England vs. Belgium: team news, predicted starting XIs and group G permutations

Three Lions head coach Gareth Southgate
refuses to get carried away by the hype

Preview

Southgate has made it plain that he wants that to be England,
but nonetheless he won’t be fielding his first XI with Eric Dier,
Gary Cahill, Phil Jones and Trent Alexander-Arnold all expected to
make their World Cup bow.

In addition, Southgate is likely to give a starting role
to Marcus Rashford, instead of the rusty Raheem Sterling, and a
sharp performance from the Manchester United striker against
quality opposition could see him retain his place for the last-16
match.

Similarly, Dele Alli, who missed the Panama win with
injury, will feature at some point this evening, and he’ll need to
put in a good shift to force his way back into the starting line-up
after a poor display against Tunisia.

‘We want to win’

When the England squad got out of bed today they had no
idea if they will be playing Japan, Senegal or Colombia next week,
but they will know their opponents when they kick-off in
Kaliningrad at 7pm (UK time). The final round of matches in group H
take place at 3pm.

“We have no idea who, when or where we will play,” said
Southgate. “We want to win. That would mean we top the group and
then we can move forward. 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 just wouldn’t be
authentic for what we’ve been trying to build for the last two
years.”

German lesson

Southgate held his press conference yesterday afternoon, at the
same time that news filtered through from Kazan that holders
Germany had been dumped out of the tournament
by South Korea.

“It just shows that any team can be vulnerable,” said
Southgate, who more than most Englishman, has suffered at the hands
of German footballers.

“In sport and in life you have to keep evolving. They’ve
been ahead for about a minute and a half, in total, of their three
matches and it’s unusual to see them struggle as much as they have.
But they have played teams who have been tactically very
good.

“They were close to the wire against Sweden and they have
not been able to break Korea down.”

England vs. Belgium predicted
starting XIs

How the teams could line up at the Kaliningrad Stadium,
according to Fifa.com: 

• England: Jordan Pickford; Phil Jones, John Stones, Gary Cahill;
  Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Eric Dier, Jesse
  Lingard, Danny Rose; Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane
• Belgium: Thibaut Courtois; Thomas Vermaelen, Dedryck Boyata,
  Toby Alderweireld; Mousa Dembele, Marouane Fellaini, Nacer Chadli,
  Thorgan Hazard, Youri Tielemans, Eden Hazard, Michy Batshuayi

What happens if England win or
lose? 

If England win

They’ll play the runners-up in group H – one of Japan, Senegal
and Colombia – in the last-16 in Rostov-on-Don. Monday, kick-off
7pm.

If England lose

They’ll play the winners of group H – one of Japan, Senegal and
Colombia – in Moscow. Tuesday, 7pm.

If England draw

The winner of group G will be decided on fair play ratings and
England have collected two yellow cards to Belgium’s three going
into the tie.

World Cup group G permutations

England and Belgium have already qualified from group G.
Their clash will decide who finishes top and who finishes second.
Tunisia and Panama are eliminated.

28 June fixtures: England vs. Belgium (7pm, ITV); Panama
vs. Tunisia (7pm, ITV4)

Fifa.com explains the permutations in group
G: 

• England and Belgium have identical records so a winner on
  Thursday will qualify top while a loser will be second 
• If the England vs. Belgium match ends in a draw it will come
  down to the disciplinary records of both teams to decide who
  finishes top 
• If it’s a draw and the disciplinary records are the same then
  lots will be drawn to decide the final group places
• Tunisia and Panama are out