Belgium come from behind to beat Wales 3-1

Football - World Cup Qualifiers Europe - Group E - Belgium v Wales - Den Dreef, Leuven, Belgium - March 24, 2021, Belgium's Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring their third goal with teammates. [REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol]

Belgium shrugged off an early scare to see off Wales 3-1 and make a winning start to their World Cup qualifying campaign on Wednesday.

Harry Wilson gave Wales a surprise 10th-minute lead in their opening Group E match at Den Dreef in Leuven but the top-ranked Belgium came from behind to win the game with goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Thorgan Hazard and Romelu Lukaku.

It continued the dominant performances in qualifying competition for Belgium, who won all 10 group games in their 2020 European Championship preliminaries and nine of 10, drawing the other, in the qualifiers for the last World Cup in Russia, where they reached the semi-finals.

De Bruyne equalised with a shot from outside the penalty area in the 22nd minute and Hazard headed Belgium into the lead six minutes later. Lukaku added a 73rd-minute penalty to extend his goalscoring record for his country to 58 goals. 

Other matches [Photo: Courtesy]