Belgium 2-0 England: England fail to qualify for Nations League finals

Dries Mertens was the first player to score a direct free-kick for Belgium since Kevin de Bruyne v Israel in 2015

England’s hopes of qualifying for the Nations League finals were ended by defeat against Belgium in Leuven.

Gareth Southgate’s side had plenty of possession against the world’s top-ranked side but were toothless in attack and ultimately undone by two early goals.

Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans opened the scoring after 10 minutes when his 20-yard shot took a deflection off Tyrone Mings, and Dries Mertens doubled their advantage 13 minutes later with a superb free-kick after Declan Rice was harshly adjudged to have fouled Kevin de Bruyne.

Belgium’s second came after Romelu Lukaku had headed off the line brilliantly from Harry Kane, and while England spent much of the second half in their opponents’ half, they were unable to fashion the opportunities to work their way back into contention.

Defeat means England will not reach the finals after finishing third in 2019, when the inaugural showpiece was held in Portugal.

In the other match in group A2, Christian Eriksen scored twice to give Denmark a 2-1 victory over Iceland.

Meanwhile, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was replaced at half-time as a precaution, while Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell limped off on 38 minutes with an apparent back injury.

Grealish makes his mark Grealish was making his first competitive start for England

England were without the injured Raheem Sterling, giving Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish the opportunity to build on the fine early impression he has made at international level.

He emerged as England’s outstanding performer and driving force, drawing a succession of fouls from Belgium.

Irrespective of the result, Grealish can feel highly satisfied with his own individual display, which followed his impressive performances in the friendlies against Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

It also gives Southgate a pleasant problem. It has often seemed as if Grealish has had to convince Southgate of his pedigree at this level, and while the manager may still prefer a front three of Kane, Sterling and Marcus Rashford if all are fit and in form, he now has other options.

Victory for Belgium sent them two points clear at the top of the table heading into the final game Is England’s system too negative?

Southgate again went with a system of five at the back – and once again it looked like the formation left England short of pace and creativity.

For all the possession England enjoyed, Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was hardly worked in any serious fashion.

Southgate can point out, with justification, that England were without the thrust of Sterling and Rashford, but there is still a balance to be struck and on the evidence so far this has not yet been achieved.

Belgium did not seem unduly concerned – almost allowing England to have possession in the second half – and comfortably exacted a measure of revenge for their defeat at Wembley in October.

‘Grealish had an outstanding game’ – manager reaction

Belgium manager Roberto Martinez: “It was a really good game of football, two strong teams who know each other very well and played each other four times since the 2018 World Cup.

“We got the early lead then we had to suffer and see the press and risk that England took. We could not utilise that in our advantage and we defended really well and showed a good focus. That pleases me a lot. You need to give credit to England, they did very well in the second half and pushed us high up.”

England manager Gareth Southgate: “We don’t like losing but enormous credit to the team. All the way through they created problems and defended resiliently. I thought we were excellent. I couldn’t have enough praise for the players.

“We had a different profile of players but in those positions, I thought Jack Grealish had an absolutely outstanding game. Losing Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford, we lose a lot of speed. But I can’t fault the attacking play until the last chance.”

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What’s next?

England host Iceland in their final Nations League match on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).

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GrealishJack Grealish

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