It began as a slow squeeze and ended as an avalanche. Belgium arrived at BC Place with intent and left with five goals and a statement, brushing aside New Zealand 5-1 in a Group G contest that started tight and finished emphatic. By the final whistle the scoreline read like a demolition, but for an hour it was a story of patience rewarded.

Leandro Trossard was the man who prised the game open, and then broke it wide. His two goals either side of half-time set the tone, and once Kevin De Bruyne curled Belgium out of sight, the floodgates gave way. New Zealand, to their credit, refused to disappear entirely, but the gap in quality was written all over the second half.

This was the kind of afternoon that reshapes a group. Belgium's forwards took turns to punish, five separate names finding the net, and the manner of the victory will worry every side left to face them. New Zealand were left to salvage pride from a single moment of defiance.

Trossard takes charge

The breakthrough arrived on 28 minutes and it came, as so many do at this level, from a set piece. A Belgian corner caused chaos in the New Zealand box and Trossard was quickest to react, stabbing a right-footed shot from very close range into the bottom right corner. It was not pretty, but it counted, and it settled Belgian nerves after a cagey opening.

Five minutes into the second half, Trossard doubled his tally with something far more polished. Hans Vanaken threaded the pass and Trossard took aim from the centre of the box, arrowing a right-footed finish into the top left corner. Two goals in the space of 22 minutes of playing time, and the winger had turned a foothold into a commanding lead.

With that second strike the contest tilted decisively. New Zealand had held firm through the first half but now found themselves chasing a game slipping beyond reach. Trossard's afternoon may have ended without a hat-trick, but his fingerprints were all over the result.

De Bruyne twists the knife

If Trossard supplied the industry, Kevin De Bruyne provided the flourish. On 66 minutes the midfielder collected possession outside the box, shifted onto his left foot and bent a shot into the bottom right corner. It was the goal of a player who senses a defence beginning to fray, and it made the score 3-0.

From there the tie lost its competitive tension and became an exhibition of Belgian firepower. New Zealand's shape stretched and strained under the constant pressure, and every Belgian attack carried the threat of another goal. De Bruyne's strike was the moment the result became a formality.

The manner of it mattered too. This was not a smash-and-grab or a fortunate deflection, but a controlled dismantling by a side operating well within itself. Belgium looked comfortable, incisive and ruthless in equal measure, and the third goal was the clearest evidence yet.

A moment of defiance

New Zealand did not go quietly. On 84 minutes they found the reward their persistence deserved, Elijah Just meeting a corner and drilling a left-footed shot from the centre of the box high into the centre of the goal. It was a moment to lift the spirits of every New Zealand supporter inside BC Place, a small flame of resistance amid the wreckage.

The celebration barely had time to fade before Belgium answered, and answered hard. Two minutes later Romelu Lukaku rose to meet a Nicolas Raskin cross and headed home from very close range, restoring the three-goal cushion and reminding New Zealand of the chasm between the sides. Any hope of a late comeback was snuffed out almost as soon as it flickered.

Then came the final, brutal punctuation. Deep into stoppage time Lukaku turned provider, releasing Alexis Saelemaekers on a fast break, and the substitute swept a right-footed finish into the bottom left corner. Five goals, six names on the scoresheet spread across scorers and providers, and a New Zealand defence run ragged to the last.

What it means

For Belgium, this was the perfect way to lay down a marker in Group G. A five-goal haul lifts their goal difference dramatically and sends a message to their rivals that this is a team hitting form at exactly the right moment. The spread of scorers, from Trossard's double to De Bruyne, Lukaku and Saelemaekers, speaks to an attacking depth that few can match.

New Zealand, meanwhile, are left to regroup and quickly. The consolation from Just offers a glimmer to build on, but the scale of the defeat leaves them with work to do if they are to keep their group hopes alive. Nights like this can wound a campaign or steel it, and how they respond will define the rest of their World Cup.

The table now bends firmly in Belgium's favour, their goal difference a considerable weapon in a group where fine margins may decide qualification. For New Zealand the task grows harder, the need for points more urgent. Both sides move on knowing exactly where they stand, and both were left in no doubt about the gulf that separated them at BC Place.