England level
England set up another series decider after India fell 86 runs short of the target in the second one-day cricket international at Lord’s yesterday (in the T20 series India prevailed 2-1). England made 322 for seven on the back of a Joe Root century and David Willey half-century. A curious 37 off 59 balls from veteran wicketkeeper MS Dhoni did for India. He hit just two fours and was booed and slow handclapped by the crowd. India were dismissed for 236. The decider is on Wednesday at Leeds.
Martinez’s team clinch highest ever World Cup position with third-place playoff win
Belgium and England both leave the World Cup happy to have reached the semifinals. Belgium may be a little happier, though. The Belgians earned their highest World Cup finish by beating England 2-0 in yesterday’s third-place playoff in St Petersburg. Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard scored a goal each.
“These players didn’t want to rely on talent any more, wanted to work as a team,” Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said. “Their standards have been magnificent. They wanted to make the country proud, every single Red Devils fan proud.”
France and Croatia played the final overnight at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The French beat Belgium on Wednesday in the semifinals, while the Croats defeated England after extra time on Thursday.
Meunier’s early goal yesterday 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.
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 scored 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.
Toby Alderweireld denied England’s best chance of the game, sliding on the goal line to clear a shot from Tottenham teammate Eric Dier.
England matched their best World Harry Kane, England
Denis Cheryshev, Russia Romelu Lukaku, Belgium Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
Edinson Cavani, Uruguay Diego Costa, Spain Artem Dzyuba, Russia Antoine Griezmann, France Eden Hazard, Belgium Yerry Mina, Colombia Kylian Mbappe, France Thomas Meunier fired Belgium into the lead against England yesterday inside the opening four minutes. Cup result — fourth in 1990 — since winning the tournament for the only time in 1966.
“[Yesterday] 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.”
Belgium’s previous best finish at the World Cup was fourth but they outplayed England in midfield to go one better this time.
The Belgians could easily have scored more, with Pickford making a good save to stop a shot from De Bruyne in the 11th and Alderweireld volleying narrowly over the bar in the 35th.
England made set pieces the cornerstone of their run to the World Cup semifinals and created chances for Harry Maguire and Dier in the second