On Tuesday, Belgium finished a rough few days with a 3-0 victory against Estonia in their Euro 2024 Group F qualifier. Stand-in skipper Romelu Lukaku scored twice in three minutes, while Johan Bakayoko scored his first international goal. The win was Belgium’s first since the beginning of the month.
Before the game, the away team was shaken up by an argument between their new head coach Domenico Tedesco and their senior goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. As a result, the away team got off to a sluggish start, and Romelu Lukaku capitalized on the situation by scoring two goals from close range at the end of the first half.
Austria is in first place in the pool with 10 points after playing in all four games; Belgium is in second place with seven points after playing in all three matches. Estonia has accumulated just one point from their three matches thus far.
Lukaku gave Belgium the lead when he headed in a cross from the right by Aster Vranckx from a distance of six yards. Three minutes later, Lukaku made it 2-0 when he scored on a low cross from the left. Bakayoko scored a late third goal with a beautiful finish off his left foot.
The victory came after a turbulent build-up to the fixture, which was caused by a war of words between Tedesco and Courtois, which has not been settled and has caused Courtois’s future in international competition to be uncertain.
Tedesco stated on Monday that the goalie refused to come to Estonia because he felt humiliated when Lukaku was chosen captain for the 1-1 draw with Austria that took place over the weekend at their home stadium in the absence of usual skipper Kevin De Bruyne, who was out with an injury.
Courtois, however, has vehemently refuted this claim, claiming that he is currently recovering from a knee ailment and that he was told by medical professionals to sit out the game.