It is safe to say that this has not been the best FIFA World Cup for Romelu Lukaku, and his poor form was there to be shown during the game against Croatia.
The footballer was not selected to play as a starter by Roberto Martínez, and the coach's reasons to do that were justified after watching the player missing two big chances in a matter of 120 seconds...or less.
The first one of those chances came when the ball was loose inside Croatia's box and fell near Lukaku, who tried to get a better shot and ended up hitting the upright with only a Vatreni player to beat.
Here is his first miss (Image might be geo-restricted).
OFF THE POST
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 1, 2022
How was this not a goal for Belgium?! pic.twitter.com/ED1fCwWGE0
Then, the biggest chance of them came moments later, as Kevin De Bruyne went flying down the left flank and sent the ball to the box. A deflection by one of Croatia's defenders seemed to make it complicated, but Lukaku was unable to transform an open goal miss into the strike Belgium needed.
Have a look at how Lukaku missed that sitter here (Image might be geo-restricted).
The ball was over the line but Belgium continues to get chances in the second half pic.twitter.com/6MGi8kRLyT
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 1, 2022