England 0-1 Belgium: Runners Up Spot Secured
It feels kind of surreal that England lost a competitive match at a major tournament, but nobody really cares. England will now play Colombia in the last 16 after their 1-0 loss to Belgium in what was a predictably low key affair.
This was billed as the match that nobody wanted to win. Whoever won the match would win Group G. But they would then be in what is perceived to be the more difficult half of the draw in the knockout rounds, with Brazil a possible opponent in the quarter finals.
All Change
Gareth Southgate made 8 changes to the starting lineup, only to find Roberto Martinez going one better with 9. It was a perfect chance to rest players and also give others some much needed playing time.
The match was settled just after half time by football’s forgotten man, Adnan Januzaj. Remember when he was the next big thing and people were wondering if he had English grandparents? Well he now has a World Cup goal to his name, cutting inside and bending a left footed shot past Pickford and into the top corner.
The best thing about the goal – and possibly the entire match – was Michy Batshuayi’s glorious celebration.
Overall, Belgium created the better chances and deserved their win. Whether they wanted it more is debatable, but they were the better team on the day and England can have no complaints.
What We Learned
The result told us very little, other than perhaps that Belgium’s squad is stronger than ours overall. Of England’s replacements, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Danny Rose impressed, while Eric Dier, Phil Jones and Marcus Rashford didn’t. Jamie Vardy didn’t have any real chances, but showed great determination to chase down and win back the ball in the opposition half on a number of occasions.
It was Rashford who had England’s best chance to equalise, running clear onto Vardy’s pass with only the keeper to beat. But unfortunately finishing is probably the weakest part of the young man’s game, and he fluffed his lines by rather clumsily side-footing past the post.
Danny Welbeck came on and looked rusty, missing a couple of half chances. It probably shows more about how much we rely on Harry Kane, and how far the others have to go to get to his level. While Kane stays fit and in form, England always have a chance.
Colombia Next
So England will go to Moscow on Tuesday to face Colombia in the last 16. We don’t want to look any further ahead than that game for now. Being in the “easier” half of the draw is no use if you don’t win your first match.
We’d expect at least 7 of the 8 changes to be reverted, with Danny Rose probably having the best chance to keep his place.
Even without James Rodriguez, Colombia are a good side and we’ll have to be at our best to beat them. Southgate says it’s England’s “biggest knockout match for a decade” and it’s hard to argue with that. But the fact that we’re looking forward to it rather than dreading it shows how far we’ve already come in a short space of time.
The real business is about to begin.