Belgium achieved an impressive 2-0 victory over Croatia in the penultimate friendly round of the World Cup. World Cup 2026.
The Red Devils were knocked out at the group stage in 2022, but raised hopes of an improved performance in the expanded 48-team North American tournament with an away win in Rijeka.
Croatia, runners-up in 2018 and third in 2022, are not expected to make it that far this time around, and fell behind seven minutes before half-time when Youri Tielemans scored Belgium’s first goal.
Romelu Lukaku scored his 90th goal for Belgium in stoppage time, slotting the ball home after a quick counter-attack, as Rudi Garcia’s men went 12 games unbeaten before their final pre-tournament friendly against Tunisia on Saturday.
Ghana’s final friendly match before the World Cup ended in frustration, as they conceded a stoppage-time equaliser, in a 1-1 draw with Wales.
Caleb Yerenecki scored first off a rebound in the 66th minute after Karl Darlow denied Ernest Nehme a save at the end of a remarkable individual drive.
But Ghana were denied their first win under Carlos Queiroz, with Luis Comas scoring the equalizer with a header in the 94th minute.
Elsewhere, Morocco beat ten-man Madagascar 4-0 in Rabat.
Ismael Sibari, who has reportedly agreed personal terms with Bayern Munich, scored twice in the first half to set the North African side apart in style before traveling to North America.
