Belgium flex their muscles

Belgium showed their attacking talent was in fine fettle with a 5-2 thumping of Tunisia to move closer to the last-16 of the World Cup on Saturday.

Strikers Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard scored two goals each for Belgium, who are on top of Group G with six points from two victories.

Lukaku drew level with Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the list of scorers with four goals, having netted twice in their first match against Panama. 

Lukaku’s double was the first time that a player has scored two or more goals in consecutive World Cup games since Argentine great Diego Maradona achieved the feat in 1986.

Belgium captain Hazard scored in either half, including an early penalty, before substitute Michy Batshuayi put the cherry on the cake with their fifth. Tunisia’s consolation goals came from defender Dylan Bronn and captain Wahbi Khazri. On Friday, Switzerland courted controversy when their scorers in their 2-1 win over Serbia — Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri — used political gestures to celebrate their goals.

Both Shaqiri and Xhaka come from ethnic Albanian families from Kosovo, a former Serbian province, and their ‘double eagle’ gesture — representing the Albanian flag — was slammed by the Serbian media.