Belgium get past England to finish 3rd

Thomas Meunier celebrates after his goal against England.

     After the Wednesday night match between Croatia and England, all eyes were set on the latter and Belgium as they aimed for third-place; Belgium's best ever finish and England best ever finish after their tournament win in 1966. The Red Devils' dreams came true when they outclassed England yet again, beating them 2-0 and clinching third-place, their best ever finish at a World Cup. Meanwhile, England's young team was sent home with nothing but pride and applause, because even though they finished fourth, they left a good trail of brilliance for such a team.

       Belgium took the lead early, from 4 minutes on the clock, when Nacer Chadli whipped in a cross for Thomas Meunier, who stuck out his foot to score the 15ᵗʰ goal for the Red Devils at this tournament. At 15' mark, England had had 2 shots on goal, the same as they managed in the entire 120 minutes against Croatia. Belgium take 3 more shots on goal, each resulting in failure. As the clock showed 23', Raheem Sterling set up a ball for captain Kane, who shot it past the sidebar. Belgian keeper Courtois mades a couple of amazing stops and denied England an equaliser. At the end of first half, the score was 1-0 for Belgium.

       The second half started with two substitutions by Southgate and a change in tactics. Belgium, however having less possession, made many chances for goal but couldn't add another soon. The 70ᵗʰ minute saw the best chance England had in the game. Eric Dier showed some brilliance as he slipped past Belgium's defense with the help of Marcus Rashford and flicked the ball over Courtois. Toby Alderwiereld made a spectacular goal-line clearance to deny England any goals. Ten minutes later, Belgium showed their incredible passing skills and went from their box to the opposition box in just 10 seconds. Vertonghen passed long to Hazard, Hazard to Mertens, Mertens to de Bruyne, back and forth till they reached the penalty box. Mertens crossed to Meunier who would have scored the goal of the tournament had it not been a block from Pickford. But 2 minutes later, their second goal came when de Bruyne passed the ball to Hazard who quickly went past the defense and netted the ball in the bottom-left corner. The match ended 0-2, England in despair for being so close to winning, while Belgium celebrated their best finish in World Cup history.