Belgium is under a lot of pressure after losing against Morocco. A win against Croatia the second-best team in the world is not an option. This was the last World Cup for Belgium’s golden generation. The Belgium team, full of rush stars like De Bruyne, Lukaku, and Hazard came third in the 2018 World Cup with hopes of doing well in this World Cup. But Qatar left the World Cup after winning only 1 match. A win was needed against Croatia in the last match. But Lukaku, De Bruynes failed to break the solid defense of Croats. As a result, if the game ended in a goalless draw, Belgium’s exit was confirmed.
Even if a draw is possible, the conditions apply – Belgium’s equation was like this even at the moment of the start of the game. Among those conditions was Morocco’s loss to Canada. With a big goal difference. But shortly after the start of the game, Belgium’s calculation became one-way – must win against Croatia.
Belgium made their way difficult before entering the match at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium. A narrow 1-0 win against Canada but a 2-0 loss to Morocco in the last match proved difficult. However, the way to the second round was in their own hands. Should have won against Croatia.
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The equation for last season’s runners-up Croatia was relatively simple. A draw will ensure the last sixteen. Luka Modric’s side played towards that goal from the start of the match. However, a chance came shortly after the referee’s opening whistle.
From the beginning of the match, Croatia and Belgium started to play counterattack. Both teams get several goal opportunities. Belgium went to counterattack in 13 minutes of the match. Carrasco got the ball from there. However, his shot from there went over the crossbar.
Then Croatia got a free kick in the 15th minute of the match. Croatia gets a penalty due to a foul from that free kick. However, the referee checked the penalty and decided offside. As a result, Croatia does not see any more goals. After that, Croatia attacked again in the 18th minute of the match. But they failed to score. After that, the two teams made several attacks in the hope of scoring. But in the end, Croatia and Belgium ended the first half goalless.
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Later, the Red Devils brought on Romelu Lukaku at the beginning of the second half. De Bruyne got a chance to score in the 51st minute. His bullet speed shot went over the bar. In the 54th minute, Courtois blocked Brzovic’s shot from Croatia’s attack. Belgium almost had a chance to score in the 60th minute, but the goal was blocked. Lukaku’s right-footed shot beat the goalkeeper but went wide of the crossbar.
Lukaku got another chance to score in the 64th minute. This time his head goes slightly above the goal bar. At the end of the match, in the 87th minute, Lukaku missed the chance to score again. Even this time his shot did not see the goal. In the 90th minute, Inter Milan’s winger Lukaku missed the easiest chance of the match. Thoran Hazard’s extended ball has received the ball in an empty space, but he could not put it into the goal. Basically, Lukaku’s so many goals missed Belgium’s forehead. Belgium had to leave the World Cup empty-handed. On the other hand, Croatia entered the second round as the runners-up of the group.