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PHOTOS: Belgium stage late fightback to down Algeria
Belgium rallied from a goal in arrears to score a 2-1 victory over gutsy Algeria in their World Cup Group H opener on Tuesday.
Substitutes Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens turned the game around with goals in the last 20 minutes after Sofiane Feghouli had given Algeria a 25th minute lead from a penalty.
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PHOTOS: Belgium stage late fightback to down Algeria
Belgium, who returned to the World Cup after a 12-year absence, had a better share of the exchanges but found it hard to break down the Algerian defence.
Algeria went ahead in the 25th minute against the run of play from a penalty-kick conversion by Sofiane Feghouli.
The penalty was awarded after left-back Jan Vertonghen brought down Feghouli following a fine cross from Faouzi Ghoulam.
The goal ended Algeria's 28-year-old wait for a World Cup goal. It was their first since their 1-1 draw against Northern Ireland when Djamel Zidane was on target in the 1986 tournament. They had since gone five World Cup games without a goal.
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PHOTOS: Belgium stage late fightback to down Algeria
Belgium then turned the match on its head with two goals in the space of 10 minutes.
Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini equalised in the 70th minute through a glancing header off Kevin De Bruyne's fine cross from the left.
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PHOTOS: Belgium stage late fightback to down Algeria
The goal spurred the Belgians and substitute Dries Mertens scored the match-winner with a low shot for the winning goal in the 80th minute after Eden Hazard raced down the left wing, and cut back a perfect pass.
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PHOTOS: Belgium stage late fightback to down Algeria
Tuesday’s victory was the first in the World Cup for Belgium
after defeating Russia 3-2 in a group match in Shizuoka, Japan, in 2002.