Hungary 0 Belgium 4: Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku up next for Wales in Euro 2016 last eight
WALES will face Belgium in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 as Eden Hazard fired a warning to Gareth Bale and Co.
Wing wizard Hazard was on fire as he netted a majestic third goal to cap a supreme display - leaving Chelsea fans contemplating his woeful form last season and Wales wondering how to stop him.
Toby Alderweireld opened the scoring and substitute Michy Batshuayi netted with his first touch, as fellow sub Yannick Carrasco fired in a last-gasp fourth to complete the rout.
The Belgians' next game pits Chris Coleman's side against Marc Wilmots' men AGAIN after their two clashes in qualifying for the tournament.
But there will be nothing to fear for Wales - as they won their home game and drew away in the dress rehearsals for Friday night's game in Lille.
Hungary were by no means four goals inferior, but they missed a host of chances at in the second half and were made to pay.
Alderweireld's tenth-minute header from a Kevin De Bruyne cross brought a goal that had been on the cards and ensured Hungary fell behind for the first time in the tournament.
Belgium then went full throttle for a second, but could not find a way past Gabor Kiraly who brilliantly saved a De Bruyne free-kick.
And it was Hungary who were pressing for a leveller just before the break as Gergo Lovrencsics and Balazs Dzsudzsak both fizzed long-range efforts just wide.
Adam Szalai fired wide at the beginning of the second half, before the forward glanced a header just wide from a Dzsudzsak cross.
Hungary continued to pile forward in search of parity and Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois had to be at his best to keep out a deflected effort from defender Adam Pinter.
Roland Juhasz then drove inches wide – before Bernd Storck’s team were made to pay in spectacular fashion.
Hazard pushed the ball down the left flank after a De Bruyne corner and showed Hungary’s defence a clean pair of heels to provide sub Batshuayi with a first-touch tap-in on 78.
Two minutes later Hazard ended 716 minutes of tournament action without a goal.
Belgium broke at pace and he cut off the left flank before firing in a beauty of a curler from the edge of the box after selling a couple of dummies to Hungarian defenders.
Atletico Madrid’s Carrasco – who netted a leveller in the Champions league final – capped off the scoring in injury time after racing onto a Radja Nainggolan pass before firing in past Kiraly.
The only real Belgian blemish of the night was Thomas Vermaelen’s yellow card, which rules Barcelona’s former Arsenal defender out of the Wales clash.
Related stories
Afterwards, Hazard said: “We are lucky enough to play in Lille, I know the city very well. I don’t know the new stadium very well, I have never played there.
“I am very proud. I was really motivated to go through, it will be a great celebration on Friday and I hope there will be plenty of fans there to take part.
“It was a great game. We really deserved the victory. We could have scored more, but the keeper made some great stops.
“But we won’t worry about that. We are happy and through to the quarter-finals in Lille.
“For the time being we have achieved nothing, we are just in the quarters and we will take it one game at a time.
“We played against a great team and I’d like to congratulate Hungary, who gave everything.
“As a team I feel we were really solid today. We made a lot of chances, and didn’t give them too many.”
HUNGARY: Kiraly 7, Gera 6 (Elek 45, 6), Pinter 6 (Nikolic 75, 5), Juhasz 6 (Bode 80, 5), Nagy 6, Lovrencsics 6, Szalai 7, Dzsudzsak 7, Kadar 6, Guzmics 6, Lang 5
BOOKED: Szalai, Kadar, Lang, Elek
BELGIUM: Courtois 8, Mertens 6 (Carrasco 70, 6), Vermaelen 6, Nainggolan 8, Meunier 8, Witsel 8, Vertonghen 7, Alderweireld 7, Hazard 9 (Fellaini 81, 5), De Bruyne 8, Lukaku 8 (Batshuayi 76, 6)
BOOKED: Vermaelen, Batshuayi, Fellaini
STAR MAN: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)