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- Belgium 7-0 Liechtenstein: Doku and De Ketelaere star in thumping win
Belgium 7-0 Liechtenstein: Doku and De Ketelaere star in thumping win
Belgium secured their spot at the 2026 World Cup in some style as they ran riot against Liechtenstein at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne.
Jeremy Doku and Charles De Ketelaere both scored twice as Belgium stormed to a 7-0 victory over Liechtenstein to secure their spot at the 2026 World Cup.
After a disappointing 1-1 draw with Kazakhstan forced Belgium to wait to secure qualification, they made a fast start on Tuesday, with Hans Vanaken nodding a deflected cross in from close range after just three minutes.
Vanaken then missed two chances to add to Belgium's lead before Youri Tielemans slashed a low effort across goal, which was dealt with by Andreas Malin.
Jeremy Doku continued his fine recent form with a seven-minute double. He drilled his first into the bottom-right corner in the 34th minute before then latching onto a loose clearance and skipping to the edge of the box to pick out the same spot for his second.
Emanuel Zund then hit his own post before Belgium well and truly put the game out of sight with four goals in the space of seven second-half minutes, with De Ketelaere heavily involved.
He set up the Red Devils' fourth without knowing much about it, stooping to reach the ball, only for it to bounce off his back for Brandon Mechele to poke it home 52 minutes in.
Alexis Saelemaekers then made up for missing a golden opportunity in the first half, volleying in the rebound from Tielemans' saved strike.
De Ketelaere then wrapped up the scoring with a quick-fire brace, finishing off a counter-attack with a powerful shot past Benjamin Buchel before deflecting Thomas Meunier's bouncing strike past the goalkeeper shortly after.
Data Debrief: Belgium right the wrongs
Doku was critical of Belgium's performance against Kazakhstan, but he was a big part of making sure they secured top spot in Group J.
Rudi Garcia's side had 23 shots against Liechtenstein, with 13 of those on target (3.13 expected goals), with Doku and De Ketelaere scoring with both of their efforts on target.
Belgium are now undefeated in their last 27 World Cup qualifiers, their longest unbeaten streak (since at least 2010), while Liechtenstein finished the qualifying campaign as the only European team not to score. They conceded 31 goals going the other way.













