Belgium come from behind to beat Denmark as tributes paid to Christian Eriksen

Belgium needed to turn around a half-time deficit to beat Belgium at Euro 2020.

Yussuf Poulsen gave Denmark the lead inside the first two minutes but Thorgan Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne scored in the second half to lead Belgium to victory.

Play stopped in the 10th minute as tributes were paid to Christian Eriksen, who is recovering after a collapse during Denmark’s opener against Finland.

The result means Belgium qualify for the second round with a game to spare and they will top Group B if they avoid defeat to Finland.

For Denmark, they remain bottom of the group and need to defeat Russia to give themselves a chance of qualifying.

Leipzig striker Poulsen gave Denmark the lead within 99 seconds when he made the most of a Jason Denayer error to power the ball into the bottom corner.

Belgium were not at their best until the second half and Denmark could have doubled the lead in the fifth minute when Joakim Maehle’s shot was well saved by Thibaut Courtois.

Mikkel Damsgaard then had a chance as he dribbled through the Belgium defence but his shot went narrowly wide.

De Bruyne was not fit enough to start after an eye injury obtained during the Champions League final but made an instant impact when he was introduced at halftime. He slipped the ball through to Thorgan Hazard who steered the ball in to equalise.

Eden Hazard was also kept on the bench due to injury but came on as Belgium hunted for a winner.

That winner came 20 minutes from time through a moment of magic from De Bruyne. The Manchester City man fired inside the left post from the edge of the box.

Martin Braithwaite came within inches of rescuing a point for Denmark late on when his header hit the bar and Mathias Jensen sent the ball just wide of the top right corner.

Cover Photo: “Belgium Flag” by fdecomite is licensed under CC BY 2.0