Tag Archives: Belgium

Romelu Lukaku believes he has finally emerged from his post-World Cup slump, with the Manchester United striker revealing he had to shed muscle to adapt to the demands of the Premier League. After a promising first season at Old Trafford, the 25-year-old has struggled to make an impact in front of goal amid what has been a largely frustrating second …

Ireland have fallen one place to 30th in the FIFA World rankings following their 4-1 Nations League defeat to Wales and their 1-1 international friendly draw with Poland last week. O’Neill’s men had been sitting in 29th but after a difficult international break, they fall one place down to 30th, two places below Northern Ireland who also dropped a place …

World Cup semi-finalists Belgium capitalised on a series of Scotland mistakes with goals from Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard and a Michy Batshuayi double to thrash the hosts 4-0 in a friendly at Hampden on Friday. Roberto Martinez’s men showed their class and no hangover from their exertions in finishing third in Russia to warm-up for their Nations League opener against …

France’s leading international goalscorer Thierry Henry was Wednesday being touted as the next coach of Bordeaux who suspended Gustavo Poyet after just one league game of the season. Henry, a member of the 1998 World Cup winning team and who was part of Roberto Martinez’s coaching staff with Belgium at the World Cup, was emerging as the overwhelming favourite after …

We asked you to vote for your World Cup 2018 Team of the Tournament, and the results are in. We whittled down all 736 players involved in Russia down to tjust a handful of nominees in each category, and you did the rest in a series of polls. While there were some landslides in terms of who made it in …

In the end, France were the last team standing – and they did it Didier Deschamps’ way. Having taken a barrage of criticism from his own country’s media for weeks on end due to his team selection and style of play, Deschamps can now turn around and wave that prestigious World Cup trophy right in their dissenting faces. The attitudes of …

Belgium put paid to England’s hopes of leaving the World Cup with a medal with a 2-0 victory against the Three Lions in Saint Petersburg. The Three Lions were looking to rouse themselves once again having seen their dreams of the final crushed by an extra-time winner by Croatia on Wednesday, but they would face stiff opposition from a Belgium …

England have finished fourth in the World Cup after going down to a 2-0 defeat to Belgium in Saturday’s play-off in Saint Petersburg. Gareth Southgate’s men, insisting that they were looking to finish on a high despite the deflating semi-final defeat to Croatia, looked brighter from open play than they had done at any other point since the clash with …

Football’s not coming home, but it’s still taking a slight detour as England meet Belgium in the World Cup third/fourth place play-off on Saturday. Gareth Southgate’s side came close to reaching a first final since 1996 against Croatia on Wednesday night, only to be denied by a Mario Mandzukic winner in extra time. For today’s clash, a match that is …

England face Belgium in the World Cup third-place play-off on Saturday with the tournament’s top scorer Harry Kane eyeing the chance to add to his six goals in the meeting of the beaten semi-finalists. Both teams will line up in Saint Petersburg with a sense of what might have been as France and Croatia prepare for Sunday’s final in Moscow’s …

Eamon Dunphy has come perilously close to throwing his hat in the ring for England to win the World Cup. The RTE Sport pundit has written off the chances of both their semi-final opponents and one of the other nations, leaving Belgium as the only team that could stop Gareth Southgate’s side. Speaking to 2fm’s Game On on Monday evening, Dunphy …

Belgium meet France in the first of the 2018 World Cup semi-finals this week in an all-European affair in Saint Petersburg. Both have laid waste to the best that South America has to offer in order to get here, but picking a winner is, on paper at least, a tough task given the staggering individual brilliance in both sides. However, by …

And then there were four – the World Cup has reached the semi-final stage, and we’re left with an all-European affair. Brazil, Uruguay, Sweden and hosts Russia all fell at the last eight hurdle, leaving France, Belgium, England and Croatia with just one more hill to climb between themselves and the promised land of the World Cup final. Ahead of …

Eight became four this week as Brazil, Uruguay, Sweden and hosts Russia all bade farewell to the 2018 World Cup. Belgium, France, England and Croatia all sailed through the semi-finals, ensuring that it would be an all-European last four in the battle to take home the trophy. As has been the case throughout the competition, a number of players stood out …

It might not be coming home just yet, but the England World Cup train is still very much on the tracks. The expected Swedish challenge in Saturday’s quarter-final failed to materialise as the Three Lions, despite being limited to two shots on target over the course of the 90 minutes, made both count as goals from Hary Maguire and Dele …