Caoimhin Kelleher: Didn’t have a huge amount to do but was a calming presence and made one decent save from Thomas Meunier in the second half. 7

Seamus Coleman: Was a little sloppy with his passing at times going forward but justified his selection with a solid defensive display keeping players of the calibre of Jeremy Doku quiet. 7

Nathan Collins: The centre of the three defenders marshalled the backline well and set up one promising second-half attack with an excellent crossfield pass. 7

Dara O’Shea: Won a first-half penalty when his shot hit the hand of  Arthur Vermeeren and can be satisfied with his defensive contribution too. 7

Andrew Omobamidele: Another calm and composed figure in the Irish defence who didn’t do a lot wrong and looked at home at this level on his eighth cap. 7

Robbie Brady: His set-piece delivery was mixed but the 32-year-old showed enough overall to suggest he is capable of playing plenty more games for Ireland. 6

Josh Cullen: A deserving player-of-the-match-award winner, Ireland don’t have many quality natural defensive midfielders available so it’s great that the Burnley star remains as reliable as ever. 7

Will Smallbone: Prefers to be in a more attacking midfield role but showed he had the discipline to sit in alongside Cullen and do a decent job. 6

Chiedozie Ogbene: Remains a key player for Ireland owing to his pace and power on the counter-attack though his decision-making and finishing let him down occasionally. 7

Sammie Szmodics: Slipped Ogbene through with a nice pass in the first half and looked lively enough on his international debut before being replaced by Jason Knight in the second half. 6

Evan Ferguson: Caused the Belgian defence problems with his physicality but missed the all-important penalty and looks a little short of confidence owing to his recent goal drought. 6

Subs: It was nice to see the likes of Adam Idah and Mikey Johnston get a chance, but they couldn’t make much of an impact in their limited time on the pitch. 6