Belgium 0-1 Slovakia: Wasteful Red Devils suffer shock defeat in Euro opener

Ivan Schranz scored Slovakia's first goal at a major tournament on Monday, leading his team to a gruelling 1-0 victory over a wasteful Belgium in the European Championship, providing the first upset of the continental finals in Germany.

It was Belgium's first loss in 16 games under coach Domenico Tedesco, and it served as a flashback to their disastrous 2022 World Cup campaign on a day when everything that could go wrong in the Group E match did, with much of their misfortune being self-inflicted.

They had two disallowed goals from Romelu Lukaku's boot, the first for offside and the second for handball in the build-up, on a frustrating day for the burly striker, who also missed several clear-cut opportunities.

"It is a pity. The first 20 minutes we were really good and we make such a mistake for which we are punished," Belgium captain Kevin de Bruyne said.

"In the second half it was better, we upped the tempo. We deserved to win but did not score and that is the way it is."

"Apart from a few other chances we didn't give much away. We adjusted some things at halftime and then played well. We pushed, we created chances. We certainly deserved to at least a draw because we didn't play badly."

Slovakia joined Romania at the top of the standings after defeating Ukraine 3-0 in Munich earlier on Monday. Belgium face Romania in Cologne on Saturday.

There had been talk before the game that this would be a new Belgium, free of the Golden Generation label and full of young talent, but the same issues persisted.

Tedesco's side dominated the 90 minutes, but lacked a clinical touch, and when they did, they were denied by the VAR and Slovakia's scrambling defence.

Belgium were without their preferred central defensive pairing of Jan Vertonghen and Arthur Theate, and with left winger Jeremy Doku playing on the right in the first half and Yannick Carrasco as a left-wing-back, the team lacked balance.

That uncertainty led to Slovakia's opening goal, as Doku's poor ball into his own box was not dealt with by the defence, and after Juraj Kucka's effort was saved, Schranz beat Belgium keeper Koen Casteels from a tight angle with a record-breaking goal timed at six minutes and five seconds.

Belgium will feel they should have been 1-0 up by then, but Lukaku was denied from close range by Slovakia keeper Martin Dubravka following Doku's mesmerising run from his own half.

That was the first of three big chances for Lukaku, who had 17 goals in 11 games under Tedesco.

Slovakia also had opportunities. Casteels had to make a spectacular diving save from Lukas Haraslin's excellent volley before demonstrating excellent defensive discipline, with the Slovak players celebrating every tackle as if they had scored a goal.

Belgium came close again when a goalmouth scramble ended with substitute Johan Bakayoko shooting for what appeared to be a certain goal, but Slovakia defender David Hancko cleared the ball off the line.

Lois Openda then adjudged to have handled the ball after his persistent play on the left side set up Lukaku's finish.

"It's a huge victory," Dubravka said. "We worked hard and fought until the end. You need to be a little bit lucky in games like this and we were."

"We came into the tournament feeling great and this will give us plenty of strength."

SportsLigue