Finish top, play Japan.<\/b>
\nF inish top, play Japan. Finish second, play Colombia.
England’s pathway chances
You’d rather play Japan, I think almost everyone would agree. On the other hand, Japan in the last 16 means… Brazil in the quarters.
I think the regrettable fact is that, if England do wish to win the World Cup, they will somewhere along the way have to play a team who is good at football. Shocking, I know.
a ll the motivation they need
W hat a strange and unusual match we have in prospect between England and Belgium, kicking off at 7pm UK time. Both sides are guaranteed to progress to the last-16, but the question is as to who will come top of the group, and hence who they will get to play. Jamie Johnson here argues that England should want to lose to Belgium, because second place would afford an easier path to the final. In some senses, it is hard to argue with that assessment.
England’s hero manager Gareth Southgate has promised that his team are going for the W, and that seems entirely right, but he intends to do it without some of his big names.
Here is who England might play if they finish top… and if they don’t,
I f the match between England and Belgium were to end in a draw, then it would come down to «fair play», i.e. which team has picked up fewer yellow cards. As it stands, that would be England. The prospect of players deliberately kicking the living daylights out of each other in order to get yellows and thus finish below their opponent: well, it’s the Corinthian ideal, isn’t it?
England seem to be saying that they will be going for the win but, well,\u00a0Mandy Rice-Davies applies. The Belgian manager Mr Martinez has said that he is more concerned with resting players. One such who will miss out is Sir Harry Kane, who has been given a night off. That nice Jamie Vardy gets a chance instead.
O ur columnist Alex Scott has laid out all vital areas and points of consideration for the England vs Belgium match; you can read that here .
If you’re a betting man or woman well, you’re brave, because who knows whether these two sides will be going for it or not. But you can have a gander at our\u00a0 Guide to the best England v\u00a0Belgium\u00a0free bets and offers >>
Furthermore: check out what the Colombia and Japan results just now mean for England’s pathway chances<\/p>\n