Romelu Lukaku starred with a fantastic hat-trick as the Belgian national team kicked off their European Championship qualifying campaign with a 3-0 win in Solna, the suburb of the Swedish capital Stockholm. The big striker put terrible memories of the World Cup behind him on the night Zlatan Ibrahimovic made another return to the Swedish team.The 41-year-old recently returned from a 14-month injury layoff and scored a penalty for AC Milan against Udinese to become the oldest player ever to score in Italy’s Serie A. The evergreen veteran replaced his heir Alexander Isak with 20 minutes left to make his first national team appearance after a year-long absence from the national team.But this time, Lukaku hogged the headlines. A trademark header from five metres out and two simple tap-ins in the second half boosted lukaku’s tally for the national team to 71 goals, solidifying his place as the country’s best scorer.The home fans witnessed their team’s inability to score and could only sit and admire a striker who scores more than he speaks.41-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic comes on for Sweden and becomes the oldest men’s player to appear in a EURO qualifier 🦁 pic.twitter.com/y2Gfj7IHcx— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 24, 2023 Zlatan had only one attempt of note, sending a meek header didn’t test goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. By that point, the damage had been done, and the Red Devils of Belgium took the driving seat in their group alongside Austria, who beat Azerbaijan 4-1 in their Group F opener.EURO 2024 – QualifiersThursday Kazakhstan – Slovenia 1-2 (1-0)/Samodorov 24 – Brekalo 47, Vipotnik 78/Slovakia – Luxembourg 0-0N.Macedonia – Malta 2-1 (0-0)/Elmas 66, Churlinov 72 – Yannick 86/B&H – Iceland 3-0 (2-0)/Krunic 14, 40, Dedic 63/Italy – England 1-2 (0-2)/Retegui 56 – Rice 13, Kane 44 pen/Denmark – Finland 3-1 (1-0)/Hojlund 21, 82, 90+3 – Antman 54/San Marino – N.Ireland 0-2 (0-1)/Charles 24, 55/Portugal – Liechtenstein 4-0 (1-0)/Cancelo 8, Silva 47, Ronaldo 51 pen, 63/Friday Bulgaria – Montenegro 0-1 (0-0)/Krstovic 70/Austria – Azerbaijan 4-1 (2-0)/Sabitzer 28, 50, Gregorisch 29, Baumgartner 69 – Mahmudov 64/Czech Republic – Poland 3-1 (2-0)/Krejci 1, Cvancara 3, Kuchta 64 – Szymanski 87/France – Netherlands 4-0 (3-0)/Griezmann 2, Upamecano 8, Mbappe 21, 88/Gibraltar – Greece 0-3 (0-2)/Masouras 11, Siopis 45, Bakasetas 58/Moldova – Faroe Islands 1-1 (0-1)/Nicolaescu 86 pen – Mikkelsen 27/Serbia – Lithuania 2-0 (1-0)/Tadic 16, Vlahovic 53/Sweden – Belgium 0-3 (0-1)/Lukaku 35, 49, 83/Saturday 17.00: (1.28) Scotland (5.50) Cyprus (11.0)20.00: (8.00) Armenia (4.50) Turkey (1.42)20.00: (12.0) Belarus (5.80) Switzerland (1.25)20.00: (1.95) Israel (3.40) Kosovo* (4.10)22.45: (1.37) Spain (4.70) Norway (9.00)22.45: (1.60) Croatia (3.70) Wales (6.25)22.45: (15.0) Andorra (6.50) Romania (1.20)*** odds are subject to change ***
