Slovakia Gets Huge Help From VAR To Score Biggest Euros Upset Ever Over Belgium

If you’re looking for something to keep you occupied during workdays in the dog days of summer, UEFA Euro 24 is already producing some incredible matches and moments. We got another one of them on Monday, featuring Slovakia and Belgium.

Slovakia pulled off the biggest upset in Euros history by FIFA World Ranking, winning 1-0.  They needed some help from VAR to do it.

First off, credit to Slovakia, the 48th-ranked country in the world, for not being completely played off the pitch by #3 Belgium. Slovakia’s win was well-deserved.

Slovakia scored the first and only goal of the match pretty early on, in the game’s 7th minute. It came off an exceptionally bad turnover in their defending third by Belgium, and a clever flick by  Ivan Schrantz was rewarded when he cashed in the rebound off the hands of Koen Casteels.

Belgium were poor the rest of the first half, but took control of the game in the second half. They put the ball in the back of the net twice, but VAR correctly ruled both out.

The first goal was scored by Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, who missed a ton of great chances all match long. He was ruled to be ever-so-slightly offside.

Then,  Belgium thought they had surely scored when Luis Openda beat the Slovakian right back badly and crossed to an open Lukaku, who converted in front of goal. But, it went to VAR, and at first no one knew why. Turns out, Openda had committed an unfortunate handball in the buildup.

Somehow, despite absorbing pressure the entire second half and giving up some really quality chances, Slovakia found a way to pull the biggest upset in the history of the competition.

As for Belgium, this is the last chance for the tail-end of their “golden generation” to win some major international hardware. The other two teams in the group are Ukraine and Romania, and the four top third-place finishers in the group stage advance to the knockout stage. But, it seems like a precarious start for a group that looked very out of sync for much of the game.  If they want to make a deep run in Euro 2024, they will have to play a lot better.