Hungary 0-4 Belgium: EURO 2016 Round of 16 Report

Belgium set up a Euro 2016 quarter-final tie against Wales after they comfortably beat Hungary 4-0 in the round of 16 in Toulouse.

Toby Alderweireld opened the scoring with a header from Kevin De Bruyne’s free-kick, before second half goals from Michy Batshuayi, the brilliant Eden Hazard, and Yannick Carrasco completed a routine win for the Belgians, who will now face Wales in the last eight.

Hungary initially made three changes to the side that drew 3-3 with Portugal, with Tomas Kadar, Adam Nagy and Laszlo Kleinheisler coming in for Mihaly Korhut, Akos Elek and Adam Pinter, however Pinter came back into the starting XI following an injury to Kleinheisler in the warm-up.

Meanwhile, Belgium made one alteration to the XI that started against Sweden, with Dries Mertens coming in to replace Yannick Carrasco.

Marc Wilmots’ men started brightly and had plenty of possession, and went close to an opener in the sixth minute when Eden Hazard broke away but just failed to find Romelu Lukaku, before De Bruyne floated the ball back in towards the Everton striker, but his effort was deflected wide.

But Belgium did take a deserved lead in the 10th minute, when De Bruyne’s brilliant free-kick from the left was headed home by an unmarked Toby Alderweireld.

Five minutes later, it should have been 2-0 when Lukaku played a brilliant pass through to De Bruyne, but the Manchester City man could only hit a low effort straight at Gabor Kiraly.

Belgium and their goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, did suffer a scare when the Chelsea stopper slipped after the ball had been played back to him, but fortunately it carried on past the post.

Hungary had their first real effort at goal in the 24th minute, as Balazs Dzsudzsak hit a low effort from the edge of the area that was smothered by Courtois.

Eden Hazard put in an incredible performance as Belgium ran out 4-1 winners. Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Belgium then had another chance to increase their advantage 10 minutes before the interval when Mertens was brought down on the edge of the area by Kadar.

De Bruyne stepped up and his free-kick was fantastically tipped onto the crossbar by the oldest player in European Championship finals history – Kiraly.

Gergo Lovrencsics was the next to shoot from range for Hungary, but his 30-yard effort flew inches over Courtois’ crossbar, before Hazard and Mertens were then both denied by the Hungarian defence as Belgium went in at the break with just a one-goal lead.

Seconds into the second half, Belgium went close again when Kiraly saved well from Hazard, but the Chelsea winger’s corner was cleared.

Lukaku then fed De Bruyne again, but the attacking midfielder could only scuff his shot, before Hungary went close to finding an equaliser.

Dzsudzsak’s fantastic cross from the left found Adam Szalai, but the striker’s header deflected off of Thomas Vermaelen and went behind for a corner.

Hungary again went close in the 66th minute, when Szalai’s deflected shot was palmed over by Courtois, before Roland Juhasz’s low effort whistled just wide of the far post.

12 minutes from time, Belgium did wrap up the win when Hazard broke down the left and fired in a low cross for substitute Michy Batshuayi, who had only been on the pitch a matter of seconds, to tap home from six yards with his first touch.

Two minutes later, Wilmots’ men had a third goal, and it was Hazard who got the goal that his fantastic performance on the night deserved.

The Chelsea man collected the ball on the left, cut into the box on his right foot at pace, before curling a fantastic low effort past Kiraly into the far corner – ending a personal run of 716 minutes without a goal in major tournament football.

Belgium still had time to add a fourth as another substitute, Yannick Carrasco, broke free before finishing low past Kiraly.

Man of the Match: Eden Hazard (Belgium)

The Chelsea forward was unplayable, and a constant threat to the Hungarian defence. The Belgium captain brilliantly set up Batshuayi for his nation’s first goal, before he scored a brilliant solo goal himself, breaking into the area on his right foot and curling the ball past Kiraly.

We may not have seen the best of Hazard during the Premier League season, but if he shows this form throughout the rest of the tournament Belgium will fancy themselves to win Euro 2016.

What’s Next?

Belgium will face Wales in the quarter-finals in Lille on Friday night, while Hungary will go home proud and look to take their positive performances into their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.