World Cup 2018, Belgium 3-2 Japan: Hits and flops from the game

#2 Worst: Romelu Lukaku

Too many 'hands on head' moments for Lukaku

The whole of world football knows full well that Lukaku fails to announce himself in the big games. Yet again, when his country needed him most, he wasted one too many clear-cut chances.

Let's start off with his hold-up play. Gen Shoji read all the passes played to him and shut him down more often than not. The Japanese centre-half always had Lukaku's next move checked and thus, got the better off him.

The Manchester United forward was too slow on the ball at times. He couldn't sort his feet out when the opportunity was there from a few yards distance from goal.

Next, he got away from his marker to reach a fine-tuned cross, but what happened next was a mess. Lukaku leapt high, timed his header well, but sent it way off-target. Should have scored here again.

He missed another easy chance. Nacer Chadli burst into life as he surged forward and tested the goalkeeper, but in the same instance, the rebound fell to Lukaku, who directed a free header straight to Kawashima, who made a fantastic save.

When your team is 2-0 down and the game is opened up on both sides, the manager and your fans expect you to thrive on every single opportunity that comes your way.

He really needs to pull his socks up for the acid test against Brazil.