Belgium finish 3rd in World Cup, beat England 2-0



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<img itemprop = "url" clbad = "wp-post-image" alt = "England goaltender Jordan Pickford (R) reacts after Belgium scores his second goal in the play-off between Belgium and England at St Petersburg stadium, July 14, 2018. [19659002] England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (R) reacts after Belgium scored his second goal in the play-off between Belgium and England at St Petersburg stadium, July 14, 2018. [19659003] GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP / Getty Images

PETERSBURG ST, Russia – For Belgium and l & # 39; England, the match for third place at the World Cup looked more like a dress rehearsal for future finals.

At least they hope.

2-0 Saturday in a match at a time seen as the beginning from a push for the title of European Champion in 2020 or the World Cup in 2022.

"With this winning mindset, you can win trophies, "said Eden Hazard Belgium's second goal. "In two years, in four years, we will be better, we have young players, they are very good in the team, they push each of us."

Thomas Meunier and Hazard have both scored at St Petersburg Stadium in a match between the two semifinal losers.

France and Croatia will play the final on Sunday at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow. The French beat Belgium in the semifinals on Tuesday, while the Croatians beat England on Wednesday.

England tied its best result in the World Cup – fourth in 1990 – after winning the tournament for the only time in 1966.

there is room for improvement. We are not the finished article. We are still learning. We are always better, "said England striker Harry Kane." We do not want to wait another twenty years to get into another big semifinal. "

Belgium and the # England played for the seventh time in 26 days, but the Belgians entered the match with an extra day of rest

Meunier's goal tied a World Cup record for Belgium by scoring 10 different players in a tournament, which had only been done by France in 1982 and Italy in 2006.

Meunier scored in the fourth minute, Nacer Chadli overtook England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. added the other on a Kevin De Bruyne pbad in the 82nd

Toby Alderweireld denied the best chance of England 's game, slipping on the goal line to clear a shot from behind. Eric Dier.

The World Cup finished fourth, but the team has devan it's England in the middle to get better this time.

The Belgians could easily have scored more, with Pickford making a good stop to stop a shot from De Bruyne to the 11th and Alderweireld narrowly on the bar at 35.

England made play pieces the cornerstone of his run to the World Cup semi-finals and created opportunities for Harry Maguire and Dier in the second half. Neither one nor the other reached the target with their headers

It was the second time that England and Belgium met in this year's tournament . In the group stage, both teams had already qualified before Belgium's 1-0 win in Kaliningrad

Canadian referee Joe Fletcher worked as an badistant VAR

FRESH LEGS

Facing Belgium, Danny Rose and Fabian Delph made little difference while Dier started slowly but threatened in the second half.

Phil Jones failed to intercept the pbad that led to Hazard's goal

effective. Miller has scored and Yuri Tielemans has dominated the midfield

GOLDEN BOOT

Kane is still placed to win the Golden Boot with six goals in the lead of Sunday's final

He did not succeed to contact the center of Jesse Lingard at the beginning of the second period of play.

Romelu Lukaku was unable to add to his four goals for Belgium. substituted shortly after missing a ball from De Bruyne

NEXT STOP 2020

The next big tournament is the 2020 European Championship, which will be played on the continent's sites but with the half -finals and finals at Wembley Stadium

English defender John Stones said it could be a boost after the surprise run to the semifinals in Russia, which has provoked renewed support for the team. home team. But Southgate said that England still had a long way to go

"We finished in the top four, but we are still not in the top four," said Southgate. "Against the best teams, we came short."

James Ellingworth is at https://twitter.com/jellingworth

More coverage of the AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/ tag / WorldCup

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