Courtois: Hungary made a mistake by playing open football

Belgium will meet Wales in the Euro 2016 quarter-finals after running out 4-0 winners over Hungary on Sunday.

Thibaut Courtois believes Hungary made a “mistake” by coming out to play against Belgium after suffering a heavy 4-0 defeat in their round-of-16 tie at Euro 2016.

Belgium ran out big winners in Toulouse on Sunday, with Toby Alderweireld, Michy Batshuayi, Eden Hazard and Yannick Carrasco all finding the net.

However, Hungary took the game to Belgium as they pushed for an equaliser up until the last 12 minutes, when Marc Wilmots’ men scored three times to claim their passage to the quarter-finals.

Courtois was forced into a number of crucial saves as the Hungary forwards peppered, but ultimately that attacking intent cost them on the break.

“Today, we tried to attack from the first minute. They made the mistake of wanting to play against us,” Courtois said.

“And in this case, it is dangerous and we can take advantage of our qualities against their attack. And that was accentuated by scoring early.

“Hungary played very open, more than any of our other opponents in this European Championship. We scored very quickly, so they had to come and leave space in the defence. We utilised it perfectly.”

The Chelsea shot-stopper added: “In the first period we had to finish the match earlier. This is the only criticism of the game.

“Now we will play against teams that will play more open because we will play against great teams that will not only defend.”

Courtois also spoke about the individual performance of Chelsea team-mate Hazard, who capped off a man-of-the-match shift with a stunning goal in the 79th minute.

“Hazard was fantastic,” the 24-year-old said. “If he wants, and he feels good, he is one of the best in the world.”