Romelu Lukaku took his frustation out on the Belgium dugout window after his woeful performance against Croatia.
The Chelsea striker, who is currently on loan at Inter Milan, lost several chances as Belgium were held scoreless by Croatia in their last group encounter.
As a result, Belgium, which finished third in Russia four years ago, will finish third in Group F and go to the World Cup’s knockout rounds.
Belgium defeated Canada in their first World Cup game before falling to Morocco in a surprising upset.
Roberto Martinez’s squad, currently ranked second in the world, delivered another lackluster performance against Croatia, when a win would have advanced them to the round of 16.
Lukaku, who struggled last season after joining Chelsea for £97.5m, lost multiple chances to send his country through after going on as a half-time substitute.
Chelsea’s record signing hit the post, headed over, poked wide, and reacted too late when presented with a nearly open goal in stoppage time.
Lukaku In Tears After Belgium World Cup Exit
Lukaku sobbed after the final whistle and was consoled by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, who is part of Martinez’s coaching team in Qatar.
But the striker’s sadness soon turned to rage as he struck a dugout window on his way back to the dressing room, dislodging a piece of glass in the process.
While Belgium returns home, 2018 runners-up Croatia earned the point they needed to advance as Group F runners-up when Morocco defeated Canada 2-1.
Romelu Lukaku took his frustration out on the dugout at full-time 😡#BBCWorldCup #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/AJXwxBXbBR
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 1, 2022
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Belgium boss Martinez, who later announced his resignation, said: ‘It’s not easy to win games in the World Cup. We weren’t ourselves in first game we had a deserved defeat in second game.
‘Today we were ready, we created opportunities and today there is no regrets. We’re out but we can leave with our heads held high.
‘We wanted to get through but I’m sure the other national teams wanted to get through and that’s the tournament.
‘In the previous World Cup we won three games in the group stage, we wanted to go all the way.’
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