Republic of Ireland
Wales
Northern Ireland
Denmark 0
Poland 1
Belgium
Norway 1
Belgium 3 - 0 Republic of Ireland
REPORT: Belgium 3-0 Republic of Ireland
After a goalless first-half, the Belgians made their pressure tell in the second 45 minutes with a brace from Romelu Lukaku and a header from midfielder Axel Witsel.
Martin O'Neill made just one change to the side which claimed a point against Sweden with Stephen Ward coming into the side for the injured Jon Walters, a change which saw Robbie Brady start in midfield.
A defensive, hard-working display was always going to be required against a Belgian side which featured Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne and Chelsea winger Eden Hazard.
It was De Bruyne's corner from the right which saw Toby Alderweireld glance wide in the 13th minute before Hazard fired a warning when he picked up a loose ball in the area, but blasted over eight minutes later.
Marc Wilmots' side thought they had taken the lead with 24 minutes gone. De Bruyne crossed for Yannick Carrasco to force the ball home at the second attempt following an excellent Darren Randulph save, but the Irish defence stepped up at the right time to see the flag raised.
Two minutes after the break, Belgium did take the lead. De Bruyne broke down the right following an Irish attack to find Lukaku just outside the area and he swept home to score Belgium's first goal of the European Championships.
Ireland responded well with several crosses from Brady just out of the reach of Long and Brady had a shot blocked from within the area by Thomas Meunier in the 58th minute.
Belgium doubled their lead just three minutes later as Meunier found space on the right to cross for Witsel to ghost in and head home unchallenged.
As Ireland committed more players forward, Belgium exploited the space left at the back to stretch their advantage. In the 69th minute, Hazard skipped past the challenge of Ciaran Clark to find Lukaku who made no mistake from 10 yards out to seal the points.
Ireland continued to work hard on and off the ball in the late stages of the game as striker Robbie Keane was introduced with 12 minutes remaining, but couldn't get the goal Ireland's play deserved.
Belgium move up to second in Group E with Ireland now dependent on a win against leaders Italy in their final group game to stand any chance of progression to the knock-out stages.
Teams
Republic of Ireland: Randalph (GK), Coleman, O'Shea (C), Clark, Ward, Whelan, McCarthy (McClean 63), Hendrick, Brady, Hoolahan (McGeady 73), Long (Keane 78).
Subs not used: Westwood (GK), Given (GK), Keogh, Duffy, Walters, Christie, Meyler, Murphy, Quinn.
Belgium: Courtois (GK), Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Witsel, De Bruyne, R. Lukaku (Benteke 83), Hazard (C), Carrasco (Mertens 63), Meunier, Dembele (Nainggolan 56).
Subs not used: Mignolet (GK), Gillet (GK), Fellaini, Denayer, Origi, Kabasele, J. Lukaku, Batshuayi, Ciman.
Yellow card(s): Hendrick (41).
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Match Day Information: Belgium v Ireland
All supporters without tickets are advised to not travel to the stadium as there are no facilities on site. But those with tickets should allow for more time than normal to access the stadium due to extra security checks and due to the stadium's location.
Fan Zone
Located in Bordeaux centre the UEFA Fan Zone opens from 11:00 but supporters are advised to arrive as early as possible due to security checks.
Gates open at 12:00 where a team of helpful fan ambassadors will be located at the stadium entry points to answer any queries that supporters may have.
For more information visit - http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/fanzone/index.html
Safety Advice
The FAI wishes a safe and immensely enjoyable trip for all our supporters travelling to support the team in France. To help keep supporters informed with useful travel advice, we would like to highlight a new service offered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Minister Charlie Flanagan has launched TravelWise, a new smartphone application offering travel advice and connecting Irish citizens with the Department in the case of an emergency.
The application offers users with information on 200 countries, useful travel tips, a handy pre-travel check-list and a facility to register your details with the Embassy. It is also possible to set up alerts for selected countries and receive security updates.
You can access the app in the app store here or in the Google play store here.
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Official Match Hashtag
#BELIRL
Official Ireland Tags
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#IRL
Match Info
Belgium v Republic of Ireland
Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
Group E
KO 15:00 (14:00 Irish Time)
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey)
Tactical Lineups
Belgium
Substitutes
- 12 Simon Mignolet (G)
- 13 Jean-François Gillet (G)
- 4 Radja Nainggolan
- 8 Marouane Fellaini
- 14 Dries Mertens
- 15 Jason Denayer
- 17 Divock Origi
- 18 Christian Kabasele
- 20 Christian Benteke
- 21 Jordan Lukaku
- 22 Michy Batshuayi
- 23 Laurent Ciman
Republic of Ireland
Substitutes
- 1 Keiren Westwood (G)
- 16 Shay Given (G)
- 5 Richard Keogh
- 7 Aiden McGeady
- 10 Robbie Keane
- 11 James McClean
- 12 Shane Duffy
- 14 Jon Walters
- 15 Cyrus Christie
- 18 David Meyler
- 21 Daryl Murphy
- 22 Stephen Quinn
Officials
- Referee Cüneyt Çakır
- Assistant Referee Bahattin Duran
- Assistant Referee Tarik Ongun
- Additional Assistant Referee Hüseyin Göçek
- Additional Assistant Referee Barış Şimşek
- 4th Referee Benoît Bastien
- Reserve Official Frédéric Cano
- Uefa Delegate Sviatlana Hrynkevich
- Referee Observer David R. Elleray
- Samir Zolota
- Frank Paauw
- Media Officer Sergey Borisov
- Media Officer Aleksandar Bošković
- Media Officer Jayne Pearce-mcmenamin
Match Statistics
- Belgium
- Republic of Ireland
Minute by Minute Commentary