Injured Romelu Lukaku ruled out of England clash

Poland has already been eliminated from advancing but Japan can move on to the round of 16 with a draw, and even a loss with help from other teams in Group H.

Ivor Broadis and Nat Lofthouse scored twice apiece for England in that game, with Lofthouse adding his third of the tournament in a 4-2 loss to Uruguay in the next round.

Geoff York, from Kings Cross in London, was among them and was delighted a potential stumbling block for England had been removed.

“From the scan, it was clear that there was no further damage but it is still uncomfortable”, Martinez said.

“If that’s how they feel it will make my job easier”, the Everton keeper said. The other night they only just blinking got through.

A draw is enough for Portugal, but if they want to go through in first they will have to do better than Spain’s result vs Morocco.

“It is a good chance to give them some match time because obviously everyone is essential when you have such a small squad”.

Aaron Blakey, 28, from Retford, in Nottinghamshire, also could not hide his satisfaction.

“It’s like a test for us, if you can keep a player like Harry Kane form scoring then you’re keeping your focus and doing your defensive work well”, he said.

“I’m sure they would welcome you out here but think that through. They didn’t deserve to be in it, they haven’t played well”.

In reality as a fresh faced 17-year-old – enjoying watching England play in their first World Cup finals in 12 years – ultimately disappointing.

But England top Group G because they have a better disciplinary record, after receiving two bookings compared to Belgium’s three.

On the other hand, however, securing second place not only has the potential to offer up a less challenging route to the latter rounds of the competition but also sees a visit to Spartak Moscow’s stadium on the agenda – a venture much more welcoming to almost all on the ground.

“We are a team with our diversity and our youth that represents modern England”. For me, we’re delighted to be in the next round.

Claudio Swijsen, 38, from Genk in Belgium, said: “There were a lot of fans looking for trouble with the Germans because they lost”.

Maintaining a winning mentality in a knock-out tournament is perhaps the single most important factor for success.

“I didn’t look at that group and think automatically that they would go through”.

The games kick off at 10pm, only on Now TV’s World Cup channels (618 and 619).

None of the players who started in Nizhny Novgorod took part in Monday’s training session back at their training base in Zelenogorsk.

England take on Belgium at 7pm United Kingdom time at Kaliningrad Stadium.

In the last match of group-G, Panama will take on Tunisia on Thursday, June 28, at Mordovia Arena, in Mordovia city of Russian Federation.

Taoiseach Mr Varadkar said he would be supporting Belgium – nicknamed The Red Devils – in the game.