Belgium beat England to top spot with Januzaj strike

But then the larger decision was whether they should try to win at all.

Fortunately England manager Gareth Southgate is not getting carried away by the hype.

Losing to Belgium on objective would set a bad precedent, so it’s vital that England’s players head into the game wanting to win.

Facing questions over whether he might have preferred to finish second – a draw or defeat would have had that effect – Martinez said: “Honestly, I am delighted”.

Romelu Lukaku is likely to miss the match for Belgium, which has stated it will rest a number of regulars.

With both teams assured of a place in the last 16, England and Belgium both rested key men for their Group G encounter.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, who became only the fourth teenager to start a World Cup match for England, following Luke Shaw, Raheem Sterling and Michael Owen, played well but doesn’t stand a hope of usurping Kieran Trippier. “We’re sorry we didn’t play like world champions”. The final round of matches in group H take place at 3pm.

“I think it will be an interesting game, a 50-50 game, and both teams are qualified so it will be a unusual game”, said Fellaini, who plays in England for Manchester United, having made his name for another Premier League club Everton. We wanted to win, but we’re still in round of 16 and it’s something to look forward to. “Now we need to look at our individual players”. I go back to the fact we’re trying to develop a winning mentality and I can’t imagine a situation where I talk to the players about anything else. “It wouldn’t authentic for what we’ve been trying to build for the last two years”.

Eden Hazard as impressed for the Red Devils at the tournament so far.

“That’s normally one of the stories that’s always written about every hotel we stay at, there’s always something close-by to distract us”, Southgate said.

The former Manchester United winger scored the victor early in the second half with a lovely skill move and finish, as the Red Devils remained ideal with nine points from three matches. “We’ve needed to test ourselves against the very best, but we’re a team with a hunger to keep improving. Most people are seeing it as a win due to who England could now face on the road to the final”.

‘And, yeah, maybe we could have pushed a bit more by putting other players into the game tonight, but we still created chances, we had one absolutely fantastic chance to tie the game.

If England win in Moscow, it will be a case of no harm done and they can march on to a winnable World Cup quarter-final against either Sweden or Switzerland.

Belgium fans cheer during the Russian Federation 2018 World Cup Group G football match between England and Belgium at the Kaliningrad Stadium in Kaliningrad on June 28, 2018. There were more here in Kaliningrad than in Nizhny Novgorod, for Panama, and more there than Volgograd, for Tunisia.