Belgium played Croatia in the final group stage match of the 2022 World Cup, and Belgium NEEDED a win to go through to the next round.
The game had a fairly slow start, 0-0 at half, if that result stands, Croatia go through.
The Red Devils made a substitution to start the second half, Romelu Lukaku came in for Dries Mertens, and the offensive push was on.
If being in the right position counted as goals, Lukaku would have had at least 3, but the final product was not there for him today.
In the 60′ minute the ball fell right to Lukaku’s feet inside the box, a defender coming at him as he took the shot, he managed to beat the defender but couldn’t beat the post as it slammed the bar and went out.
Only 2 minutes later, Lukaku finds himself in another great position, De Bruyne finds him with a cross and Lukaku somehow skies it over the bar and no one can believe it.
He went on to have two more chances, adding his total up to 4 big chances missed in the game and 5 shots taken.
The disaster class in front of goal led to the 0-0 draw holding on, and Belgium being knocked out of the world cup, despite being ranked as the #2 team in the World, and Belgium’s “Golden Generation” is officially over.
Belgium ended the game with an Expected Goals score of 3.07, with Croatia only have a xG of 0.70, a dominated game by Belgium who deserved a win based on the numbers. (xG values via fotmob.com)
You have to feel for the guy, who was just returning from injury and put into a crucial game with a crucial role, any other day and he bangs at least 2 of those chances, today was just not his day and Belgium’s golden generation is over because of it.
