THE DARK HORSES

Ranked third behind Germany and Brazil, Belgium have reached Russia with high hopes. GREAT ATTACKING PROWESS

With a frontline that includes Eden Hazard, Dries Mertens, Romelu Lukaku and powered by the midfield genius Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium is the dark horse in Russia and are capable of scalping some big names.

They topped their qualifying round group with nine wins and a draw, scoring 43 goals. Lukaku was the top-scorer with 11 goals followed by Hazard 8 and Mertens and Thomas Meunier with five goals each. Their forwardline has played together for couple of years and are experienced enough to trouble any defence.

INJURY WORRIES

Belgium had one of the best defensive record in the qualifying, conceding only six goals but they landed in Russia with some defensive worries as both Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona) and Vincent Kompany (Man City) struggling to get fit. Vermaelen is hampered by a hamstring problem and will miss the Panama clash while Kompany is troubled by a groin complaint and is not available till the next match. This will put extra pressure on the makeshift backline.