England beat Tunisia 2-1 while Belgium were 3-0 winners over Panama.
Starting with England and John Stones played a key part of the Three Lions’ goal against Tunisia with only 11 minutes played.
Ashley Young’s corner found the head of Stones whose thumping header was clawed out by the Tunisian keeper only for Harry Kane to stab home the rebound.
A City defender was also at the heart of the next goal – though he would rather had not – as Kyle Walker was adjudged to have fouled a Tunisian forward as a cross came in.
VAR was used to confirm the decision and the Africans levelled from the spot through Sassi with 35 minutes played.
Then Stones should have scored on 40 minutes as the ball fell to him following a goal-line scramble, but he mis-hit his shot with the goal at his mercy.
England hit the post a minute before the break through Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard as Tunisia went into the break more than a shade fortunate to be on level terms.
Raheem Sterling had a frustrating evening with few opportunities and though he worked hard, he was replaced midway through the second half by Marcus Rashford.
England, who were denied possibly two fouls on Kane in the box, grabbed a dramatic winner in injury time to start the tournament in positive fashion.
Fabian Delph was an unused sub.
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Meanwhile, Belgium cruised past Panama with a 3-0 victory.
As ever, pulling the strings was City’s Kevin De Bruyne who was involved at some stage with all three of the Red Devils’ goals.
He initially found Dries Mertens moments after the break and though his attempted cross was cleared, it fell back to the Napoli striker who thumped a sumptuous volley into the top corner from 20 yards.
The second goal was all about De Bruyne’s superb assist as he bent a cross with the outside of his boot to find Romelu Lukaku who headed home from close range.
And it was De Bruyne who won the ball on the edge of his own box and then started the move that Lukaku would eventually finish as the Belgian’s made an impressive start.
The only downside for the City Player of the Season was a yellow card for a high challenge late in the game.
