World Cup 2018: 3 reasons why England lost to Belgium

It's hard to keep your interest in a match that has absolutely no consequences. That holds true even if the two teams that are playing are arguably two of the most entertaining teams in the tournament. Belgium managed to eke out a win thanks to an early surge where they dominated the Englishmen like it was nobody's business.

Romelu Lukaku played a brilliant threaded through ball for Nacer Chadli on the left wing. The wing-back then whipped it into the corridor of uncertainty where Thomas Meunier had ventured into to tap it in.

With more than a couple of their premium players not starting, England took their sweet time growing into the game. In the end, whatever they proffered proved to be too little. Pickford had a brilliant game once again and a delightful counter from Belgium was stopped from becoming the goal of the tournament by the Everton goalkeeper's outstretched hand.

However, Hazard got a well-deserved goal in the 82nd minute after running on to a lovely Kevin De Bruyne through ball.

Anyway, without further ado, let's look at the 3 reasons why England lost the game to Belgium:

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#3 Starting without Alli, Lingard and Henderson hurt England

Delph and Dier double teaming on KDB

Gareth Southgate replaced Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard and Jordan Henderson with Fabian Delph, Ruben Loftus Cheek and Eric Dier. For all the potential that Loftus-Cheek, Delph and Dier have, choosing to start with them is a major step down especially if your go-to guys are of the quality of Lingard, Dele Alli and Jordan Henderson- fact.

And that perhaps wasn't the best approach to take as Belgium looked set to go for the kill from the get-go. While Loftus-Cheek was decent, Delph did nothing of note and Dier struggled in midfield against Tielemans and Kevin De Bruyne.

Once Alli and Lingard introduced in the second half, England's game picked up pace and they were creating a lot. But...

#2 England started playing football far too late

Eric Dier's brilliant effort was cleared off the line by Toby Alderweireld

The Englishmen struggled to create anything of note for the first hour of the game with Harry Kane's scuffed effort being their only notable creative moment. But with the introduction of the mobile Lingard and the electric Marcus Rashford, England looked more threatening than they did for the majority of the game.

For all the goals he has scored in this World Cup, Harry Kane hasn't really lived up to the hype. Don't pelt me. Just look at the goals he scored. Today, he looked off his game once again. He looked hesitant to make those decisive runs into the danger areas when the wingers were trying to whip in crosses from either side.

Once they started playing good attacking football, it was too late and as a result, England had to commit more bodies forward and this ultimately led to Hazard scoring in the 80th minute.

#1 England did not take their chances

Maguire should have done better with the service he was provided from the corner

Well, England did prove that they can create good chances against a strong opposition. But they're yet to prove that they can finish them off. Harry Kane scuffed a glorious opportunity in the first half after Sterling laid it off to him at the edge of the area.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek headed a cross from Tripper straight into the hands of Thibaut Courtois. Maguire missed two free headers from corners. But England's best chance came in the 70th minute when Eric Dier played a lovely give and go with Rashford and then dinked the ball over a brave Courtois only to see it cleared off the line by Toby Alderweireld.

Had England taken their chances, they could have pegged Belgium back onto the backfoot and made them feel the pressure. However, they failed to do that and ended up finishing 4th in the 2018 World Cup. Still a commendable achievement, lads.