JAKARTA - The Belgian national team failed to escape the needle. The Red Devils were eliminated after a draw with Croatia in the final Group F match, Thursday, December 1 night.
With this result, Belgium only finished third with four points. Meanwhile Croatia stepped into the round of 16 with runner-up status thanks to a collection of five points.
The position of Group F winners was filled by Morocco, who in another match won with a narrow score over Canada.
Belgium, which needed a win to qualify, made a number of changes to their line-up. Coach Roberto Martinez made a big overhaul up front.
There have been no names of Eden Hazard and Mitchy Batshuayi since the beginning of the match. They were replaced by Dries Mertens and Leandro Trossad.
The match was fierce and balanced. Evidently, the score of the glasses remained until halftime despite several opportunities created in the first half.
In the second half, Martinez then entered Romelu Lukaku to replace Dries Mertens. The Inter Milan player immediately gave a threat.
Croatia is not without a chance. Marcelo Brozovic and Luka Modric even forced Thibaut Courtois to make an extraordinary save to secure his goal.
In the 60th minute, Lukaku had a golden opportunity. The ball vomited from Carrasco's attempt fell to the feet of the former Manchester United player. Unfortunately, the ball he released only hit the Croatian post.
Although a number of opportunities were created, nothing was able to be converted into goals in this match. The 0-0 score lasted until the end of the match.
Morocco performed outstanding in this match. In fact, they were already 2-1 ahead in the first half.
Two Morocco goals were scored by Judge Ziyech in the 4th minute and Youssef En-Nesyri in the 23rd minute. Meanwhile Canada narrowed the gap thanks to Nayef Aguerd's own goal in the 41st minute.
Group F final standings
Morocco 7 points
Croatia 5 points
Belgium 4 points
Canada's 0 points
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