VANCOUVER, June 26 (Reuters) - After kicking off their campaign with two uninspiring draws against Egypt and Iran, Belgium burst into life at the World Cup on Friday with Kevin De Bruyne pulling the strings in a 5-1 win over New Zealand that secured top spot in Group G.
Their reward for winning the group is a round of 32 match-up against one of the eight best third-placed teams.
Coach Rudi Garcia's decision to bench Romelu Lukaku and place his trust in Leandro Trossard opened up different angles and opportunities for De Bruyne, but by the final whistle all three were on the scoresheet.
"They are so wonderful for a nation as ours, and they delivered tonight, Leandro, De Bruyne, Lukaku -- this is what the so-called 'oldies' did tonight," Garcia told reporters.
"We haven't won anything yet, but we moved on to the next phase."
No one had a bigger influence on the game than De Bruyne, who played his part in Trossard's two goals and netted Belgium's third in a superb individual display.
The Belgians attacked relentlessly from the first whistle and had already had a penalty decision overturned after a VAR check when De Bruyne floated in a corner that bounced off a defender and fell for Trossard to steer home.
He then set up Trossard for his second with a superb pass in the second half.
De Bruyne's dizzying array of passes left the New Zealand defence chasing shadows for much of the game, and though he wasted a number of decent chances, he finally got his goal in the 66th minute.
Trossard poked the ball into his path before being felled on the edge of the box, and De Bruyne took a touch before rifling a low left-foot shot into the far corner and wheeling away in celebration.
Lukaku made it 4-1 soon after coming off the bench, making himself and De Bruyne the first Belgians to score at three World Cups, and fellow substitute Alexis Saelemaekers added a fifth in stoppage time.
"We're just really happy with everyone. I think we have such a good group at the moment," Trossard said.
"Everyone is important, you can see today as well - the players coming from the bench, they are involved with goals and assists as well, so, yeah, we have to just keep on going and continue that into the next game."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
