Belgium s forward #10 Romelu Lukaku gestures during the UEFA Champions League Qualifying Group F football match between Belgium and Azerbaijan at The King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, on November 19, 2023. AFP
Lukaku leads scoring in the qualifiers with 14 goals, four more than Cristiano Ronaldo before his Portugal team plays Iceland later.
Lukaku’s haul set a record for European Championship qualifying, beating the previous mark of 13 goals held by Poland’s Robert Lewandowski (in Euro 2016 qualifying) and Northern Ireland’s David Healy (Euro 2008 qualifying).
The Roma striker took all four of his goals between the 17th and 37th minutes in an awesome display of clinical finishing.
Following Lukaku's opener to make it 1-0, Azerbajian was down to 10 players in the 24th after Eddy Pascual got his second yellow card.
Belgium had already qualified along with Austria from Group F before the game in Brussels, but the victory meant it finished in first place. Sweden beat Estonia 2-0 and ended up third in the group.
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