Romelu Lukaku scored four times in 20 first-half minutes as Belgium thrashed
10-man Azerbaijan 5-0 in Euro 2024 qualifying.
Lukaku headed the opener from Jeremy Doku’s cross before Eddy Pascual was shown a second yellow card for a foul on the Roma striker, who is on loan from Chelsea.
The 30-year-old completed his hat-trick by the half-hour mark and grabbed his fourth after 37 minutes before being substituted at half-time. Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard completed the rout late on.
Lukaku’s total of 14 goals is a record for a European Championship qualifying campaign, beating the mark of 13 set by Northern Ireland’s David Healy in 2008 and equalled by Poland’s Robert Lewandowski in 2016.
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Jeremy Doku congratulates Leandro Trossard after he scored Belgium’s fifth goal
Belgium had already booked their place at next year’s tournament and the win saw them finish top of Group F ahead of Austria.
Sweden, who could not qualify, beat Estonia 2-0 in the group’s other fixture.
Serbia qualified for Euro 2024 with a 2-2 draw with Bulgaria in Group G, where group winners Hungary beat Montenegro 3-1 thanks to a double from Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai.
Serbia only needed a point or for Montenegro not to beat Hungary to secure their berth in Germany, but that looked a distinct possibility when they trailed 2-1 and Montenegro led 1-0 in Budapest.
However, Serbia’s Srdan Babic equalised in the 82nd minute and Szoboszlai scored twice in the space of two minutes in the second half to turn Hungary’s game around.
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Scotland’s Stuart Armstrong celebrates with John McGinn after scoring to make it 3-2 vs Norway
Scotland concluded their successful campaign with an action-packed 3-3 draw with Norway at Hampden Park.
Group A winners Spain beat Georgia 3-1 in Valladolid.
Portugal ended their qualifying campaign with a 10th straight win as goals from Bruno Fernandes and Ricardo Horta gave them a 2-0 victory over Iceland.
Group J runners-up Slovakia enjoyed a 2-1 win over 10-man Bosnia and Herzegovina, who will join Luxembourg in the play-offs.