An early goal from midfielder Youri Tielemans has put Belgium in front 1-0 over Romania heading into halftime of their Group E match on Saturday at UEFA Euro 2024.

After a nice run of attacking play from Belgium, Romelu Lukaku laid the ball off to Tielemans just outside of the penalty area. 

The Aston Villa man made no mistake with the finish, slotting it past Romanian keeper Florin Nita for his country’s first goal of the tournament, just over a minute into the contest.

Nita rebounded nicely however, turning away a well-struck shot from the left foot of Dodi Lukebakio. Belgium’s talisman Kevin De Bruyne dribbled past multiple Romanian defenders before finding Lukebakio, who cut in and rifled the shot on net, prompting a stellar diving stop from the keeper.

Lukebakio received the only booking of the first half, a yellow card, coming in the 35th minute.

Romania can secure their place in the knockout rounds with a win over Belgium in today’s match.

Belgium lost their opening game of the tournament 1-0 against Slovakia after two disallowed goals from Lukaku, while the Romanians comfortably defeated Ukraine 3-0 this past Monday. 

Ukraine defeated Slovakia 2-1 in Group E action on Friday.