Croatia Vs Belgium: Scoreless Draw World Cup Elimination

Following a dismal 0-0 draw against Croatia on Thursday, Belgium was eliminated from the World Cup. To go past the group stage, Roberto Martinez’s team needed to defeat the World Cup champions, but they were still unable to score.

After a scoreless draw, Croatia advances to the round of 16 while Belgium is eliminated from the World Cup

– STREAMING ON ESPN+: BUNDESLIGA, LALIGA, AND MORE (U.S.)

Romelu Lukaku entered the game when the captain Eden Hazard was benched, and he missed four significant opportunities as Belgium’s disastrous World Cup run came to an end. Croatia advances to the round of 16. But only after finishing in second place in the group behind Morocco, which defeated Canada 2-1 to take the first position.

Martinez told BBC after the victory, “Winning games in the World Cup is not simple. We weren’t ourselves in the first game, and we suffered a well-deserved loss in the second. “Today there are no regrets since we were prepared and possibilities were made. We’re done, but we can walk away with pride. Ivan Perisic’s attempt went over the crossbar in the first 20 seconds as Croatia took control from the opening whistle.

Counterattack:

After 14 minutes, Belgium immediately counterattacked, but Dries Mertens was unable to reach the goal following a superb through pass from Kevin de Bruyne. After less than a minute. Yannick Carrasco was found to have fouled Andrej Kramaric inside the penalty area, earning Croatia a penalty. Referee Anthony Taylor was summoned to the monitor by the VAR as Luka Modric was getting ready to take the penalty kick. Also the judgment was reversed for an offside throughout the buildup.

The remainder of the first half was a tight one, but after the break, the game picked up. Thibaut Courtois of Belgium, who was called upon early on, stopped Croatia on three different occasions. After coming on in the second half, Lukaku of Inter Milan wasted two great opportunities in short succession. Lukaku was the quickest to react to a rebound just after the hour mark. Also he was able to hit the post from close range with the goalie out of position.

With the goal at his disposal, the striker then headed another simple attempt over the bar. The striker continued to miss two further open goals as Croatia held off late attempts from Belgium. Lukaku’s night was not good.

For more sports news, Click here.