Belgium, England see bright side
Red Devils bag third but both sides take hope
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — For Belgium and England, the third-place match at the World Cup was more like a dress rehearsal for future finals.
At least they hope.
The Red Devils earned their best World Cup finish by beating England 2-0 on Saturday in a match both saw as the start of a push for the European Championship title in 2020 or the World Cup in 2022.
“With this winning mentality you can win trophies,” said Eden Hazard, who scored Belgium’s second goal. “In two years, in four years, we will be better. We have young players. They are very good also in the team. They push all of us.”
Thomas Meunier and Hazard both scored at St. Petersburg Stadium in a match between the two semifinal losers.
England matched its best World Cup result — fourth in 1990 — since winning the tournament for the only time in 1966.
“Today shows there’s room for improvement. We’re not the finished article. We’re still learning. We’re still getting better,” England striker Harry Kane said.
“We don’t want to wait another 20-odd years to get into another major semifinal.”
Both Belgium and England were playing for the seventh time in 26 days, but the Belgians entered the match with an extra day of rest.
Meunier’s goal matched a World Cup record for Belgium by having 10 different players score in a tournament, something only done before by France in 1982 and Italy in 2006.
Meunier netted in the fourth minute, knocking a cross from Nacer Chadli past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Hazard added the other off a pass from Kevin De Bruyne in the 82nd.
Defender Toby Alderweireld kept out England’s best chance of the game, with his sliding goal-line clearance denying his Tottenham teammate Eric Dier.
Belgium’s previous best finish at the World Cup was fourth, in 1986, but the team outplayed England in midfield to go one better this time.
The Belgians could easily have scored more, with Pickford producing a fine save to stop an 11th-minute De Bruyne shot and Alderweireld volleying narrowly over the 35th.
England made set pieces the cornerstone of its tournament and dead-ball situations again yielded chances for the Three Lions, however Harry Maguire and Dier both failed to hit the target with secondhalf headers.
Fresh legs
England coach Gareth Southgate made five changes to face Belgium, but Danny Rose and Fabian Delph made little impact while Dier started slowly but improved in the second half.
Phil Jones failed to intercept the pass which led to Hazard’s goal.
The two replacements in Belgium’s lineup were more effective. Meunier scored and Youri Tielemans dominated midfield.
Kane was still placed to win the Golden Boot with a tournament-leading six goals ahead of Sunday’s final.
Kane last scored in England’s last-16 win over Colombia. On Saturday, he slipped as he shot wide in the first half, then failed to make contact with a Jesse Lingard cross early in the second.
Romelu Lukaku couldn’t add to his four goals for Belgium and was substituted shortly after misjudging a De Bruyne through-ball.
Next stop 2020
The next major tournament is the 2020 European Championship, which will be played at venues across the continent but with the semifinals and final in London.
England defender John Stones said that could be a boost after the surprise run in Russia prompted a surge in support for the team at home.
However, Southgate cautioned: “We’ve finished in the top four, but we’re not a topfour team yet, we’ve never hidden behind that.
“Against the very best teams, we’ve come up short.”