Belgium Coach Fires Back at ‘Ugly' Criticism After Winning Group G

Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia responded to the “ugly” criticism directed at his team following their dominant 5-1 win over New Zealand that saw four different players score a goal for the Belgian side.

“I trust all my players, and my leaders too,” Garcia told Belgian broadcaster RTBF after the game. “They’ve been heavily criticized and I think that’s ugly. They’ve shown on the field that they are immense players and all Belgians should be proud to have players like them.”

His comments came after Belgium locked up the top spot in Group G and secured a spot in the Round of 32.

More soccer: USA Star Christian Pulisic Reveals Injury Update After Loss

More soccer: Will Christian Pulisic Play? Coach Mauricio Pochettino Hints at the Answer

“There’s only one place where we can respond, and that’s on the pitch. We were efficient, which is the big difference compared to the match against Iran. Scoring goals changes everything. We had the good sense to win by at least three goals,” he said.

“All the matches in this group were close. We finished first in the group, we’re staying in Seattle. I don’t know if that’s a good thing. It doesn’t matter, the main thing is to be in the round of 32. We can’t say that our World Cup has started, but I hope it will now pick up speed.”

Belgium will have to wait until late Saturday night to find out who the team will be playing in the next round. The team will face off against a third place team from A, E, H, I or J.

More soccer: Christian Pulisic Gets Honest About Injury Amid World Cup Dream

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published June 27, 2026 at 11:23 AM.