By advancing to the knockout round atop Group G, Belgium has already improved upon its woeful performance at the World Cup four years ago.<\/p>\n
After a historic third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Belgium did not advance past the group stage in 2022 in Qatar. With its 5-1 victory over New Zealand on Friday night, Belgium won its group and achieved what coach Rudi Garcia wanted from his club.<\/p>\n
Ahead of Wednesday\u2019s knockout round match against Senegal, Garcia expressed satisfaction with his group\u2019s accomplishments, as well as a desire for more. Belgium won one game and played to two draws in group play.<\/p>\n
“We wanted to finish first in the group stage and we succeeded,” Garcia said in French. “Of course we wanted to win more \u2014 we know the story of our World Cup so far. Now it is time for the knockout phase. Senegal is a big team. But, you have to beat them, too, if you want to go far in a World Cup.”<\/p>\n
For Belgium\u2019s participation in the tournament to be considered a success, it must first get by a Senegal team that finished third in Group I with three points and a plus-2 goal differential. The African team navigated one of the toughest groups in the tournament, one that featured favorite France and the Erling Haaland-led Norway.<\/p>\n
“We know it will be a tough match,” Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku said Monday in French. “Senegal has a lot of top-level players, and the coach is, too. I think it\u2019s 50-50. We really shouldn\u2019t underestimate them.”<\/p>\n
Given what transpired in the round of 32 shortly after Lukaku\u2019s comments, Belgium would be wise to heed his warning. Germany lost to unheralded Paraguay on penalties while Morocco sent the Netherlands to its earliest World Cup exit on Monday night.<\/p>\n
Belgium is aware that even as the odds-on pick to beat Senegal, it must be careful on Wednesday. Otherwise, it could fall victim to the same fate as its European counterparts.<\/p>\n
“It doesn\u2019t matter who the favorite is,” said Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere. “We have confidence and need to be sharp. Yesterday showed that it doesn\u2019t matter if you are the favorite.”<\/p>\n
Senegal, meanwhile, hopes it has the offensive firepower to score against stingy Belgium, which has allowed two goals in three games with star goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in net. Led by Sadio Mane, Senegal is coming off a 5-0 rout of Iraq.<\/p>\n
Finally, Belgium Arrived: 4 Takeaways From The Group-Clinching Win vs. New Zealand<\/p>\n
Belgium vs. Senegal Prediction, Odds, Picks For World Cup Match<\/p>\n
4 Takeaways From Senegal’s Statement Win vs. Iraq In The World Cup Group I Finale<\/p>\n
But, Senegal will also be short-handed on the defensive side. Goalkeeper \u00c9douard Mendy, who was injured in a 3-2 loss to Norway in group play, will not be available Wednesday, according to coach Pape Thiaw. Reserve Mory Diaw, who started in Mendy\u2019s place against Iraq, is likely to do so again.<\/p>\n
“Mory had a great performance,” Thiaw said in French. “He kept a clean sheet and I think (as) the goalkeeper tomorrow, we hope that we\u2019ll also come up with a clean sheet.”<\/p>\n
Even if Senegal has to turn to Diaw, Thiaw is confident his side can pull off an upset, much like both Paraguay and Morocco did Monday.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s not because you finished top of your group that you\u2019re not going to be knocked out in the next round,” Thiaw said. “That\u2019s exactly what happened with the Netherlands. It\u2019s another tournament starting. We are looking for the win tomorrow so that we can continue our journey.”<\/p>\n
Center back Zeno Debast, who has not appeared in a World Cup match this summer due to injury, will be available for Wednesday\u2019s match, but is not expected to start, according to Garcia.<\/p>\n
Debast participated in his first training session Monday after he had an MRI on Saturday for a left leg injury. He practiced again Tuesday with tape on his left knee.<\/p>\n
“Zeno Debast is with the group, but tomorrow is still too soon,” Garcia said. “He is making progress, though. He still needs time to get fully fit, as was anticipated. I am very satisfied with the defenders we have already called upon.”<\/p>\n
Reporting by The Associated Press.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY By advancing to the knockout round atop Group G, Belgium has already improved upon its woeful performance at the World Cup four years ago. After a historic third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Belgium did not advance past the group stage in 2022 in Qatar. With its 5-1 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}