Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia slammed the "ugly" criticism his players had been subjected to, insisting "all Belgians should be proud" following their progress to the World Cup knockout stages.

Following a pair of underwhelming draws against Egypt and Iran, the Red Devils secured top spot in Group G with a statement 5-1 victory over New Zealand in Vancouver – scoring their joint-most goals in a World Cup game.

Belgium recorded 35 shots during the match – their third-most in a single game at the finals – while they completed a group stage unbeaten for the fifth time in their last six appearances.

And Garcia praised the way his players had responded to the negativity surrounding them in recent weeks.

"I trust all my players and my leaders, too," he told Belgian broadcaster RTBF. "They've been heavily criticised, and I think that's ugly.

"They've shown on the field that they are immense players, and all Belgians should be proud to have players like them.

"There's only one place where we can respond, and that's on the pitch. We were efficient, which is the big difference compared to the match against Iran.

"Scoring goals changes everything. We had the good sense to win by at least three goals.

"All the matches in this group were close. We finished first in the group. The main thing is to be in the round of 32. We can't say that our World Cup has started, but I hope it will now pick up speed."

Defeat consigned New Zealand to another group-stage elimination, as they finished bottom of Group G with a single point from their three matches.

The All Whites conceded their joint-most goals in a World Cup match – also letting in five against Scotland in 1982 – but head coach Darren Bazeley praised his players' efforts.

"I think when you saw the draw, and we knew we were playing [Belgium] last, you probably expected them to already be on six points and that maybe could work in our favour," he told reporters.

"We needed to ⁠pick up our points in the first two games, and we gave ourselves the opportunity to do that, but we didn't take it.

"We tried to get back in the game. We weren't going to just leave this World Cup defending a 2-0 loss, we wanted to try and score, to try and get back in the game. But unfortunately, we got punished a few times.

"Most of these guys will ‌be back ⁠in four years' time, and they will be better for it. They have to be better for it, if we're going to get to where we all want to, which is into those knockout games.

"They'll definitely learn from it. This is a great group of players that have got a really great future, a bright ⁠future, both individually at clubs and together. They'll definitely be better for it because it'll hurt, and it should hurt because we're at a World Cup, and now we're going home."