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Belgium V Romania: Euro 2024 – Live

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28 mins: Marius Marin brings down De Bruyne midway inside the Romania half. I think the Romania midfielder might need a plan B if he wants to stay on the pitch.

26 mins: There is a delay while Mihăilă is treated for some unknown injury but it looks like a cunning ploy to get a break in play to me.

“If they can keep this defensive display up I think Romania well worth getting an Italian style equalizer against the run of play,” suggests Joshua Reynolds.

24 mins: Belgian reach the box again. Doku gets into a very dangerous position six yards from goal but he is held up by the defence.

De Bruyne is the next to try his luck but his cross is turned behind for a corner. The Manchester City man goes over to take it but Nita plucks it out of the sky.

Romania break up the pitch through Mihăilă who gets into the box but struggles to get the ball out of his feet. He falls over and looks for a penalty but nothing is happening. In the end, Belgium get a free-kick.

22 mins: Romania get a corner on the left. They’ve looked dangerous from set-pieces thus far. This one is off the training ground but it does not really work, concluding with a wayward shot from Mihăilă.

20 mins: A well-worked corner creates a good chance for Vertonghen but he slams his shot wide from 10 yards.

Tielemans is down after getting caught in the back of the head. It does not seem serious. To get his own back, he takes down Razvan Marin seconds later.

18 mins: Lukebakio is blocked off by Marius Marin who is lucky to escape without a booking. I am not sure Romania have a plan of how to stop the wingers legally.

Romania struggle to clear a cross, eventually sending the ball as far as Onana on the edge of the box but his shot is poor.

WHAT A SAVE! De Bruyne shows his class to breeze through the Romanian defence before picking out Lukebakio on the right. He cuts in and takes aim, forcing a great stop from Nita to his right.

16 mins: Lukebakio and Doku are the liveliest of wing duos are this tournament. They will be turning people inside and out for a while.

14 mins: Lukaku receives a Doku pass around eight yards from goal, he spins and shoots but a last-ditch tackle sends the ball behind for a corner. It should be 2-0.

“I always picked Romania over England at international tournaments as a kid as they were the underdogs and my English dad was an a**e while my Romanian mum is very excellent,” says Paul Curievici. “1998 and 2000 were great matches but 2000 was the first tournament I was old enough to watch in a pub and in retrospect I would have been wise to keep a lower profile.”

Welcome to my daughter’s world.

12 mins: Belgium are controlling the match now, keeping the ball with relative ease and looking to find a gap in the yellow wall in front of them. Romania know they will need to work hard to stay in this.

Doku tries to trick the full-back but he hold his ground, forcing him to pass back to Tielemans, whose shot from 20 yards is blocked.

10 mins: Neither side are offering an inch. Lukebakio gets taken down near the touchline but nothing is given despite it definitely being a foul. He gets up gingerly and seems OK to continue.

8 mins: Everyone is looking up for this. De Bruyne chases a ball over the top but Nita reaches it first, and is clattered by the Belgian for good measure. It all ends amicably.

6 mins: It’s been a lively start.

“Is it fair to make a comparison between two sets of Red Devils?” asks Charles Antaki. “One is a team with a crazily disappointing recent record, burdened by history, with one or two stars who flicker rather than shine, and who look across with envy at their more glamorous and more successful neighbours. The other one is, of course, the Belgian national team.”

4 mins: The Romanians in the crowd are massively up for this and the players know they need a response. They win a corner on the right. It is well worked and eventually goes into the box from the opposite flank, allowing Dragusin to head at goal, only to see Casteels stick up an arm to tip over.

GOAL! Belgium have scored at a major tournament. Belgium start with great intensity and look dangerous from the off. Doku passes the ball to Lukaku who holds it up and lays it off to Tielemans who lashes the ball home from 18 yards. Belgium are up and running.

GOAL! Belgium 1-0 Romania (Tielemans, 2)A clean strike from the edge of the box.

Youri Tielemans of Belgium scores his team’s first goal. Photograph: Alex Grimm/Getty ImagesKick offPeep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!

Red v yellow is a glorious look on the pitch. I am in favour of the kits.

“I remember the Romanian connection probably from the last Euros,” says Krishna. “One of my friends Bogdan currently living in Belgium is at the ground today and I told him ‘I hope you do not lose by more than 2 goals” and he quipped ‘I am the winner whoever wins’.”

Everyone is very keen to state that Belgium have not scored in their past three matches at major tournaments. Will that change tonight?

I wrote about Doku a while back, including some insight from his Belgian youth coach.

“What are you trying to do, stir up regional conflict?” asks Joe Pearson. “The fan in the Belgian Fries hat clearly is attacking the French gastronomic hegemony. I hope this doesn’t mean broader conflict.

“Also, did the missus write your Preamble for you, as you have said your Romanian is ‘awful’.”

Belgium will need to get out of the group before they can have any conflict with France. Who knows who wrote?

Seems ‘Patate’ is all the rage!! Let’s just do this. Photograph: Andreea Alexandru/APBig Ange is on ITV, too. What a get for the lads.

Ange Postecoglou speaking very well here, I think

— Adam Hurrey (@FootballCliches) June 22, 2024 As my daughter is half Romanian, she was offered the opportunity to select who she wants to support this tournament and she picked Romania over England. Will it pay off?

Some pre-match reading from the Guardian’s very own Karen Carney on England. She is about to do some punditry on this match, I am assured.

Starting lineupsBelgium (4-2-3-1): Casteels; Castagne, Faes, Vertonghen, Theate; Tielemans, Onana; Lukebakio, De Bruyne, Doku, Lukaku

Subs: Kaminski, Sels, Debüts, Trossard, Carrasco, Vranckx, De Ketelaere, Mangala, Openda, Vermeeren, De Cuyper

Romania (4-1-4-1): Nita; Ratiu, Dragusin, Burca, Bancu; M Marin; Man, R Marin, Stanciu, Mihăilă; Dragus

Subs: Moldovan, Tarnovanu, Rus, Nedelcearu, Alibec, Cicaldau, Pușcaș, Hagi, Olaru, Coman, Magos, Sorescu, Racovitan, Birligea, Sut


Referee: Szymon Marciniak

There will be around 25,000 Romanians in the stands in Cologne, bringing a sea of yellow. The Belgians, however, will not be outdone.

A Belgium fan in something akin to fancy dress in the stands. Photograph: Andreea Alexandru/APLearn a bit more about a new era of football in Romania with your friend and mine Nick Ames.

PreambleThese two sides endured and enjoyed a surprising opening round of fixtures as Belgium were beaten by Slovakia, while Romania gave Ukraine a shock 3-0 defeat. Despite their contrasting efforts last time around, everyone is expecting the Belgians to come away from Cologne with three points and their Euros campaign up and running.

Football, however, is not always that easy and Romania will sense a bit of weakness in the Red Devils. They will be high on confidence and eager to cause a second upset.

Kevin De Bruyne et al might claim to be a touch tired from a season of club success but they have never lived up to the hype at international level. It would seem the days of the golden generation has passed and we await to see if this group can trouble the latter stages.

Au trecut de mult zilele lui Gheorghe Hagi si Gheorghe Popescu. Echipa Romaniei are o noua generatie de jucatori care a dat suporterilor sperante pentru etapa urmatoare. Hai Romania!

Here’s to a cracker.

Kick-off 8pm BST

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