Having been beaten in their opening match by Italy, the highly fancied Belgian side needed a response against the Irish or they would face the prospect on an early exit from the tournament.

Eden Hazard should have eased Belgian nerves when presented with a clear chance in the Ireland box, only to fire wastefully over the crossbar, which meant the two sides would go into the break level.

Ireland felt aggrieved after half-time when their striker Shane Long saw a strong claim for a penalty turned away, with Belgium breaking away from the incident to score the opening goal of the contest.

Kevin De Bruyne escaped his marker on the right wing and found Romelu Lukaku on the edge of the box, with the striker, who was ineffective against Italy, firing a composed finish beyond Ireland’s goalkeeper Darren Randolph.

Axel Witsel doubled his side’s advantage with a well-placed header after 61 minutes, before Lukaku added his second after another Belgian counter-attack.

Following their 3-0 victory the Belgian team move to second in the group standings, behind Italy, while Ireland sit bottom with only one point from their two matches.

Iceland were denied a historic first victory at the European Championships after a late own goal from Birkir Saevarsson in their Group F match with Hungary.

Gylfi Sigurdsson gave Iceland the lead in the first half of the contest from the penalty spot, after Tamas Kadar had been adjudged to have fouled Aron Gunnarsson in the Hungarian box.

Hungary, who beat Austria in their opening game, put the Icelandic goal under severe pressure in the closing stages and their efforts eventually told when Saevarsson diverted a low cross from Nemanja Nikolic into his own net with three minutes left.

Veteran striker Eidur Gudjohsen nearly put Iceland back in front with the final kick of the game, after a Sigurdsson free-kick fell to his feet, but his powerful drive was deflected wide by a Hungarian defender.

Hungary top the group standings with four points, while Iceland are level with Portugal after drawing both of their opening matches.

The Portuguese team were left frustrated by Austria, who despite having minimal possession nearly took the lead when David Alaba's free-kick was superbly cleared off the line by Vieirinha.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who became Portugal's most capped player after appearing in the tie, had a torrid evening in front of goal with the 31-year-old failing to convert several clear chances.

The clearest was a 79th minute penalty, which the Portuguese captain could only direct onto the Austrian post, while he also saw a late header ruled out for offside as Austria held on for a 0-0 draw.