Kevin de Bruyne, appointed captain after the international retirement of Eden Hazard, and his teammates have revived convincingly almost four months after their elimination in the first round of the World Cup in Qatar.

New coach, new players, new system. There was an air of back to school for the Belgians now orphaned by Eden Hazard, Toby Alderweireld, Simon Mignolet (retirement) but also of Axel Witsel, Dries Mertens or Michy Batshuayi (not taken over by Tedesco).

The opportunity to discover new (or almost new) faces (Wout Faes, Dodi Lukebakio, Arthur Theate, Amadou Onana, Orel Mangala, Johan Bakayoko) in a basic eleven now articulated in 4-3-3, Tedesco having renounced the three-man defence in force for the last six years under the mandate of his predecessor, Roberto Martinez.

This system, driven by a high pressing, immediately put Sweden on the defensive. The Scandinavians shuddered from the 6th minute on a strike by Yannick Carrasco that grazed the goal.

And if Janne Andersson's men came close to opening the scoring in the quarter on a Dejan Kulusevski strike saved on the line by Wout Faes, it was the Red Devils who had control of the game and logically took the lead in the 35th thanks to a goal by Romelu Lukaku at the reception of a center of Dodi Lukebakio.

Belgium's new coach Domenico Tedesco harangues his players against Sweden in Solna, March 24, 2023 © Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP

A record for the "old" Zlatan

The same duo put the cover back at the beginning of the second half: the winger of Hertha Berlin served again the scorer of Inter for 2-0 (49th).

Lukaku, struggling in recent months at Milan, even scored a hat-trick on a serve from young Johan Bakayoko (19) five minutes from the end.

"Big Rom" scored his 69th, 70th and 71st goals in 104 caps in the national jersey and ended a long drought: he had not found the net in selection since the semi-final of the League of Nations lost against France (3-2) on October 7, 2021.

Swedish football legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic against Belgium in Solna, March 24, 2023 © Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP

If Belgium seems to have digested its Qatari disappointments, Sweden does not yet seem to have recovered from its sad year 2022 (relegated to Group C of the League of Nations, absent from the World Cup). It will be necessary to work to win one of the two qualifying places in Group F, which also include Austria, Azerbaijan and Estonia.

With the hope of a return to form of Zlatan Ibrahimovic? The AC Milan striker came on in the 73rd minute, becoming at 41 years, five months and 21 days the oldest player to play in a European Championship qualifier, two months longer than Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff in 1983.

In just over a quarter of an hour, however, the Swedish giant could not achieve a miracle, just three weeks after returning to competition in Serie A.

© 2023 AFP