Leandro Trossard’s two goals in Belgium’s 5-1 win over New Zealand have shifted the conversation around the Arsenal forward. He’d gone without a goal or assist in disappointing matches against Egypt and Iran, leaving his contribution under scrutiny before Friday’s performance. At 31, he’s an experienced player, so the question wasn’t whether he had the technical ability to make an impact; it was whether he could produce that impact in Belgium colours. This time, he did.
One strong match doesn’t erase the quieter outings that came before it, and the opposition and circumstances matter when judging any performance. Still, two goals in a convincing team win give Trossard something concrete to point to. That’s a meaningful change in the discussion: praise can now be tied to what he actually did on the pitch, rather than to expectations about what he might contribute.
A performance that changed the tone
Belgian outlet Voetbal Primeur collected reactions from local media, where praise for Trossard stood in sharp contrast to the criticism he’d faced in recent weeks. He played 72 minutes on Friday evening and scored twice as Belgium secured the emphatic result. The contrast matters: when a forward has struggled to make a visible mark, a performance with two goals tends to change the terms of the conversation quickly.
That doesn’t mean every concern about his earlier displays has disappeared. It does mean the criticism now has to account for a match in which Trossard was directly involved in the scoreline. For a national team, where players have limited time together compared with their club sides, individual contributions can carry particular weight. A decisive showing can help make a case for continued trust, though it can’t by itself settle every question about form or role.
On RTL’s Dans le Vestiaire, former goalkeeper Silvio Proto described the display as a potential first for Trossard with the national team. His assessment was striking because it concerned not simply the goals, but the quality of the overall performance. That distinction is important: a player can score and still leave questions about how consistently he affected the match. Proto’s comments suggest he saw Friday as a fuller answer to a long-running doubt.
“I’m delighted; this may well be the first time you can say he’s played a top-class match for the national team,” Proto said. He added that while Trossard’s ability had never been in doubt, he had often felt the forward was missing something in Belgium colours. “I wondered when he would put in a top performance. Now he’s done it.”
The difference between ability and impact
Proto’s distinction between ability and performance gets at the central issue. A player can have a strong reputation and still fail to translate it into influential work for a particular team. International football can make that gap more visible: there’s less time to build combinations, fewer matches in which to recover from a quiet outing, and more attention on whether a player fits the team’s immediate needs. Those general pressures don’t explain Trossard’s earlier matches on their own, but they help show why one high-profile display can prompt such a sharp reassessment.
Here’s the thing: the two goals are the clearest evidence, but the reaction also reflects how long observers have been waiting for a performance they’d describe as complete. The numbers on the scoreboard are hard to dismiss. The question now is whether this can become a reference point for his Belgium performances, rather than a bright exception surrounded by less convincing outings. One match can reset expectations. Sustaining them takes more.
Starting place defended
Anthony Vanden Borre said the match came at the right time, arguing that Trossard had shown he deserved a place in the starting line-up. He acknowledged that calls for more are natural when a player is struggling, while adding that coach Rudi Garcia doesn’t want to lose him. That combination of criticism and support points to the practical decision facing a coach: how much should one recent performance change the way a player is used?
A starting place isn’t a lifetime verdict on a player’s form. Coaches have to weigh what they’ve seen across matches against the qualities a player can offer in a particular role. Vanden Borre’s comments frame Trossard’s performance as an argument for selection, while recognizing that the earlier doubts didn’t come from nowhere. Garcia’s reported reluctance to lose him suggests Trossard remains part of the coach’s thinking, but the precise role he’ll play can’t be inferred from that alone.
Analyst Emiliano Bonfigli went further, calling Trossard “the best Red Devil at this World Cup so far”. That’s a strong judgment, and it gives the forward an immediate benchmark to meet. Such praise can raise expectations as quickly as it lifts confidence; the next appearances will show whether this match marked a lasting change in his standing or simply one excellent night.
What comes next for Trossard
Belgium have now secured a place in the knockout stages, giving the Arsenal forward an immediate chance to build on a performance that has reset expectations. The team result provides a positive setting for that opportunity, but it also raises the stakes: knockout football leaves less room for a player to fade quietly into the match. If you’re following Trossard’s role, the useful question is whether he can keep influencing games when the pressure and tactical demands change.
This is more significant than it looks, though the significance is easy to overstate. A two-goal display can strengthen a case for selection and reassure a coach that a player can deliver for the national team. It can’t guarantee a starting place, establish a new pattern, or settle how Trossard should fit into every game. The performance has changed the evidence available to Belgium’s staff and to the commentators assessing him. What they do with that evidence is still to come.
And yet, there’s a simple point underneath all the analysis: Trossard answered a question that had been hanging over his Belgium form. He didn’t answer every question. For now, he’s turned criticism into a more demanding kind of attention, where the standard set by Friday’s two goals will follow him into the next match. A starting point, not a final verdict. (And this is the part most people overlook.) The value of the performance may lie as much in giving him a platform to build from as in the result itself.
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