Belgium opened their campaign in the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia in style hammering Panama 3-0 in the Group G opener. It was the second match of the mega football tournament at Fisht Stadium, Sochi. In the second match of Group G, the 1966 World Cup winner England were given a tough fight by Tunisia. But the Three Lions finally subdued the Carthage Eagles with a 2-1 margin thanks to their captain Harry Kane’s twin goals, the second of which came in the stoppage time.
Belgium have a reputation of scoring in the second-half and a volley by Diers Mertens followed by Romelu Lukaku’s two goals made it look easy for the Red-Devils as they beat the debutants 3-0. Panama looked determined but hardly troubled the Belgium goalkeeper Courtois. Belgium will be happy with the result and face Tunisia next in Group G. Panama, on the other hand, need to improve on their quality up-front.
| Group G Points Table | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Matches | Won | Draw | Lost | GF | GA | GD | Points |
| Belgium | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| England | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Tunisia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| Panama | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
Belgium, third in the FIFA rankings and boasting of what is frequently labelled as the golden generation featuring the likes of Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, have come to Russia with a considerable weight of expectation on their shoulders. They are strongly fancied to progress to the knockout phase as winners of Group G, despite being drawn alongside England, and so it would be a major upset if they slipped up in Sochi against a side making their World Cup debut.
England had started brilliantly, raiding the Tunisian penalty box at will in the first few minutes before Kane gave them the lead with a goal in the 11th minute. But the team from North Africa had their moments in front of the England goalmouth. They finally equalised after England defender Kyle Walker fouled Fakhreddine Ben Youssef in the box. Ferjani Sassi calmly slotted the resultant penalty to draw parity.
The other matches of Group G include – Belgium vs Tunisia (June 23), England vs Panama (June 24), England vs Belgium (June 28) and Panama vs Tunisia (June 28).
Source: Zee News