At 0:00 a.m. Beijing time on June 18, the first round of the group F match of the 2024 European Championship group stage in Germany was played at the Frankfurt Arena, and the Belgian team faced the Slovak team. In the first half, Schlanz opened the scoring for Slovakia, and Lukaku missed many chances; Romelu Lukaku scored twice in the second half, but one was disallowed for offside and one for handball. In the end, Belgium lost 0-1 to Slovakia, causing the first big upset since the start of this European Cup.
Belgium are currently ranked third in the world, but failed to qualify from their group at the last tournament, the 2022 World Cup. With Thibaut Courtois not included in the squad for the European Championships, Castelles became Belgium's starting goalkeeper in this game. It was the first time in 22 years that Belgium had not been in goal at a World Cup without Courtois. Their opponents, Slovakia, are ranked 48th in the world.
In the 3rd minute, Doku drove straight into the right rib of the backfield with the ball, entered the right side of the penalty area and crossed, De Bruyne in the middle stretched out his foot, Lukaku in front of the goal stopped the ball on his chest and turned to play, and Slovak goalkeeper Dubravka stood well and blocked the ball with his body. In the 7th minute, there was a mistake in the back of the Belgian team, the defender's cross to the penalty area was tackled by the opponent, Kucka's first shot was saved, and then Schlanz pushed the goal from a small angle on the left side of the penalty area, and the Slovak team led the Belgian team 1-0.
In the 16th minute, De Bruyne sent a through ball in front of the penalty area, and the Slovak defender slid the ball before Trossard cleared the ball. In the 21st minute, Dubravka made a mistake in front of the penalty area, and Trossard fired a powerful long-range shot from the empty net, but it was missed. In the 29th minute, the Belgian team tackled very fiercely in front, and Mangala fouled and received a yellow card when he grabbed the ball. In the 31st minute, Bozenik turned and shot in front of the penalty area, but the ball was not strong enough and was confiscated by Castels.
In the 40th minute, the Slovak team attacked on the right side, Kuczka crossed a high ball on the right side of the front, and the unguarded Haraslin at the top of the arc volleyed a powerful volley, and Castles saved the ball from the bottom line. In the 42nd minute, Carrasco played a long pass from the left side of the backfield, and Lukaku stepped forward to receive the ball to form a single knife, and he slid past the goalkeeper but kicked the ball off the line. At the end of the first half, Belgium trailed Slovakia 1-0.
In the second half, Haraslin cut inside from the left and volleyed wide of the far post in the 47th minute. In the 52nd minute, Slovakia central defender Vavro took the ball to the penalty area and hit a powerful long-range shot, but the ball was slightly deflected. In the 55th minute, De Bruyne made a short pass in front, and Lukaku on the right side of the penalty area volleyed from a small angle, and Dubravka saved the ball from the bottom line. Then Belgium's tactical corner from the right was driven to the back post, Onana headed it over, and Lukaku poked the ball into the empty net from 1 yard in front of goal. However, the referee listened to VAR and ruled that Lukaku was offside and the goal was disallowed.
In the 58th minute, Belgium replaced Mangala with Tiemoue Bakayoko. In the 59th minute, Lukaku played the ball with his back, Trossard received the ball and volleyed hard, and Dubravka got the ball. In the 61st minute, the Belgian team made a 45-degree cross from the left side of the front, the Slovak defender's header was not far away, and Lukaku volleyed directly with his right foot without stopping, and the ball hit the side netting. In the 62nd minute, Doku broke through from the left and crossed, Castles saved the ball at the feet of Bakayoko, whose shot went past the goalkeeper, and defender Hanzko blocked the ball with his body in front of the goal line before hitting his head on his team-mate's knee.
In the 73rd minute, Belgium made a substitution, with Tielemans replacing Trossard. In the 76th minute, the Slovak team crossed from the right side of the field, and the heel shot in the penalty area was blocked by the defender. In the 80th minute, the Belgian team replaced Luke Baggio and Opponda at the same time to strengthen the attack. In the final moments, the Belgian team pressed on the attack, and in the 86th minute, Opponda dribbled the ball from the left and crossed, and the unguarded Lukaku in the middle pushed a left-footed shot into the corner. However, the referee ruled that Opponda had handballed the ball first after reviewing the VAR, and the goal was again disallowed.
In the end, the game ended at full-time, and the Belgian team lost 0-1 to the Slovak team.