Carrasco scores early to give Belgium a 1-0 win over Serbia in friendly match

Updated Nov. 15, 2023 5:49 p.m. ET

Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — Yannick Carrasco scored after just 62 seconds on Wednesday as an experimental Belgium team beat Serbia 1-0 in a friendly game.

The match had been switched to the city of Leuven, with no fans allowed, after heavy rain made the field at Brussels' King Baudouin stadium unplayable.

Carrasco captained Belgium in the absence of striker Romelu Lukaku. The midfielder made the most of poor communication between Strahinja Pavlovic and Predrag Rajkovic to score in an empty net after he recovered the ball close to the box.

Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco used the match to try out things ahead of next year's European Championship in Germany. He gave their first starts to Zeno Debast, Ameen Al-Dakhil, Olivier Deman and Arthur Vermeeren.

Belgium has already qualified for the tournament. After taking on Serbia, the Red Devils are now set to face Azerbaijan in their final qualifying game on Sunday at King Baudouin stadium. The federation said the location for that Group F match remains the same “until further notice.”

Second behind Hungary in Group G, Serbia will qualify for the Euros if Montenegro does not beat Lithuania on Thursday. The Serbs will then face off with Bulgaria on Sunday.

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