Twitter explodes as Belgium begin 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign with hard-fought 1-0 win against Canada

Belgium secured a nervy 1-0 victory over Canada in their Group F match at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Twitter has exploded.

They had a golden opportunity in the eighth minute when Yannick Carrasco was adjudged to have handballed the Belgian's box.

Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies stepped up, but Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois easily saved his tame effort.

LOSC Lille striker Jonathan David had a chance in the 32nd minute, but Jan Vertonghen blocked his shot.

Canada thought they deserved another penalty when Richie Laryea appeared to be fouled by Axel Witsel in the 38th minute.

VAR took its time in deliberating over a potential spot-kick, but one wasn't awarded.

Belgium took an undeserved lead in the 43rd minute when a brilliant ball found Michy Batshuayi over the top from Toby Aldeweirald.

The former Chelsea striker made no mistake, lashing past Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan.

It was poor defending from the Canadians, and they had only themselves to blame for not taking their chances.

Canadian forward Tajon Buchanan was a real threat throughout, but his end product left much to be admired.

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne had a game to forget, failing to replicate the dominant performances that have seen him heralded over the years.

Canada had twenty attempts on goal, but their wastefulness plagued the outcome as they were beaten due to their lack of firepower.

The game petered out, with both sides showing tiredness, and it was a victory for Belgium that filled no fans with any real enthusiasm.

The Red Devils are unbeaten in their last 13 FIFA World Cup group stage matches and move to the top of Group F, two points ahead of Croatia and Morocco.

Here are some reactions from Twitter to a nervy win for Roberto Martinez's side in their FIFA World Cup opener:

De Bruyne would rather win the FIFA World Cup with Belgium than the Champions League with Manchester City

De Bruyne may have had an underwhelming performance against Canada, but he is still one of the top midfielders in world football.

The City midfield maestro has made 326 appearances during his time at the Etihad Stadium, scoring 89 goals and providing 134 assists.

The Belgian has won the Premier League on four occasions but is yet to win the Champions League.

De Bruyne was asked if he would rather win the European title with City or the FIFA World Cup with the Red Devils.

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Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

Matthew always strives to go beyond a story and offer unique and lesser-known insights, while maintaining an unbiased tone in his articles. His reporting exploits at the company have helped him gain a humungous readership of 25 million, with one of his articles raking in a whopping 724,000 reads.

A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also follows his local EFL League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and spends his free time watching and writing about professional wrestling. He also likes to work out, watch movies and go for night outs.

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