Belgium thrash New Zealand 1–5, Senegal up next

Belgium demolish New Zealand 1–5 to top the group

That was the response you needed. Belgium obliterated New Zealand 1–5 in the final group match to win the group and book a last-16 clash with Senegal on Wednesday (2). Two straight draws had the knives out, but your team delivered when it mattered. The goals flowed, the pressure lifted, and suddenly the World Cup looks alive again.

Senegal await in the last 16 on Wednesday

The knockout draw is set. Belgium face Senegal on Wednesday at 22:00 in the round of 16 (1) (2). Win that and the quarter-final path opens up. Garcia has three days to get his selection right.

Onana: I would rather lose to France than face Senegal

Amadou Onana did not hide his feelings about the draw. "I would rather lose to France," he said, making it clear he wanted to avoid playing his birth country (3). The midfielder was born in Dakar and left for Belgium as a child. Now he has to face Senegal with a World Cup quarter-final on the line.

Garcia's four big calls before Wednesday

Rudi Garcia has four selection dilemmas to resolve, according to analysts (4). The biggest: whether to start Jérémy Doku or Leandro Trossard on the wing, and whether to pair Onana with Youri Tielemans in midfield with Kevin De Bruyne as the sole number ten. Frank Boeckx laid out the logic: "I would understand if Garcia now opts for a ball-winner like Onana next to Tielemans again, with De Bruyne as the only ten and Trossard coming inside" (4). Hans Vanaken's name is also in the conversation.

Garcia walks back his New Zealand outburst

Garcia knows he went too far after the New Zealand match. He has agreed to a roundtable discussion with Belgian media to repair relations after his post-game outburst drew sharp criticism (5) (6). The coach is trying to reset the atmosphere around the squad ahead of the knockout rounds.

Wilmots: Flemish press pushed Vanaken as a communautaire issue

Marc Wilmots has stirred an old debate. The former Belgium coach claimed the Flemish press "pushed him enormously" in reference to Hans Vanaken, framing the midfielder's selection as a communautaire issue between Flanders and Wallonia (7). It is an unhelpful subplot three days before the biggest match of Garcia's tenure.