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Belgium entered their final game of Group F against Croatia knowing they needed to win the match to have any chance of qualifying for the round of 16.
The Red Devils came third in Russia four years ago and are ranked the second best team in the world according to the current FIFA rankings. Croatia, who reached the final in 2018, knew a draw would be enough to see them progress to the knockout stages.
? “The whole team earned this award today.”
Luka Modric is your @Budweiser Player of the Match, but he said reaching the Round of 16 was a collective effort ??#POTM #YoursToTake #BringHomeTheBud pic.twitter.com/hyiWMVcahg
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 1, 2022
The first half of the match produced little in the way excitement as both teams played with a degree of caution. It was Croatia who fashioned the best chances of the first half and Ivan Perisic had an opportunity to give them lead inside the first 10 seconds of the game.
Andrej Kramaric thought he had won a penalty but VAR intervened and the decision was overturned because of an offside in the build up to the incident.
Romelu Lukaku was introduced by Belgium in the second half and he immediately looked more dangerous than Dries Mertens, who was substituted at half time.
Yannick Carrasco had a shot that rebounded into the path of Lukaku but with the Croatian defence scrambling, the Inter Milan striker saw his shot hit the inside of the post and flash across the goal. It was the beginning of what turned out to be a hugely frustrating 45 minutes for Lukaku and Belgium.
Luka Modric had Croatia’s best chance of the second half but it was Lukaku who had the best goal scoring opportunities.
The Belgian striker had two opportunities to score in the closing stages, deflecting a cross shot wide of the near post and allowing the ball to hit his chest and fall into the arms of the Croatian goalkeeper from only two yards out. The first miss was forgivable but Lukaku should have done much better with the second opportunity.
The game finished 0-0 and as the Croatian players celebrated the result, the Belgian players sank to their knees. Their performance in this match was not great and their overall display in the tournament was disappointing.
The statistics show, despite having 16 attempts at goal, Belgium hit the target on only 3 occasions compared to the 4 shots on target by Croatia.
Kevin de Bruyne was named as captain of the Belgium team for this game in the absence of Eden Hazard but even the Manchester City midfielder could not inspire his nation to victory.
With many of Belgium’s key players approaching the end of their careers, this was the last chance for them to impress on the biggest stage and they failed.
Croatia on the hand progress to the round of 16 where they will meet Japan for a place in the quarter final. Luka Modric is still performing at the highest level at the age of 37 in central midfield and in Joško Gvardiol they have an exciting young talent in central defence. Croatia march on while Belgium exit the tournament.
