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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Belgium and England are both happy with the World Cup semi-final. Belgium may be a little happier,
The Belgians achieved their best World Cup performance by beating England 2-0 in the match for third place on Saturday. Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard each scored a goal.
"These players did not want to rely on talent anymore, they wanted to work as a team," said Belgian coach Roberto Martínez. "Their standards were great, they wanted to make the country proud, all the Red Devils fans were proud."
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.
Meunier's first goal tied a World Cup record for Belgium. Only two other teams had 10 different players in the tournament: France in 1982 and Italy in 2006.
Belgium and England were playing for the seventh time in 26 days, but Belgians are entered the match with an extra day.
Meunier scored in the fourth minute, pushing Nacer Chadli's center past English goaltender Jordan Pickford. Hazard added the other on a Kevin De Bruyne pbad in the 82nd
Toby Alderweireld denied England's best chance, slipping on the goal line to clear a shot from Eric Dier.
England tied his best World Cup result – fourth in 1990 – since he won the tournament for the only time in 1966.
"Today, he's showing that there is room for improvement, "said English striker Harry Kane. "We are not finished article.We are still learning.We are always getting better.We do not want to wait another twenty years before entering another big semifinal." [19659002] Belgium's previous best result at the World Cup was fourth, but the team outperformed England in midfield. 19659002] The Belgians could have easily scored more, with Pickford making a good stop to stop a De Bruyne shot in the 11th and Alderweireld just flying over the bar in the 35.
England, who had made plays playing the cornerstone of his run to the semifinals, created chances for Harry Maguire and Dier in the second half. Both missed 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 at Kaliningrad
Notes
England Coach Gareth Southgate made five changes to face Belgium. Danny Rose and Fabian Delph had little impact, while Eric Dier started slowly but threatened in the second half. Phil Jones failed to intercept the pbad that led to the goal of Eden Hazard . The two substitutes of the Belgian formation were more efficient. Thomas Meunier scored, and Yuri Tielemans dominated the midfield. … The Englishman Harry Kane is still in the position to win the Golden Boot, with six goals ahead of the tournament before Sunday's final. Kane scored the last goal of England's win against Colombia in the round of 16. Saturday, he slipped in the first period, and then failed to contact the center of Jesse Lingard at the beginning of the second period. Romelu Lukaku was unable to add to his four goals for Belgium and was replaced shortly after misjudging a ball by Kevin De Bruyne .
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