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Soccer-Belgium v England

ByReuters

Published 12/07/2018 at 15:03 GMT

ST PETERSBURG, July 12 (Reuters) - Belgium play England in the World Cup third-place playoff in St Petersburg on Saturday.

Eurosport

Image credit: Eurosport

Where: Saint Petersburg Stadium, St Petersburg
Capacity: 68,134
When: Saturday July 14, 1700 local (1400 GMT/1000 ET)
Referee: To be announced
Key stats:
- Belgium play in a third-place playoff match for a second time, having lost 4-2 after extra time to France in Mexico in 1986.
- England are also battling for bronze for a second time, denied by hosts Italy in 1990 when Salvatore Schillaci netted a late penalty winner in a 2-1 victory.
- Belgium were beaten by France in their semi-final on Tuesday, the only game in which they failed to score in Russia, where their 14 goals still make them the top-scoring side.
- England captain Harry Kane is the leader in the race for the ‘Golden Boot’ award for the tournament’s top scorer with six goals, and is level with former striker Gary Lineker for most goals scored by an England player at one World Cup.
- Belgium won their first five matches in Russia to set a new Belgian record for consecutive victories at the World Cup. It included beating England in Kaliningrad in the group phase.
- There have been nine different scorers for Belgium at this World Cup, just one off the record of 10 set by France in 1982 and matched by Italy in 2006.
- England have scored nine out of their 12 goals at this World Cup from set pieces including penalties. It is also a record haul of goals at a single World Cup for them, beating their previous record of 11 set back in 1966, when they won the title.
- Midfielder Jordan Henderson lost his first England match in 31 games in Wednesday’s semi-final defeat to Croatia, ending the longest unbeaten run of any England player ever.
- There are 11 of the 23 Belgian squad members who play at English clubs.
Previous meetings:
- Belgium and England have played each other 22 times. Their first clash was 97 years ago in Brussels, which England won 2-0. Since then England have won 14 more of their meetings while Belgium have won just twice, including victory in the group phase on June 28.
- Apart from their earlier encounter in Russia, England and Belgium have faced off twice before at the World Cup: a 4-4 draw in Switzerland in 1954 followed by a Round of 16 encounter in Italy in 1990 where England's David Platt scored an extra-time winner. (Compiled by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Toby Davis)
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