Belgium Beat Romania 2-0 To Revive Euro 2024 Campaign

Youri Tielemans breathed new life into Belgium’s Euro 2024 campaign as the Aston Villa midfielder’s goal after just 73 seconds sparked a crucial 2-0 victory against Romania on Saturday.

Domenico Tedesco’s side would have been on the brink of elimination if they had suffered a second successive Group E defeat.

But Tielemans’ second-minute strike in Cologne eased fears of yet another major tournament flop from star-studded Belgium.

Kevin De Bruyne wrapped up the points in the closing stages to leave all four teams in the group level on three points.

The stage is set for a dramatic final round of fixtures in the battle to reach the last 16.

Belgium will play against Ukraine and Romania will face Slovakia on June 26.

With 45 rungs separating the two nations in FIFA’s rankings, third-placed Belgium’s 1-0 loss to Slovakia on Monday was the biggest upset in European Championship history.

Romania ranked in 47th place, competed gamely as they chased their shock, but this time Belgium’s superior class proved decisive.

Having bowed out at the group stage of the 2022 World Cup and lost in the quarter-finals of the last two Euros, Belgium’s golden generation have given themselves fresh hope of finally delivering on their vast potential.

Romania had powered to a 3-0 win against Ukraine on Monday — their first victory in a major tournament since beating England at Euro 2000.

Despite this loss, Edward Iordanescu’s team is still in contention to make the Euro knockout stage for the first time in 24 years.

Belgium had failed to score in over 300 minutes at major tournaments since netting against Canada at the last World Cup.

They needed less than two minutes to end that drought.