Belgium 5-0 Tunisia: Doku stars in pre-World Cup thrashing
Belgium signed off for the World Cup with a five-star showing against Tunisia, with Jeremy Doku notching two assists on Saturday.
Belgium made it two wins from two in their pre-World Cup friendlies as they brushed aside 10-man Tunisia 5-0 in their final match before their campaign begins in North America.
Leandro Trossard, Charles De Ketelaere, Kevin De Bruyne, Dodi Lukebakio and Nicolas Raskin were all on target, but it was Jeremy Doku who stood out for the hosts.
Belgium started brightly and almost took the lead with just 42 seconds on the clock through Trossard, but his shot was brilliantly tipped behind by Abdelmouhib Chamakh.
Chamakh was on hand again to repel De Bruyne's free-kick soon after, but the Tunisia goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Belgium from taking a 28th-minute lead, with Trossard tapping home from close range after good work from Doku on the left.
Rudi Garcia's side continued to probe as De Bruyne's strike stung the palms of Chamakh before Brandon Mechele saw his close-range shot cleared off the line by Omar Rekik.
But the Red Devils would get their second eight minutes after the restart when De Ketelaere rose high to meet Youri Tielemans' cross and head into the top-right corner.
And just as Tunisia threatened a comeback when Elias Achouri struck the woodwork, the visitors were reduced to ten men after Ismael Gharbi received his second yellow card for a late challenge on Doku in the 62nd minute.
Belgium made their man advantage count three minutes later as De Bruyne picked out the bottom-left corner, before two goals in two minutes from Lukebakio and Raskin late on rubber-stamped the victory ahead of their opening Group G game against Egypt on June 15.
Doku carries the weight of Belgium's hopes after another sensational showing
Belgium's "Golden Generation", which included the likes of De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, failed to deliver silverware on the international stage, though it is the new influx of players, particularly Doku, who have the Red Devils believing again.
After a productive season for Manchester City, Doku's 19 goal involvements (eight goals, 11 assists) were only bettered by Rayan Cherki (26) and Erling Haaland (47) for the Citizens across all competitions in 2025-26 (after the Club World Cup), and the Belgium attacker carried on his fine form here.
Doku caused several problems for the Tunisian defence, finishing with team-high totals for chances created (eight), touches in the opposition box (16), successful dribbles (six) and duels won (11), while also notching two assists for Trossard and De Bruyne's goals.
Belgium are only assigned a 2.4% chance of winning the World Cup by the Opta supercomputer, but their performance here could see them enter the tournament as underdogs. They finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 3.86 from their 27 shots to Tunisia's 0.29 from seven attempts.










