Faro (Portugal), Oct 11 (IANS): Christian Benteke set a new World Cup record for the fastest goal in the competition, including the finals, in Belgium's qualifier against Gibraltar here.

The 25-year-old Crystal Palace striker, who was to bag a hat-trick, picked up the ball to score after just seven seconds in the first action of the Group H qualifier on Monday with the Gibraltar defence in disarray, leaving goalie Deren Ibrahim with no chance, reports Xinhua.

Benteke's quick-fire goal eclipsed the previous best of 8.3 seconds achieved by San Marino's Davide Gualtieri in a World Cup qualifier against England in November 1993.

The record for the fastest goal in a World Cup finals match is 10.8 seconds by Turkey's Hakan Sukur against South Korea in 2002.

Benteke, who was called up as a replacement for the injured Romelu Lukaku, also secured the record for the fastest goal in Belgium's history.

Benteke went on to score twice more in a 6-0 demolition of Gibraltar.