In a twist of fate in Frankfurt, Belgium flubbed a host of opportunities while Romelu Lukaku saw two of his goals nixed by VAR on Monday.
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Belgium fumbled the chance to lead multiple times, allowing Slovakia to snag a startling 1-0 victory in Group E of Euro 2024.
Despite Lukaku’s efforts to balance the score during the second half, both of his goals were annulled following VAR reviews.
The match kicked off with Slovakia taking an early lead by the seventh minute, courtesy of Ivan Schranz. He coolly sniped what became the quickest goal for his nation in a major scratch, thanks to Jeremy Doku’s blunder spilling trouble for Belgium.
Before the fateful shot, Belgium had botched two pristine shots at goal. Lukaku failed a close-range takedown of Martin Dubravka, and Leandro Trossard couldn’t spot the striker lurking in a swath of open turf.
After halftime, the theme of missed chances persisted. Lukaku’s tap-in from an Amadou Onana setup was disallowed for offside by VAR, adding to the frustration.
Johan Bakayoko almost altered the scoreboard but had his shot cleared right off the line. Belgium’s agony climaxed when Lukaku’s late-game strike, fed by Lois Openda, was invalidated for a controversial handball, handing the heavyweight squad an unexpected knockout.
Data Debrief: A Stroke of Unfortunate Events for the Devils
Evoking memories of misfired opportunities against Spain in Euro 2020’s quarter-finals, Lukaku missed numerous prime chances, exacerbated by his misfortune with two goals getting scrubbed.
Despite generating 1.9 expected goals—0.8 attributable to Lukaku—fortune did not favor the Red Devils. They now hold the third spot in Group E, level with Slovakia and Romania each clutching three points after Slovakia’s caper created the opening shock of Euro 2024.
This marks Belgium’s first loss since their defeat to Morocco on 27 November 2022 during the World Cup group stage, thus ending their second-longest undefeated streak of 15 matches (W10 D5).
