Belgium’s hopes of avoiding relegation from the top tier of the UEFA Nations League suffered a major blow with a 3-1 defeat to Ukraine in the first leg of their playoff tie on Thursday. The loss intensifies the pressure on new manager Rudi Garcia, whose debut has been marked by a challenging start.
Belgium took the lead five minutes before halftime through Romelu Lukaku. However, Ukraine responded strongly in the second half, scoring three unanswered goals. Substitutes Oleksiy Hutsuliak and Vladyslav Vanat, as well as Bournemouth defender Illia Zabarnyi, found the net to secure a commanding advantage for the visitors.
“We will analyse the game, but there is no doubt that we need to improve defensively,” Garcia said after the match. “We have to play with a knife between our teeth. On Sunday we’ll see if we’re a great team. We have a lot of work to do, also mentally.”
The defeat extends a difficult period for Belgium. They were eliminated from Euro 2024 in the last 16 and finished third in their Nations League group with only four points from six games. This playoff represents their last chance to avoid relegation from League A for the first time since the competition’s inception in 2018.
Garcia, who replaced Domenico Tedesco in January, included Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in his squad despite the player’s nearly two-year absence from international football following a dispute with Tedesco.
Courtois acknowledged the need for improvement: “With a new coach, sometimes we have to find out what he wants. We made a lot of videos, we tried to train, but training is not enough in the end. But we have to stay calm. We have to play a good game in front of our fans. Sometimes it’s good to take a defeat like this as a wake-up call for Sunday.”
Ukraine will travel to Belgium for the return leg on Sunday in Genk, holding a significant advantage. Belgium face a must-win situation to avoid a historic relegation and to ease the growing pressure on their new manager.
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