Belgium vs Romania Preview & Prediction | UEFA EURO 2024 | Group Stage

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On Monday, Belgium suffered a shock defeat to Slovakia to leave themselves in a perilous position ahead of the second group stage match day, whilst Romania produced a stunningly surprising performance to hammer Ukraine in Munich.

KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 22^nd June, 2024 - UK – 8:00pm / US EST – 3:00pm / US PST – 12:00pm

HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – ITV / US – FOX

HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – ITVX / US – VIX

BELGIUM PREVIEW: FAMILIAR FAILINGS

Domenico Tedesco took over the Belgian national team after their group stage exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup and had the task of evolving the failed ‘golden generation’ that was led by Roberto Martinez. The Belgians have proved themselves to be functional and difficult to play against since his appointment but that was undone in their opener.

After just six minutes, Ivan Schranz pounced on a defensive error to give the Slovakians a shock lead and despite Belgium huffing and puffing for the rest of the match, as well as having two Romelu Lukaku goals chalked off, they couldn’t find a route back into the game. That means the pressure really is on Group E’s top seeds.

ROMANIA PREVIEW: A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

After coming into the tournament on the back of goalless draw against Liechtenstein and Bulgaria, which followed on from a qualifying campaign in which Romania scored just 15 goals in ten matches with six of those strikes coming against Andorra, them putting three past Ukraine earlier on on Monday was arguably a bigger upset.

Nicolae Stanciu scored the Romanians’ opener in that game with an excellent long-range strike following an error from Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Lunin. It was then 2-0 shortly after half-time when Razvan Marin produced his own long-range effort, again with Lunin at fault, before Denis Dragus tapped home a third following a neat move between Stanciu and Dennis Man.

BELGIUM TEAM NEWS: FINDING A FORMULA

Belgium were unbalanced and disjointed from the off against Slovakia and Domenico Tedesco may well take the decision to rush back both Jan Vertonghen and Arthur Theate from injury concerns. Youri Tielemans and Johan Bakayoko may also come in to give Belgian a bit more thrust and incision in the final third.

PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Casteels; Castagne, Faes, Vertonghen, Theate; Tielemans, Onana; Bakayoko, De Bruyne, Doku; Lukaku

UNAVAILABLE:

QUESTIONABLE: Vertonghen (Injured), Theate (Injured)

ROMANIA TEAM NEWS: REPETITION FOR ROMANIA

Romania went into their opener without striker Denis Alibec but his replacement, Denis Dragus, performed well and got himself a goal. Changes were made in the second-half with Alexandru Cicaldau and Valentin Mihaila staking their claim but it would seem unusual for Edward Iordanescu to make any changes to his starting eleven.

PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Nita; Ratiu, Dragusin, Burca, Bancu; R. Marin, M. Marin; Man, Stanciu, Coman; Dragus

UNAVAILABLE: Alibec (Injured)

QUESTIONABLE:

KEY STATS

• This is the first meeting between Belgium and Romania since 11/11/11 when Belgium came out on top 2-1 in a friendly match in Liege. The overall head-to-head record in their previous 11 encounters is Belgium wins = 5, Romania wins = 4, draws = 2. The pair have never met in a major international final tournament.
• The only previous competitive matches between Belgium and Romania were in the qualifying tournament for the 1994 World Cup, both teams won their home fixture and subsequently went on to qualify for the finals.
• Belgium have never lost their first two matches in a EURO final tournament group.
• Prior to their defeat against Slovakia, Belgium had won their last five EURO group stage matches since a 2-0 defeat against Italy in their opening match at EURO 2016.
• Belgium 1-0 loss against Slovakia is their only defeat in their last 16 matches (W10 D5).
• Belgium have drawn only two of their previous 23 EURO matches. Their last draw was against Italy at the 1980 finals (18 games played since then).
• Thomas Meunier, Yannick Carrasco, Axel Witsel have all made nine EURO appearances for Belgium. The only Belgian players to reach the landmark of ten prior to this match are Romelu Lukaku (11), Kevin De Bruyne (10) and Thibaut Courtois (10).
• Romania recorded their biggest victory in a EURO final tournament match when they won 3-0 against Ukraine. It was only their second success in a EURO match after their 3-2 win against England at EURO 2000.
• Romania are aiming to win successive EURO matches for the first time.
• Prior to the 3-0 win against Ukraine, Romania’s only previous clean sheet in a EURO final tournament match was in a 0-0 draw against France at EURO 2008.
• Romania have kept seven clean sheets in their last ten international matches.

BELGIUM VS ROMANIA PREDICTION

Had Monday not taken place, this one would’ve seemed like one of the more one-sided match-ups in the group stages of UEFA EURO 2024 but now there is a real chance that Romania could progress into the Round of 16 and put Belgium on the brink of elimination instead. Belgium created and showed enough to have defeated Slovakia the other day and will expect to put that right, whilst Romania surely cannot reach the same levels, particularly defensively, that Radu Dragusin and Andrei Burca did the other day. Romania may be able to blunt Belgium to a point but the Red Devils should surely get off the mark here.

BELGIUM VS ROMANIA TIP: BELGIUM TO WIN & UNDER 3.5 GOALS