World Cup 2018: Belgium brush England aside to finish third

Belgium 2-0 England
(Meunier 4', Hazard 82')

In the game that no one supposedly wanted to play, Belgium turned up and exposed a tired England side to claim third spot at the 2018 World Cup.

Straight from the start, Belgium had England on the back foot. A superb pass by Romelu Lukaku fed Nacer Chadli wide left and Thomas Meunier slid home his cross after escaping the attentions of Danny Rose.

Lukaku missed a chance to get on the end of a great pass by Kevin De Bruyne, and Harry Kane hit an effort into the ground as the sizzling start fizzled out.

It was only until the final 20 minutes of the game that England had their best chances to level the scores. Eric Dier saw an effort cleared superbly off the line by Toby Alderweireld and then both Dier and Harry Maguire sent headers wide.

But it was Belgium's day. An excellent counterattack nearly saw Meunier add a second but Jordan Pickford made a spectacular save. Minutes later though, De Bruyne's passing was finally taken advantage of as Eden Hazard slipped in behind the England defense to slot home Belgium's second.

The result gave Belgium their best ever finish at a World Cup. France and Croatia square off in the World Cup final at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Sunday.

As it happened:

90+3' FULL TIME! BELGIUM FINISH THIRD AT THE 2018 WORLD CUP!

89' This one is playing out like most games where one side is winning by two goals and the other team continues to struggle in their search for answers.

86' Hazard breaks... De Bruyne should get the pass, but is sold short by Hazard and England can clear. Could and should have been three. Not that either side mind, I don't think. Not long until it's bronze medal time.

82' GOAL! 2-0 Belgium (Hazard) Finally a De Bruyne pass is seized upon! Hazard gets behind Phil Jones and once in the box, he finds the bottom corner. His third of the tournament and that is that. Belgium will pick up the bronze. England have been exposed here today.

81' CHANCE! Belgium's second textbook counterattack of the tournament, but this time it doesn't in a goal because Jordan Pickford makes another spectacular save to deny Meunier a second. De Bruyne to Mertens, who crossed for Meunier. The defender hit the volley first time and it was going in, but Pickford's wrist said no. Remarkable spell of football.

77' Mertens on the break, cuts inside and his shot drifts... wide. Disappointing end to a promising attack. Story of the game really.

74' CHANCE! Dier again! This time his header goes wide. Then Maguire has a go, but it's also wide! What's this? A small spell of pressure from England?

70' CHANCE! Eric Dier plays a lovely one-two to get into the box and his dink is heading in before Alderweireld slides in to clear it off the line. Superb piece of defending, but England should really be level.

65' I do wonder why we play these games? There's already quite a lot of football on offer, and does everyone really need to be ranked in some shape or form? I don't know. Making the tournament and having the chance to create your own journey should be enough. Once that journey ends, why prolong it? England prolong an attack, and it nearly leads to Belgium scoring on the break. But it doesn't. As you were.

61' Maybe he really does want Kane to win? Off he comes, Dries Mertens comes on. Belgium going for it, as much as is possible in this game. England look like they want to be, ahem, going home.

56' De Bruyne's passing might be the best thing at this World Cup. I challenge anyone to find anything more accurate. Lukaku can't take advantage though, and not for the first time. Maybe he just wants Harry Kane to be top scorer?

54' Kane stretches to get onto a Lingard shot/cross but it misses his boot by inches. I've seen that before, in 1996. Slightly bigger game mind you. Lingard has made a difference already. Impact player, you might say.

51' Trippier whips in a free-kick and is this the moment for England? No, Jan Vertonghen clears it bravely. If he's not there it would have been 1-1, probably. Stones gets booked for trying to hug Hazard. He's a nice chap, but a bit much John!

46' England get us started having made two changes. Sterling and Rose are off, Lingard and Rashford are on.

HALFTIME Belgium are ahead and deservedly so. It could have been more but it isn't and I think both teams are fine with that. At least, the tempo of the game suggests as much.

45' Halftime is approaching. De Bruyne has a shot blocked. Did I mention that it's nearly halftime? Blimey. Where has that half of football gone? Perhaps the real question is, was it really a half of football we watched or something that looks like football but is in fact just an attempt at a sport that we have become familiar with in recent weeks? We asked the big questions here on DW.

38' Credit where credit is due. Roberto Martinez has got his team really up for this. England look like they're still smarting from their semifinal defeat to Croatia.

33' Another Stones block. Belgium have a corner. Tielemans fluffs his shot and Toby Alderweireld fires narrowly over with an acrobatic effort. It is all Belgium ladies and gentlemen. Like when cheese melts and goes everywhere, that's how this Belgium team is playing so far.

28' There's an excellent tennis semifinal (with the women's final to follow) going on in Wimbledon, London right now. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are trading blows in a thrilling match with twists and turns in the fifth set. Remarkable sport. Anyway, back to the third-place playoff... John Stones blocks Youri Tielemans' shot.

24' CHANCE! A great set up by Raheem Sterling, but Harry Kane hits his effort into the ground and it bounces over. Just inside the box with a bit of space, you'd fancy Kane to finish that. 

20' Set-piece England arrive in this one as the "stand-in-line-at-the-checkout" routine leads to Harry Maguire getting free, but his header is gobbled up by Courtois. I wonder if teams will ever figure out how to defend against that?

17' CHANCE! De Bruyne with a superb pass to thread through Lukaku, but the striker can't get it under control in the box. Shame. The pass deserved more.

14' Fabian Delph sends a low shot towards goal but it's very easy for Courtois. Then Rueben Loftus-Cheek gets a header in, but it ends in another comfortable save. Better from England, but not enough. By the way, good stat on that Meunier goal (yes, I know it's early but it's a good stat).

10' Since the goal, both sides have gone forward but with little end product. Until Lukaku somehow gets it through three England players and de Bruyne's shot takes a deflection that results in a good reflex save by Pickford. England need to settle here.

3' GOAL! 1-0 Belgium (Meunier) Well, that's one way to start a game that apparently no one wants to play! Thomas Meunier, the man suspended for Belgium's semifinal, makes a great run into the box and after a superb pass from Romelu Lukaku, Nacer Chadli delivers the perfect cross for the wingback. Jordan Pickford has no chance. England are down straight away here.

1' Off we go!

15:57 Belgium in yellow today, England in red. Good kits. Remember, whoever wins today picks up a bronze medal. Perhaps England fans won't want to know that today's VAR is Mark Geiger, he of the Colombia game.

15:55 If you are concerned about the entertainment on show today, take hope! This game has never ended goalless.

15:45 The game is Saint Petersburg today, and although there's some time left before we get underway it looks as though there's quite a few empty seats.

15:35 Here are the teams! Gareth Southgate makes five changes, Belgium opt for two. On paper this game should be more exciting than its billing, but can either of these sides lift themselves after losing in the semifinals?

Belgium: Courtois – Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen – Meunier, Tielemans, Witsel, Chadli – De Bruyne, Lukaku, Hazard

England: Pickford – Jones, Stones, Maguire – Trippier, Loftus-Cheek, Dier, Delph, Rose – Kane, Sterling

15:30 Welcome to the penultimate World Cup game! Yes, that one that no one really wants to play but hopefully you'll want to watch! It's England against Belgium, as it was in the group stages all those weeks ago. Belgium won that game 1-0, but I feel today might be slightly different. In any case, do join us on here or on Twitter.

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