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England 0-1 Belgium: World Cup highlights and recap

ByAndrew Beasley|
England's midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek (C) vies for the ball with Belgium's midfielder Moussa Dembele (L) and Belgium's midfielder Leander Dendoncker during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group G football match between England and Belgium at the Kaliningrad Stadium in Kaliningrad on June 28, 2018. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - NO MOBILE PUSH ALERTS/DOWNLOADS (Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)
England's midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek (C) vies for the ball with Belgium's midfielder Moussa Dembele (L) and Belgium's midfielder Leander Dendoncker during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group G football match between England and Belgium at the Kaliningrad Stadium in Kaliningrad on June 28, 2018. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - NO MOBILE PUSH ALERTS/DOWNLOADS (Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)

England faced Belgium in the World Cup on Thursday, June 28. Here are all the highlights from the match.

England and Belgium have met 21 times in the past, and twice at the World Cup. Yet the Belgians have won just once, and that was in 1936. Not that the sides have met too often recently; despite their geographical proximity, they have clashed just twice in the past two decades, with the last match in 2012.

After rumors that Belgium were going to change all 10 of their outfield players for this match and a second place finish meaning a (potentially) easier path through the knock out stages, there was at least some consideration that either team might throw the game. And, well, only one of the outfielders for Belgium (Dedryck Boyata) kept his starting place and England swapped out eight of their starters as well, so speculate as you like.

England-Belgium was another lethargic and mostly friendly affair, with neither team “really going for it,” as FOX commentator Aly Wagner put it. After an early own-goal scare for England, neither team made much happen for the first half. Belgium’s Youri Tielemans earned a yellow card around the 19-minute mark, putting the English lead (with respect to the fair play tiebreaker) at two. As for the match itself, it remained 0-0 at the half.

The second half was more of the same until Adnan Januzaj curled one in for Belgium near the 51-minute mark. Not three minutes later, England had the opportunity to equalize with a free kick that Trent Alexander-Arnold sent straight into the wall. At one point, Jamie Vardy and Thomas Vermaelen cracked heads going for a high ball, but once the blood was sponged off, both were good to go. Around 66′, England began their most concentrated attack of the game and, after that resulted in nothing more than a Marcus Rashford curler fingertipped away, settled back into a leisurely if persistent effort that never quite manifested anything for the remainder of the game.

Highlights

Here are the top highlights from England vs. Belgium.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1012414965611880448

Next: The best player on every team at the World Cup

Belgium will face Japan in the knock out phase, while England will take on Colombia.

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