kiraly – 8: Kept the margin from blowing out in the first half, repeatedly denying De Bruyne. Could do little to blunt a white hot Hazard in the final 20 minutes.
Tamas Kadar – 7: With most of the play directed through Hazard in the center and left, he wasn’t challenged often, but defended his side well.
Roland Juhasz – 6: Teamed with Guzmics to limit Lukaku’s influence and pushed up the ground as the game went on, but an unforgivable mistake gave Belgium the early ascendancy.
Richard Guzmics – 6: Held Lukaku well but was nowhere to be seen as Alderweireld headed home from a set piece.
Adam Lang – 7: Deputising for the injured Attila Fiola, he made a number of runs down the right side and was more than capable in heavy traffic but was often turned inside out by Vertonghen.
Zoltan Gera – 4: Found no space and was too late to distribute the ball. Taken off for Elek shortly after the break.
Adam Nagy – 6: Conceded a foul with Kevin De Bruyne well and truly in range, and the kick from the set piece found the head of Alderweireld. Was generally solid thereafter.
Balazs Dzsudzsak – 6: Created and found more space than many of Hungary’s forwards. Passing wasn’t textbook, but was effective.
Adam Pinter – 5: Came in for Kleinheisler who was injured in the warm-up. Almost scored with a hopeful long range shot, but was generally poor and taken off for Nikolic with 15 minutes remaining.
Gergo Lovrencsics – 6: Wasteful early on the right, he was more influential on the left side as the match settled. Faded in the second half.
Adam Szalai – 6.5: Forced to play with his back to goal, with Alderweireld and Vermaelen closing down the space. Managed to bring his wingers into play.
Substitutes
Akos Elek – 7: Replaced Gera and immediately had a greater impact, opening up the play for Szalai.
Nemanja Nikolic – N/A: Came on for Pinter, but didn’t see much of the play in his short stint.
Daniel Bode – N/A: Came on for Juhasz late in the piece with no time to make his presence felt.
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