Romelu Lukaku is in fine scoring form.
Belgium cruised to a 5-0 victory over Azerbaijan in their UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group F 10 match at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday at 2:00 a.m. ET. The win keeps Belgium in first place with six wins and two draws.
The match was one-sided. Belgium took the lead first. In the 16th minute, Jeremy Dokou sent in a cross from the left flank that Lukaku headed into the back of the net. Lukaku’s scoring streak would not stop. He scored goals in the 25th, 30th, and 37th minutes of the first half to complete a “hat trick” (four goals in one game). Leandro Trossar added a goal just before the end of the match to give Belgium a 5-0 victory.
According to soccer statistics outlet CouchScore, Lukaku played 45 minutes, scored four goals, had 17 touches of the ball, completed 86% of his passes (6 of 7), made one key pass, created one chance, won one ground contest (2 attempts), and won one aerial contest (2 attempts). He received a rating of 10. That’s a perfect performance.
With his four goals in this match, Lukaku etched his name in the history books. The previous top scorers in Euro qualifying were Northern Ireland’s David Healy (2008) and Robert Lewandowski (2016), who scored 13 goals. Lukaku became the top scorer in Euro qualifying with 14 goals during the tournament.
Lukaku also joins the all-time A-match scorers list. With 83 career A-match goals, Lukaku passed Lewandowski for seventh place on the all-time A-match goals list. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (128), Ali Daei (109), Lionel Messi (106), Sunil Chhetri (93), Mokhtar Ahari (89), and Ferenc Puskás (84) have scored more goals than Lukaku.
Lukaku was once called a monster striker. Despite his 6-foot-3 frame, he was quick on his feet and very intimidating. He had the strength to hold up in front of goal and was good at using his teammates. However, his shocking “I’m not happy here” comments during his time at Chelsea created a bad image. He also blew several crucial chances at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where Belgium failed to reach the last 16.
He returned to Chelsea this summer after a loan spell at Inter Milan. Lukaku had no intention of staying at Chelsea, and neither did Chelsea. They pushed for a move for Lukaku, but it didn’t work out. At the end of the transfer window, Lukaku joined AS Roma on loan. Lukaku is enjoying a resurgence at Roma. He currently has nine goals in 14 games across all competitions.