In yet another crucial Group F tie, World No. 2 Belgium faced off against 2018 runners-up Croatia that saw the latter advance into the knockout stages despite a goalless draw against the Belgians. The end result of the match also saw Belgium crashing out of FIFA 2022 after a rather dismal performance throughout the tournament. Croatia along with Group F table toppers Morocco have qualified for the Round of 16.
The Belgian star studded line up lead by Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, and Thibaut Courtois failed to shine in FIFA 2022 after a fantastic performance in the 2018 edition where they finished third overall. The team had a score to settle in this match as they had lost to Croatia in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup. However, Croatia still lead the head-to-head tally as this match ended in a draw, sending Roberto Martinez’s side back home quite earlier than expected.
In all fairness, Belgium could have ended the match with at least 3 goals under their belt, but none of them converted because the shots were executed terribly. First Lukaku’s shot hit the near post even when Croatian goalie Dominik Livakovic was hopelessly out of position. Then Dries Mertens could not convert a superbly created assist from De Bruyne, and then Thomas Meunier completely messed up a certain scoring opportunity after an assist from Leander Dendoncker, with the shot bouncing close across the face of the goal.
Furthermore, Lukaku, who entered the match only in the second half, had five shots at the Croatian goal in the second half alone, but shockingly, none of them could find the nets. Even Croatia hasn’t had the best of showings in this edition either. Even though the 2018 runner-up have made it to the top 16, their journey too has been a hit and miss in this tournament. Even in this match, their closest scoring opportunity could have been a penalty in the opening 45 minutes, after an extremely tight offside review was denied after review.
Croatia has been lucky enough to somehow crawl their way to the knockout stage, but they will need to improve considerably if they wish to bounce back and replicate their performance from the last world cup in Russia. Now their next face-off will be against the 2010 world champions and Group E toppers Spain. This will be a knockout, so there will be no second chance. From here on, it will be just one shot for every team to progress towards the World Title.
Finishing third in the previous World Cup, the team has finished with just four points from their three matches. This has been the worst showing in a world cup for the “golden generation” of Belgian football who were expected to win World Cups and Euros. They now have a lot of contemplation to do and figure out what went so drastically wrong this time.
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