St. Petersburg: England and Belgium are set to lock horns for the third place playoff at St. Petersburg city in the 21st edition of FIFA world cup.
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England and Belgium, who instantly became the crowd favourites in the earlier stages, were knocked down in the semi-final matches.
On July 11, France defeated Belgium’s finale hopes by one goal to none. While on July 12, Croatia did the same to England by scoring two goals to one, in Moscow.
In the July 11 match, Goalkeepers Hugo Lloris and Thibaut Courtois both took smart moves to make sure the game remained scoreless till the half time.
Post half time, France’s Samuel Umtiti led France ahead by scoring a winning goal from a corner.
In the July 12 match, in the first five minutes of the game, England’s Kieran Trippier gave his team the lead with a fabulous free-kick; after which it was Croatia’s Ivan Perisic and Mandzukic, who helped the team reach their first ever world cup final.
England and Belgium are meeting for the second time in this edition, after their match in the group stages.
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Belgium, who defeated England in the group stage match by one goal to none, would be the probable favourites for earning a rightful place at the third spot in the FIFA rankings.
On a related note, the England and Belgium squads are as follows:
England:
Goalkeepers- Nick Pope, Jordan Pickford, Jack Butland.
Defenders- Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Phil Jones, Fabian Delph, Ashley Young, Trent-Alexander Arnold.
Midfielders- Eric Dier, Jesse Lingard, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Ruben-Loftus Cheek.
Forwards- Harry Kane (C), Raheem Sterling, Jamie Vardy, Danny Welbeck, Marcus Rashford.
Belgium:
Goalkeepers: Koen Casteels, Thibaut Courtois, Simon Mignolet
Defenders: Toby Alderweireld, Dedryck Boyata, Laurent Ciman, Leander Dendoncker, Vincent Kompany, Thomas Vermaelen, Jan Vertonghen
Midfielders: Yannick Carrasco, Nacer Chadli, Kevin De Bruyne, Mousa Dembele, Marouane Fellaini, Adnan Januzaj, Youri Tielemans, Axel Witsel, Thomas Meunier
Forwards: Michy Batshuayi, Eden Hazard, Thorgan Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Dries Mertens.