Benteke returned to Belgium's squad for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, scoring his first international goal for two years in a 5–0 defeat of Cyprus on 28 March 2015. He was selected for the final tournament in France, and made his tournament debut in the second group game on 18 June, replacing Romelu Lukaku for the last seven minutes of a 3–0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Bordeaux. He played three more minutes in place of the same player four days later in a victory over Sweden, but took no further part as the Belgians reached the quarter-finals and lost to Wales. On 10 October 2016, Benteke set a record for the fastest goal in a World Cup match—either qualifying or the finals—when he scored after 8.1 seconds against Gibraltar in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match, breaking the 23-year-old record previously held by Davide Gualtieri. He scored twice more to complete his first hat-trick for Belgium.