PHOTOS: Belgium stage late fightback to down Algeria

Belgium rallied from a goal in arrears to score a 2-1 victory over gutsy Algeria in their World Cup Group H opener on Tuesday.

Substitutes Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens turned the game around with goals in the last 20 minutes after Sofiane Feghouli had given Algeria a 25th minute lead from a penalty.

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Belgium, who returned to the World Cup after a 12-year absence, had a better share of the exchanges but found it hard to break down the Algerian defence.

Algeria went ahead in the 25th minute against the run of play from a penalty-kick conversion by Sofiane Feghouli.

The penalty was awarded after left-back Jan Vertonghen brought down Feghouli following a fine cross from Faouzi Ghoulam.

The goal ended Algeria's 28-year-old wait for a World Cup goal. It was their first since their 1-1 draw against Northern Ireland when Djamel Zidane was on target in the 1986 tournament. They had since gone five World Cup games without a goal.

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Belgium then turned the match on its head with two goals in the space of 10 minutes.

Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini equalised in the 70th minute through a glancing header off Kevin De Bruyne's fine cross from the left.

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The goal spurred the Belgians and substitute Dries Mertens scored the match-winner with a low shot for the winning goal in the 80th minute after Eden Hazard raced down the left wing, and cut back a perfect pass.

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Tuesday’s victory was the first in the World Cup for Belgium

after defeating Russia 3-2 in a group match in Shizuoka, Japan, in 2002.

Points Table: Football World Cup 2014