Belgium beats England 2-0 to secure third place at World Cup 2018

Belgium claimed their best ever finish in a World Cup after victory over England in St Petersburg.

Goals from Thomas Meunier in the first half and Eden Hazard in the second put Belgium on their way to victory.

The two sides, both losing semi-finalists to France and Croatia respectively, met in the third-place play-off at the Krestovsky Stadium.

The Red Devils opened the scoring in the third minute. A sublime cross from Chadli found Meunier who bundled it home.

De Bruyne almost doubled their lead after a searching pass from Lukaku found him, but Pickford made a smart save.

Loftus-Cheek was eager to equalise for England. His header was saved by Courtois before his run earnt a corner, Maguire's header was saved from the resulting set-piece.

In the second half, England had more about themselves as they tried to find a leveller.

Their closest chance came from Eric Dier. A through ball from Rashford, saw him try to dink the ball over Courtois but Spurs teammate Alderweireld denied him with a clearance off the line.

Dier and Maguire were England's best route at equalising, their headers went just wide after Dier's best chance.

A superb attack with neat passing saw Meunier denied by a superb save from Pickford. However two minutes later, Hazard did double Belgium's lead with a neat finish.

SOURCE: euronews
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