Furious Romelu Lukaku punches dugout and is consoled by coach Thierry Henry as Belgium crash out of World Cup after striker missed numerous sitters against Croatia

Romelu Lukaku’s frustration was evident as Belgium crashed out of the 2022 World Cup in the group stage.

The Red Devils needed to beat Croatia to book their place in the next round, but were held to a 0-0 draw and thus finished third in their group – with Lukaku having a nightmare performance.

BBC 5 Lukaku made a beeline for the Belgium dugout post-match

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BBC 5 Putting his first through it

Getty 5 Thierry Henry consoled Lukaku after he squandered the chance to send Belgium through

Lukaku came on at the break, but squandered Belgium’s best chances of the match that could have kept them in the tournament.

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A superb De Bruyne pass set up Carrasco and when his effort was blocked, the striker fired the rebound against a post.

There was more despair when he headed over from in front of an open goal, although replays showed De Bruyne had failed to keep the ball in.

Lukaku had another clear chance to send Belgium through in the last minute, but his bundled effort from Thorgan Hazard’s cross was saved on the line by Livakovic.

The Chelsea forward was denied again by Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol’s brilliant last-ditch tackle in the closing moments.

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The Inter Milan striker, on loan from Chelsea, looked like he was in tears after the final whistle and was consoled by coach Thierry Henry.

Romelu Lukaku took his frustration out on the dugout at full-time 😡#BBCWorldCup #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/AJXwxBXbBR — BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 1, 2022

5 Lukaku could not quite believe that he’d missed the chances himself

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His anger was then clear to see when he put his fist through the dugout as he walked off the pitch.

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talkSPORT’s co-commentator for the match, Tony Cascarino, said: “You can’t get better chances than that. Romelu Lukaku has had injuries this year, he’s clearly not been fit enough and could have reacted slightly quicker.

“They don’t get better than tonight. Sometimes football can be very cruel and it was tonight for Belgium.”

But former Chelsea striker says blame should not all be on Lukaku.

“We cannot put the blame on someone who has been injured the last two months, he comes on for 30 minutes and you want him to win the game.

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“As a striker he should have been a bit more on his toes but it’s very difficult to blame him for this.”

It has been a wholly disappointing World Cup for the so-called Belgium ‘Golden Generation’, who reached the semi-finals of the tournament in 2018.

5 Lukaku’s stats at the 2022 World Cup

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