Belgium's Marouane Fellaini's header going past Algeria's goalkeeper Rais M'Bolhi during the Group H World Cup match between Belgium and Algeria at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, yesterday. - AP

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (AP):

Waiting and waiting for an equaliser, the tension started showing on the faces of the Belgian players as the second half wore on in the country's first World Cup match in 12 years.

Algeria were on the verge of a major upset in their Group H opener yesterday, taking the lead through a penalty in the 25th minute. Try as they might, Belgium's attacking players just couldn't break down Algeria's defence.

comeback win

In the end, it was the Belgian bench which found the way, with substitutes scoring twice for a 2-1 comeback win.

"We tired them. We just tired them down," Belgium coach, Marc Wilmots, said. "I told them, 'Don't worry, we will score.'"

Algeria's surprising lead stood for 45 minutes until Marouane Fellaini's strong glancing header, with his back to goal, from a Kevin De Bruyne cross in the 70th.

Fellaini, who many had considered would start the match, had only come on to the pitch five minutes earlier and was Wilmots' final substitution.

shot high

Dries Mertens' right-foot strike beat Algeria's goalkeeper in the 80th after Eden Hazard saw him free on the right and set him up for the decider. Mertens, who went on at the start of the second half, sent his shot high in the net outside of Rais Mbolhi's reach.

"We knew it would be tough, that there would be no space," Wilmots said. "We made one error and we paid for it. The bench made the difference. We showed mental strength and we came back."

The error was an obvious one. Belgium left back Jan Vertonghen dragged down Sofiane Feghouli in the area, and the Algerian attacking midfielder got up and converted the resulting penalty.