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FIFA World Cup 2018: Belgium beats England 2-0 to claim third place
finish
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July 16, 2018
Original URL: https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup_2018:_Belgium_beats_England_2-0_to_claim_third_place_finish
On Saturday, Belgium defeated England 2 -- 0 in the third-place match of
the 2018 FIFA Football World Cup. Thomas Meunier scored an early goal
and Eden Hazard doubled the lead for Belgium in the 82nd minute to seal
off the third place at the tournament.
England had more ball possession. Meunier opened the scoring for Belgium
in the 4th minute, scoring a right-footed shot from within the penalty
box, from Nacer Chadli's assist. Chadli was in an offside position in
the 13th minute, from Vincent Kompany's through ball. In the 23rd
minute, English striker Harry Kane missed a chance to equalise from
Raheem Sterling's assist. In the 39th minute, Belgium made their first
substitution. Chadli was substituted off due to injury and was replaced
by Thomas Vermaelen. Just before the first half whistle, Belgium tried
to double the lead but Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bryune's attempts were
blocked.
In the second half, England made a double substitution, as Jesse Lingard
and Marcus Rashford came on for Danny Rose and Sterling. English
defender John Stones was the first to get a yellow card. He was booked
in the 52nd minute for a bad foul. At the one-hour mark, Lukaku was
taken off for Dries Mertens. In the 70th minute, Rashford assisted Eric
Dier, and Dier nearly equalised for England, chipping the ball over
Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, but the attempt was blocked by
Belgian defense. Moments later, Harry Maguire tried to head the ball in
the goal, but the ball went wide. Maguire was booked in the 76th minute.
English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford stopped Belgium from doubling their
lead in the 80th minute on the counter-attack, but two minutes later,
Belgium scored their second goal. De Bryune assisted Hazard, and Hazard
scored a right-footed shot from within the penalty area. In the injury
time, Axel Witsel was shown a yellow card. Moments later, the referee
blew the final time whistle and Belgium won the third place in the
tournament.
After the match, Belgium's coach Roberto Martínez said, "We wanted to
win it. When you beat Brazil and get into the semi-final, the focus has
to be to try to win the World Cup. But you need to be realistic when you
finish the tournament and look back. These players made history back in
Belgium and that's all that matters. These players deserve to have that
accolade."
English coach Gareth Southgate said, "In the end we are very proud of
what we've done. We're under no illusions as to where we stand as a
team; we've finished in the final four but we're not a top-four team
yet, we know that and we've never hidden behind that. Against the very
best teams we've come up short but we've had a wonderful adventure and
some experiences that will stand this group of players and staff in
really good stead for the future. I couldn't ask any more of any of the
players today or right the way through the seven weeks we've worked
together."
Hazard won the Budweiser Man of the Match award.
Eden Hazard
Axel Witsel
Nacer Chadli
Thomas Vermaelen
Romelu Lukaku
Dries Mertens
Youri Tielemans
Mousa
Dembélé
|goals2 = John Stones
Harry Maguire
Danny Rose
Jesse
Lingard
Raheem Sterling
Marcus Rashford
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Dele Alli
|stadium = Saint Petersburg Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia
|attendance = 64,406
|referee = Alireza Faghani (Iran)
}}
== Related news ==
*
== Sources ==
* https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/match/300331536/#match-liveblog
* https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44748604
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_5SJPKMHAA
|pub = You Tube
|date = July 14, 2018
}}