Belgium beat England to finish third

15 July 2018 02:06 am

Belgium earned its highest World Cup finish on Saturday by beating England 2-0 in the third-place match.

Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard scored a goal each for the Belgians, who lost to France in the semifinals on Tuesday.

Meunier scored in the fourth minute, knocking a cross from Nacer Chadli past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Hazard added the other off a pass from Kevin de Bruyne in the 82nd.

Toby Alderweireld denied England's best chance of the game, sliding on the goal line to clear a shot from Eric Dier.

England, which lost to Croatia in the semifinals, matched its best World Cup result — fourth in 1990 — since winning the tournament for the only time in 1966.

France and Croatia will play in the final on Sunday at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Belgium's previous best finish at the World Cup was fourth, but the team outplayed England in the midfield to go one better this time.

The Belgians could easily have scored more, with Pickford making a good save to stop a shot from De Bruyne in the 11th and Alderweireld volleying narrowly over the bar in the 35th.