European Championship Qualifying
BelgiumBelgium6CyprusCyprus1

Belgium 6-1 Cyprus: Roberto Martinez's side end qualifying with perfect record

Kevin de Bruyne scores
Kevin de Bruyne has now scored 19 goals for Belgium

Belgium concluded their successful Euro 2020 qualifying campaign with an emphatic win over Cyprus in Brussels.

Kevin de Bruyne scored twice for the hosts, who surprisingly fell behind to Nicholas Ioannou's fine strike.

Christian Benteke levelled with the first of his two goals, as Yannick Carrasco and an own goal by Kypros Christoforou added to the scoring.

Roberto Martinez's side finish top of Group I after scoring 40 goals and winning all 10 of their matches.

Belgium, who have never lost to Cyrpus, have now won 14 of their 16 matches since finishing third at the World Cup finals in Russia in 2018.

Despite being stunned when Ioannou scored a superb individual goal, for much of the match Belgium looked irresistible as they swept forward at every opportunity.

De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Carrasco all came to the fore, while Benteke, who recently ended his international goal drought against San Marino, could on another occasion have registered at least a hat-trick.

The only slight concern for Martinez will have been the ease with which Ioannou raced through to score, with Jan Vertonghen's absence from the backline clearly felt.

However, while Cyprus became only the second team to score against Belgium in the group, Martinez's side go into next summer's tournament with the joint best defensive record of any qualifying nation after conceding just three goals.

Line-ups

Belgium

Formation 3-4-3

  • 12Mignolet
  • 2Alderweireld
  • 5Denayer
  • 15Cobbaut
  • 16T Hazard
  • 18Vanaken
  • 8Tielemans
  • 11Carrasco
  • 7De BruyneSubstituted forPraetat 68'minutes
  • 20BentekeSubstituted forOrigiat 80'minutes
  • 10E HazardSubstituted forVerschaerenat 64'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Courtois
  • 3Mechele
  • 4Dendoncker
  • 6Witsel
  • 9Lukaku
  • 13Sels
  • 14Mertens
  • 17Origi
  • 19Praet
  • 21Castagne
  • 22Verschaeren
  • 23Batshuayi

Cyprus

Formation 5-3-2

  • 22Michael
  • 8Kyriakou
  • 19Christoforou
  • 4MerkisBooked at 19mins
  • 3IoannouSubstituted forKousoulosat 67'minutes
  • 14Wheeler
  • 16SpoljaricSubstituted forEfremat 79'minutes
  • 18Artymatas
  • 20Kastanos
  • 17KostiSubstituted forPapoulisat 81'minutes
  • 10Sotiriou

Substitutes

  • 1Pardo
  • 2Theodorou
  • 5Pittas
  • 6Demetriou
  • 7Efrem
  • 9Zachariou
  • 11Avraam
  • 12Kissas
  • 13Kousoulos
  • 15Papoulis
  • 21Ioannou
  • 23Economides
Referee:
Jørgen Burchardt
Attendance:
40,568

Match Stats

Home TeamBelgiumAway TeamCyprus
Possession
Home61%
Away39%
Shots
Home18
Away8
Shots on Target
Home12
Away1
Corners
Home7
Away2
Fouls
Home11
Away2

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Belgium 6, Cyprus 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Belgium 6, Cyprus 1.

  3. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Kostakis Artymatas (Cyprus) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

  4. Post update

    Foul by Youri Tielemans (Belgium).

  5. Post update

    Grigoris Kastanos (Cyprus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  6. Post update

    Offside, Cyprus. Kostakis Artymatas tries a through ball, but Charalambos Kyriakou is caught offside.

  7. Post update

    Attempt missed. Kostakis Artymatas (Cyprus) left footed shot from long range on the right misses to the left. Assisted by Charalambos Kyriakou.

  8. Post update

    Foul by Divock Origi (Belgium).

  9. Post update

    Giorgios Merkis (Cyprus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  10. Post update

    Attempt missed. Charalambos Kyriakou (Cyprus) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Fotios Papoulis with a cross following a set piece situation.

  11. Post update

    Foul by Thorgan Hazard (Belgium).

  12. Post update

    Grigoris Kastanos (Cyprus) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  13. Post update

    Foul by Yannick Carrasco (Belgium).

  14. Post update

    Kostakis Artymatas (Cyprus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  15. Substitution

    Substitution, Cyprus. Fotios Papoulis replaces Ioannis Kosti.

  16. Substitution

    Substitution, Belgium. Divock Origi replaces Christian Benteke.

  17. Substitution

    Substitution, Cyprus. Giorgios Efrem replaces Matija Spoljaric.

  18. Post update

    Offside, Belgium. Yari Verschaeren tries a through ball, but Yannick Carrasco is caught offside.

  19. Post update

    Corner, Belgium. Conceded by Kypros Christoforou.

  20. Post update

    Attempt saved. Christian Benteke (Belgium) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Yannick Carrasco.

As It Stood

A

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1England87013763121
2Czech Rep85031311215
3Kosovo83231316-311
4Bulgaria8134617-116
5Montenegro8035322-193

B

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Ukraine86201741320
2Portugal85212261617
3Serbia84221717014
4Luxembourg8116716-94
5Lithuania8017525-201

C

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Germany87013072321
2Netherlands86112471719
3Northern Ireland8413913-413
4Belarus8116416-124
5Estonia8017226-241

D

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Switzerland85211961317
2Denmark84402361716
3Republic of Ireland834175213
4Georgia8224711-48
5Gibraltar8008331-280

E

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Croatia85211771017
2Wales8422106414
3Slovakia84131311213
4Hungary8404811-312
5Azerbaijan8017518-131

F

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Spain108203152626
2Sweden106312391421
3Norway104511911817
4Romania104241715214
5Faroe Islands10109430-263
6Malta10109327-243

G

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Poland108111851325
2Austria106131991019
3North Macedonia104241213-114
4Slovenia104241611514
5Israel103251618-211
6Latvia10109328-253

H

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1France108112561925
2Turkey107211831523
3Iceland106131411319
4Albania104151614213
5Andorra10118320-174
6Moldova10109426-223

I

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Belgium1010004033730
2Football Union of Russia108023382524
3Scotland105051619-315
4Cyprus103161520-510
5Kazakhstan103161317-410
6San Marino100010151-500

J

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Italy1010003743330
2Finland106041610618
3Greece104241214-214
4Bos-Herze104152017313
5Armenia103161425-1110
6Liechtenstein10028231-292
View full European Championship Qualifying tables