Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne celebrates scoring after his side’s third goal during the international friendly soccer match between Germany and Belgium at the RheinEnergieStadion. Federico Gambarini/dpaKevin De Bruyne scored one goal and provided two assists to guide Belgium to a 3-2 victory against Germany in a friendly on Tuesday.
A late goal from Serge Gnabry didn’t help as the Germans struggled to plug the gaps in their defense in the first half, in which the Belgians found the net twice in three minutes.
Yannick Carrasco broke the deadlock in the 6th minute after a long pass from De Bruyne, who then assisted Romelu Lukaku’s shot in the 9th minute.
Belgium could have gone into the break with a bigger lead, but, instead, Germany managed to come from behind just before the break through Niclas Füllkrug from the penalty spot after Lukaku flicked the ball inside the box.
Timo Werner looked to have equalized in the 59th minute but his goal was disallowed for offside. Instead, De Bruyne capped off his performance in the 78th minute with a goal and Gnabry’s goal in the 87th minute for Germany’s double came too late.
While many European national teams are playing Euro 2024 qualifiers, Germany has opted to play friendlies during the international break as they automatically qualify for the tournament as hosts.
Belgium, on the other hand, are second in Group F after one match win. They continue their campaign on June 17 against league leaders Austria.
Germany’s Serge Gnabry (C) shoots on goal against Belgium’s Arthur Theate during the international friendly soccer match between Germany and Belgium at the RheinEnergieStadion. Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
Belgium’s Alexis Saelemaekers (R) and Germany’s Serge Gnabry battle for the ball during the international friendly soccer match between Germany and Belgium at the RheinEnergieStadion. Christian Charisius/dpa
