Croatia 0-2 Belgium: Tielemans & Lukaku score to secure friendly win

Romelu Lukaku scored on his first Belgium appearance in almost a year as they beat Croatia 2-0 in a high-profile World Cup warm-up match in Rijeka.

Match Report 

Both managers selected strong lineups as they gear towards the tournament, with Luka Modric and Kevin De Bruyne among the star names included from the start.

But chances were few and far between throughout the first half, until Belgium captain Youri Tielemans finished neatly in the 38th minute.

The Aston Villa man swept into the bottom-right corner on his left foot after Jeremy Doku's left-wing centre deflected off Josip Sutalo and Maxim De Cuyper before landing in his path.

Modric then saw a lovely outside-of-the-boot effort turned around the post by his former Real Madrid team-mate Thibaut Courtois late in the first half, and Croatia went closer still on the hour as Ante Budimir's header crashed off the crossbar. 

The woodwork was rattled in a similar manner at the other end, with Tielemans' set-piece delivery being nodded against the bar by Hans Vanaken.

Belgium introduced Lukaku – who made just seven appearances for Napoli in 2025-26 – for the final 17 minutes, and after Croatia's Marco Pasalic went close from range, the Red Devils' all-time leading scorer raced onto Vanaken's pass to add a stoppage-time second.

Triumphant return for Lukaku

It has been a long and arduous road back to the Belgium setup for Lukaku, whose previous appearance for his country was a 4-3 win over Wales in World Cup qualifying, on June 9, 2025.

Having sustained a variety of muscle issues, Lukaku did not make a single start for Napoli in 2025-26, only playing 64 minutes in total and scoring one goal.

There is speculation he will leave the Serie A giants this summer, so if that is to be the case, the forward will be aiming to use the World Cup to prove his sharpness.

He had one shot, with an expected goals (xG) value of 0.28, against Croatia – and he took his single chance superbly.

It was a game of few clear-cut chances, with Belgium having eight shots to Croatia's five and edging the xG battle by 0.91 to 0.51.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

6' Highlight from Croatia vs Belgium

10' Match Event for Croatia vs Belgium

29' Highlight from Croatia vs Belgium

30' Match Event for Croatia vs Belgium

38' GOAL! Croatia 0-1 Belgium (Youri Tielemans)

41' Match Event for Croatia vs Belgium

43' Highlight from Croatia vs Belgium

61' Highlight from Croatia vs Belgium

68' Highlight from Croatia vs Belgium

73' Match Event for Croatia vs Belgium

88' Match Event for Croatia vs Belgium

Line-ups

Croatia XI: Modric, Perisic, Kovacic, D. Livaković, Petar Musa, Stanisic, Josip Sutalo, Gvardiol, Petar Sučić, Martin Baturina, Luka Vuskovic

Subs: Budimir, Kramaric, Pasalic, Caleta-Car, Vlasic, Nikola Moro, Martin Erlić, Kristijan Jakic, Marin Pongracic, Kotarski, Ivor Pandur, Luka Sucic, Marco Pašalić, Toni Fruk, Igor Matanovic

Belgium XI: Courtois, De Bruyne, Tielemans, Nicolas Raskin, Alexis Saelemaekers, Amadou Onana, Maxim De Cuyper, De Ketelaere, Doku, Nathan Ngoy, Arthur Theate

Subs: Witsel, Lukaku, Meunier, Vanaken, Mechele, Castagne, Dodi Lukébakio, Senne Lammens, Koni De Winter, Diego Moreira, Matias Fernandez-Pardo, Mike Penders, Joaquin Seys