Leandro Trossard scored twice, Kevin De Bruyne added a third, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Saelemaekers piled on late, and Belgium turned a group stage finale into a highlight reel. Elijah Just grabbed an eighty fourth minute consolation for New Zealand, the kind of goal you frame precisely because the rest of the night was a lesson.

Belgium needed the goal difference and went and built it with interest, topping Group G on plus four over Egypt's plus two. For a golden generation that has spent years being more famous for what it has not won, this was a reminder of what it can do when it actually shows up in attack.

New Zealand will not enjoy the scoreline, but they came, they competed, and Just's late goal means they leave with a moment that is entirely theirs. Against this much firepower, dignity is its own result.