Romelu Lukaku surpasses Pele's record: Decoding his stats for Belgium
Romelu Lukaku found the net in Belgium's 3-2 win over Austria in the 2024 UEFA Euro Qualifiers. With this win, they have qualified for the European Championships in Germany next year. Dodi Lukebakio slammed home a brace followed by a goal from Lukaku as the 10-men Belgium saw it out against Austria in Vienna on Saturday. Konrad Laimer and Marcel Sabitzer scored for Austria.
Belgium qualify for the 2024 Euros
Belgium along with France and Portugal have become the first three teams to qualify for the next year's mega event. The Red Devils have played six matches and have registered five victories and a draw, mustering 16 points. Their only draw came against Austria in the reverse fixture. Belgium has slammed sixteen goals in this qualifying campaign while conceding only thrice, all against Austria.
78th international goal for Lukaku
Lukaku's goal against Austria was his 78th international goal as he surpassed footballing icon Pele, who managed 77 goals for Brazil. In the highest international goals tally (men's), Lukaku is currently tied with Iraq Hussein Saeed with 78 goals. Neymar (79) is just a goal ahead of him. Only ten footballers have scored more goals than Lukaku for their country.
Leading goal-scorer in 2024 Euro Qualifiers
The 30-year-old Belgian forward has been in sensational form for his country in the 2024 Euro Qualifiers. Lukaku is currently the leading goal-scorer in the ongoing qualifying campaign with nine goals from six matches. Cristiano Ronaldo with seven goals is second on the list while the likes of Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Rasmus Hojlund, and Scott McTominay have all scored six goals.
Decoding his international career with Belgium
Lukaku has featured in 111 matches for Belgium, managing 78 goals. Lukaku has scored 23 goals in 42 international friendlies He has amassed 16 goals in 22 Euro Qualifiers. 18 of his goals have come in 16 World Cup Qualifiers while he scored five goals in 12 World Cup clashes. He has scored six goals at the Euros and 10 goals in Nations League.
The highest goal-scorer for Belgium
Lukaku made his international debut in February 2010 against Croatia. In November 2010, he scored his first two international goals against Russia. Lukaku with 78 international goals is the highest goal-scorer for the Red Devils. Eden Hazard with 33 goals is second on this list. Notably, Lukaku is also Belgium's oldest player to score a hat-trick at 29y 10m 11d against Sweden (2023).
