Roberto Martínez Romelu Lukaku Yannick Carrasco Alphonso Davies Qatar Belgium Croatia Mexico Canada Morocco win Roberto Martínez Romelu Lukaku Yannick Carrasco Alphonso Davies Qatar Belgium Croatia Mexico Canada Morocco

Belgium fail to fire in unconvincing win over Canada

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AL RAYYAN, Qatar: Michy Batshuayi scored and Thibaut Courtois saved a penalty as a lacklustre Belgium opened their World Cup campaign on Wednesday (Nov 23) with a scrappy 1-0 win over an energetic Canada side returning to the finals for first time in 36 years.Leading the Belgian attack in the absence of injured talisman Romelu Lukaku, Batshuayi scored against the run of play on the stroke of halftime to put the Red Devils top of Group F ahead of Morocco and Croatia who earlier drew 0-0.Despite getting the win, Belgium coach Roberto Martinez was far from satisfied with his team's lethargic display as the Red Devils managed only nine attempts on goal to 21 for Canada.If not for the lack of a Canadian finisher and a penalty save by Courtois from Alphonso Davies the result could have been very different for second ranked Belgium."We win, that's the most important thing today," said Martinez. "As always, we still have to grow in this tournament and improve things."Many top teams have lost, because you always have to grow at a World Cup."If you can do that, but win your matches at the same time, then that is something you can build on."In their only other World Cup appearance in Mexico in 1986, Canada lost all three matches and failed to score a goal.Despite an inspired effort decades later, the result remained the same as Canada walked off Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium pitch with another loss and failure to find the back of the net.Canada looked as if they would register their long-awaited first goal when Belgium's Yannick Carrasco handled the ball in the 11th minute and Davies stepped up to take the penalty with the flag-waving Canadian supporters the Voyageurs roaring.But Courtois, one of the world's best goalkeepers, denied Davies

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AL RAYYAN, Qatar: Croatia scraped into the World Cup last 16 after a tension-filled 0-0 draw with Belgium that ensured the last hurrah of their opponents' "golden generation" ended in a dismal group-stage exit on Thursday (Dec 1).
DOHA: Spain staggered through to the World Cup last 16 on Thursday despite a 2-1 defeat by Japan, who remarkably won Group E on a rollercoaster night which saw four-time champions Germany eliminated. Japan secured another incredible triumph after beating Germany in their opening game, with their progression from the “group of death” one of the greatest achievements in the country’s footballing history. For a few heart-stopping minutes Spain were poised to head out when Costa Rica were leading in the other game, but the 2010 champions squeezed through after Germany did them a favor by coming back to beat Los Ticos.
DOHA: Belgium’s World Cup never got off the ground as they were unable to find the spark that took them to third place in 2018, and they spent much of their time batting away questions of infighting within the squad as they bowed out on Thursday (Dec 1).
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez stepped down following his side's World Cup first-round exit, saying he had made the decision to end his six-year tenure some time ago and would have left even if they had been crowned champions.

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