Slovakia stun Belgium after VAR drama! Five things we learned

Slovakia pulled off a big upset in Group E of Euro 2024 by beating Belgium 1-0 in Frankfurt.

Ivan Schanz’s first-half strike was enough to secure the victory for Slovakia over a wasteful Belgium side, who had a late goal disallowed for hand ball, to go level on points with Romania after their earlier victory over Ukraine.

Here are five things we learned from the game…

Time for Openda?

It was a day to forget for Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian striker was often seen pointing his hands towards the spot where he wanted the ball when it did not arrive, but when he did get it, he was very wasteful. The 31-year-old missed a golden chance on when picked out with a great ball over the top from Yannick Carrasco but got it horribly wrong and ended up side-footing the ball out of play, and was guilty of wasting more good chances too. He thought he had won it late on when he struck past Martin Dubravka, only for it to be ruled out for a handball by substitute Lois Openda in the build up.

If Belgium did not have a viable back-up option, you could understand boss Domenico Tedesco sticking with the veteran forward but in Openda, he has a striker who scored 28 times in 45 games in all competitions for RB Leipzig last season. He was brought on with just six minutes remaining against Slovakia and showed how he can impact a game by setting up Lukaku and was unlucky to see it disallowed. Perhaps it is time to look to the future and give him more of a chance.

A battle of the wide players

A huge factor in deciding the game was the impact of both teams’ sets of wide players. Man City’s Jeremy Doku and Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard ultimately failed to have the attacking influence Belgium needed, with both, while causing problems with their pace and directness, were guilty of some bad decision making in the final third which cost them. Lukaku will get most of the headlines for where it went wrong for Belgium, but neither of their wide players did much to help him. Slovakia, meanwhile, had a goal from right-winger Schranz to thank for their victory while on the opposite flank, Lukas Haraslin was also solid.

Error prone Belgium

Tedesco’s side had more than enough chances to get something from the game but ultimately it is a mistake that has cost them. Jeremy Doku’s wayward pass on seven minutes led to Schranz finishing well from a tight angle to put Slovakia in front and it was not the only occasion where Belgium were guilty of making basic errors. Mistakes were made in the attacking third when it came to picking out a team-mate and also in their own half, with Wout Faes among those guilty of some sloppy passing.

Heroic Slovakian defending

Slovakia rode their luck at times but defended heroically to pull off a shock victory, most of all when Feyernood left-back David Hancko brilliantly got back on the line to clear away substitute Johan Bakayoko’s effort. Goalkeeper Martin Dubravka was also immense in goal and while clearly lacking the individual quality of Belgium, they managed to record a monumental victory thanks to some terrific actions at the back.

VAR drama

VAR played a big part in the outcome of the game, with Lukaku twice having goals ruled out. The first was rightly chalked off because of offside but the second one was much more controversial, with the ball striking Openda on the hand in the build up to the goal, which the referee deemed enough to rule it out. A big decision and one Belgium will feel very hard done by.

FEATURED IMAGE: THOMAS KIENZLE/GETTY IMAGES VIA ONE FOOTBALL