Belgium vs. England score: Highlights from World Cup third place playoff

Gabe Fernandez

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Belgium vs. England score: Highlights from World Cup third place playoff image

Belgium made history on Saturday after a 2-0 victory over England in the consolation playoff saw them earn their best finish in a World Cup as a country.

The Red Devils won with the way that has brought them so much success all tournament: counter-attacks. The first goal came on a team-play push that ended in a beautiful pass to the trailing fullback. The second, came on a beautiful solo finish from Eden Hazard.

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England won't necessarily go home empty-handed, however. Even without any goals this game, Harry Kane will likely win the tournament's Golden Boot award for being the top goal-scorer as his Belgian competitor, Romelu Lukaku, did not bag anything either. So there's that.

Sporting News had you covered with live highlights, score updates and more from the consolation match. Here's what you might have missed.

Belgium vs. England live: World Cup highlights

FINAL: Belgium 2, England 0

90' + 3' —  YELLOW CARD: Witsel (Belgium)

90' — Three minutes of injury time.

87' —  To give you an idea of how seriously Belgium takes England, Vincent Kompany was just sent forward as part of a counter-attack.

84' —  SUBSITUTION: Loftus-Cheek OFF, Alli ON (England)

82' — GOAL BELGIUM (2-0)!!  Belgium takes advantage of the lack of finishing from England and responds with a beautiful counter attack. Hazard spins Phil Jones and gets a shot on goal to double the Red Devils' lead.

80' —  Belgium with another great counter to force England to track back. Meunier gets another shot on goal from a volley, but Jordan Pickford is there for the save.

England gets a chance on their side as well. Rashford fires a shot low and slow enough for Courtois to save it with ease.

78' —  SUBSTITUTION: Tielemans OFF, Dembele ON (Belgium)

76' —  Belgium was off to the races with so much space to run through. The ball ultimately finds Dries Mertens, but the shot goes absurdly wide.

74' —  Harry Maguire finds a way to sky over the Belgian defense but his shot that went wide was ruled offside.

73' —  Dier gets another opportunity at goal from a cross with a header but the shot goes wide. Dier had three defenders around him so it's not like the shot was particularly open.

70' —  CLOSE CALL FOR ENGLAND! Eric Dier appears to beautifully chip the ball over Courtois for a goal, but Alderweireld is able to run back and clear the ball of its line to keep the clean sheet! 

69' —  Eric Dier fires a low, driving shot from outside the box that lands to the diving hands of Courtois.

67' —  Narrow chance for England. Loftus-Cheek whips in a ball that misses Kane. Fabian Delph crosses again, but that misses everyone.

65' —  Trippier's barrage of crosses continues to give England chances from corners. This time, a chance for Kane deflected awkwardly and led to a Belgian counter-attack that ultimately came to nothing.

63' —  Belgium's energy has returned. A push to goal forces England to give up a Belgian corner. The last-ditch slide from Fabian Delph was enough to stop an open-play score. Belgium then almost scores from the ensuing corner, but the low cross misses its target.

60' —  SUBSTITUTION: Lukaku OFF, Mertens ON (Belgium). Lukaku goes out of the World Cup with four goals, meaning Kane will likely take the Golden Boot.

59' —  England's changes in personnel appear to have led to a change in energy for the Three Lions. The passes and runs have more purpose and Belgium just isn't matching that.

56' —  Beautiful pass from De Bruyne finds Lukaku down the middle, but the striker's touch betrays him and the ball rolls harmlessly to a diving Jordan Pickford.

54' —  England almost takes advantage of the lazy defense. Jesse Lingard takes the Trippier throw-in and hits it towards Harry Kane, who is unable to put it in net. Unclear whether the hit was a shot or a pass from Lingard. 

52' — Corner was right to the middle, but too close to Courtois.

YELLOW CARD: John Stones (England)

51' —  Trippier's free kick feed was so close to an English head, but it gets cleared for a corner.

47' —  Loftus-Cheek almost takes it on his own! A last-ditch slide from a Belgian defender forces a goal kick.

46' —  SUBSTITUTION: Sterling OFF, Rashford ON; Rose OFF, Lingard ON (England)

And we're back!

HALFTIME: Belgium 1, England 0

45' + 2' —  Lukaku goes one-on-one with John Stones to double his team's lead before halftime, but the shot is ultimately blocked. The ref blows the whistle before the corner gets taken, in a rare move.

45' + 1' —  Loftus-Cheek with England's closest chance in quite some time, but a heavy touch leads the ball right to Courtois' hands.

45' —  Two minutes of injury time.

44' —  Belgium appear to be trying for one more goal before the half. England seem happy to absorb the pressure until the whistle.

39' —  SUBSTITUTION: Chadli OFF, Vermaelen ON (Belgium)

38' —  Belgium push England to force a corner.

36' —  Another counter for Belgium gives England a scare, but the defense closes down on Eden Hazard, who couldn't get a shot off. Nacer Chadli is down with an injury.

34' —  Belgium finally break on an attack, but Eden Hazard's shot is blocked. The ensuing corner was a training ground play, but Alderweireld shot goes over the bar.

33' —  England and Belgium have been trading possession with neither team threatening much. England do not seem as cool, calm and collected as Belgium do in their passes.

28' —  Meunier fed a dangerous cross to the box as Pickford was off his line. But no one was at the end of it.

23' —  Harry Kane will have to wait just a bit longer to extend his goal-scoring total this tournament. Eric Dier feeds Sterling with a beautiful chip, who passes it to Kane at the top of the box. Kane's shot goes wide.

19' —  Another close chance for England. Sterling with a chance to cross it inside while in the box, but the pass gets deflected out of bounds for a corner. Harry Maguire's attempt off the corner goes right to Thibaut Courtois.

I personally hope the jokes never stop.

17' —  Lucky for England! Romelu Lukaku had a great opportunity at goal in the box, but a heavy touch moved the ball right to the feet of Pickford.

15' —  Close for England! A great service from outside of the box finds Loftus-Cheek open in the box, but the ball lands right in the hands of Courtois.

12' —  Belgian counter-attack builds up to give Kevin De Bruyne a chance inside the box, but the shot gets deflected by a defender and Jordan Pickford.

11' —  Raheem Sterling with a chance outside the box, but the shot gets blocked.

9' —  Almost a second for Belgium! The counter attack builds up so nicely, but a Kevin De Bruyne backheel was timed poorly and reached England's defense.

4' —  GOAL BELGIUM (1-0)!  Classic Belgium starting the counter-attack and outpacing England's defense for an early lead! Thomas Meunier scores.

1' —  And we're off!

Pre-match notes

Gary Lineker would like to remind you that the English arrogance was all an elaborate ruse, by the way, and in no way indicative of any actual beliefs of England winning the whole tournament.

In the words of Guardian writer, Paul Doyle, "Here come the national anthems, which, in many countries’ cases, tend to be more arrogant and offensive than any tune written by a pair of comedians."

Match Lineups:

Belgium : Courtois; Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen; Meunier, Tielemans, Witsel, Chadli; De Bruyne, Lukaku, Hazard

Subs: Mignolet, Casteels, Vermaelen, Boyata, Dendoncker, Fellaini, Dembélé, Carrasco, T. Hazard, Mertens, Januzaj, Batshuayi

England : Pickford; Stones, Jones, Maguire; Trippier, Dier, Delph, Loftus-Cheek, Rose; Sterling, Kane

Subs: Walker, Lingard, Henderson, Vardy, Buland, Welbeck, Cahill, Young, Rashford, Alli, Alexander-Arnold, Pope

Gabe Fernandez