Belgium defeat England 1-0 as stars watch from bench

Belgium defeat England 1-0 as stars watch from bench
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By Alexander Macrae
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After defeating England, Belgium will play Japan and England will play Colombia.

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Belgium defeated England 1-0 after both sides made plenty of changes.

With both sides already through and the only thing to be decided was who finished first and second Belgium made 9 changes and England made 8 changes ahead of the game. The first half lacked any real chances, but the best chance fell to Batshuayi after Fellaini headed the ball down to him in the area but he couldn't connect with the ball properly, Pickford tried to collect but the ball squirmed under him and Gary Cahill had to clear off the line.

The second half saw the games only goal as Adnan Januzaj squared Danny Rose up on the right wing before shifting the ball onto his left foot and bending it into the top corner.

England had an excellent chance to level after Jamie Vardy played Marcus Rashford through on goal but his shot went wide with the help of a small touch from Courtois.

The result sees Belgium top Group G meaning they will go on to face Japan in the next round while England will face Colombia.

5 things to takeaway from England v Belgium

**Did they want to lose? **

The big talking point before this game was whether the team who finished second in the group would have an "easier" run to the Semi-Final of the tournament. The number of changes made by both sides led to some thinking that both sides wanted to lose and finish second. If that is the case then England will be happier with the result at the end of the day but can any team really go out and aim to lose?

Strength in depth

The number of changes that both sides made may have disappointed fans who wanted to see a full blooded encounter, but it did give us the chance to see how strong the "second choice" players were for both sides. Adnan Januzaj obviously impressed with his goal and Danny Rose impressed for England at left wing-back. The managers will now know much more about their squads going forwards in the tournament and this may help them if they need to rotate further on.

**Adnan Januzaj's goal **

The game at times may have lacked quality, but one moment that definitely did not was Adnan Januzaj's brilliant goal. It was a goal worthy of winning any game as Januzaj shifted the ball onto his left foot and bent it into the top corner. The goal will most definitely be remembered even though the rest of the game may not be!

**Michy Batshuayi's celebration **

Not everyone noticed Michy Batshuayi celebrate the Belgian goal but this who did certainly enjoyed it, he grabbed the ball and went to smash it into the net but managed to kick the ball onto the post and have it rebound onto his face! Although it must have hurt it certainly had fans laughing.

**The last 16 **

The group stages are over and the round of 16 is now decided, we know all of the knockout fixtures and we can look forward to the matches as the next round begins.

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