Euro 2016: Belgium tumbles out after crushing Wales defeat

Belgium are out of the Euro 2016 tournament after a brutal 3-1 defeat to Wales in the quarter finals in Lille that raises questions about the future of coach Marc Wilmots.

The Red Devils looked crushed at the final whistle, but they paid the price for a tactical naivety that saw their defence repeatedly overrun.

Bidding to reach their first major semi-finals since losing to Diego Maradona’s Argentina in the 1986 World Cup, Belgium started brightly enough, when Radja Nainggolan put them ahead with a 25-yard strike after just 13 minutes. But an equaliser by Wales captain Ashley Williams, and second half strikes by Hal Robson-Kanu and substitute Sam Vokes sealed it.

Belgium are ranked second in the world by Fifa and had reached the quarter-finals with a 4-0 destruction of Hungary in Toulouse. With Lille just 16km from the border, more than 100,000 Belgians descended on the city, leaving the vocal Welsh contingent hugely outnumbered in the stadium.

But they were missing key players: the injured Jan Vertonghen, Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Lombaerts, and the suspended Thomas Vermaelen. The hastily rearranged defence looked scrappy and out of place, much to the frustration of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who later declined to back coach Wilmots.