FIFA International Friendly | Tuesday, 2 June 2026 Stadion HNK Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia | Referee: Rade Obrenovic (SRB)
Lukaku came on in the 66th minute. By the time the final whistle went he had a goal and Belgium had a 2-0 win. That is what elite strikers do when the moment arrives.
Croatia were not bad. That needs saying first. Luka Modric played in the middle as he always does, tidy and intelligent and seemingly unbothered by the fact that most players his age retired years ago. Josko Gvardiol was solid at the back. Andrej Kramaric caused a few problems after coming on. But Belgium had the better players on the night and they punished Croatia when it counted.
Youri Tielemans got the first one in the 38th minute. No fuss about it — he picked the ball up about 25 yards out, took one look, and hit it cleanly. Livakovic got a hand to it and could not keep it out. That was the difference between a shot and a goal at this level. 1-0.
The second half was more interesting. Croatia pushed. Perisic caused Tim Castagne issues on the left. Marco Pasalic drove inside and hit one that went narrowly wide of Courtois’s post. There were ten minutes or so where the home crowd sensed something. Then Domenico Tedesco made five substitutions at once in the 66th minute — mass change, momentum killed, Belgium reset completely.
Lukaku jogged on. He had been out for weeks. There were questions about whether he would be sharp enough for the World Cup. Twenty-four minutes later those questions were answered.
Fast break. Lukaku got in behind Sutalo’s line, took a touch and drove it hard into the bottom corner. Livakovic had no chance. 2-0 in stoppage time. Done.
The Belgian bench went mad. Lukaku raised his fist and looked back at his teammates. That celebration had been building for a while.
Thibaut Courtois barely had to work all night. Three saves, none of them particularly difficult. Kevin De Bruyne ran the show in the first half before coming off with the other four at 66 minutes — Belgium protecting him ahead of the tournament rather than running him into the ground here in Rijeka. Doku was electric whenever he had space. Croatia could not really handle him.
For Modric, this was one of his final appearances in the red and white chequered shirt before the World Cup squad is finalised. He played well. Quiet in moments but always available, always finding the right pass. The stadium gave him warm applause when he was substituted. The crowd knew what they were watching. A footballer of his generation does not come around often.
Croatia were organised. Never overrun. Just lacking the cutting edge when it mattered. Musa worked hard up front with very little service. Baturina and Sucic tried to create between the lines but Belgium’s defensive structure — Witsel sweeping in front of a back three — gave them almost nothing to exploit. Zlatko Dalic will take the positives and move on. The scoreline was not what he wanted but the performance gave him things to think about.
Both teams head to North America for the World Cup in days. Belgium go into Group A alongside Spain, South Korea and whoever comes through the play-offs. Croatia face Argentina, Morocco and Iceland in what is arguably the toughest group in the tournament. These two sides could yet meet again later in the competition.
Their head-to-head record across the last five meetings is almost perfectly even — four wins each, one draw. The draw was at Qatar 2022, a 0-0 that knocked Belgium out. They will both be hoping for more this time around.
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Croatia 0-2 Belgium FIFA International Friendly | Tuesday, 2 June 2026 Stadion HNK Rijeka, Rijeka | Referee: Rade Obrenovic (SRB)
Goals: Youri Tielemans 38′ (Belgium), Romelu Lukaku 90’+2′ (Belgium)
Croatia (3-4-2-1): Livakovic; Gvardiol, Vuskovic, Sutalo; Stanisic, Kovacic, Modric, Perisic; Baturina, Sucic; Musa Subs: Kramaric, M. Pasalic, Budimir, Pongracic
Belgium (3-4-2-1): Courtois; Castagne, De Winter, Theate; Saelemaekers, Tielemans, Witsel, De Cuyper; De Bruyne, Doku; Fernandez-Pardo Subs: Lukaku 66′, Seys, Mechele, Vanaken, Meunier
Yellow Cards: 2 (Croatia) | 2 (Belgium) Stats: Possession Croatia 53.3% — Belgium 46.7% | Shots on Goal 1-3 | Attempts 4-7 | Corners 3-3 | Saves 3-1 | Half-time 0-1
