belgium were knocked out of the World Cup after a poor 0-0 draw against Croatia on Thursday.
Roberto Martinez’s team needed a win against the 2018 World Cup finalists to advance from the group stage, but were unable to find the back of the net.
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captain Eden Hazard was dropped for the start of the match, and Romelu Lukaku Belgium’s World Cup journey ends on a disappointing note as four big chances are missed.
Croatia advanced to the round of 16 but later finished in second place. Morocco Topped the group with a 2-1 win Canada,
“It’s not easy to win matches in the World Cup,” Martínez told the BBC after the match. “We weren’t ourselves in the first game, we were defeated in the second game.
“Today we prepared, we created chances and today there are no regrets. We are out but we can go with our heads held high.”
Croatia dominated from the first whistle and had chances within the first 20 seconds but Ivan Perisic Hits his shot over the bar.
Belgium responded with a sharp counterattack after 14 minutes but dris mertens was unable to find the goal after a through ball penalty from Kevin De Bruyne,
Less than a minute later, Croatia were awarded a penalty when Yannick Carrasco was announced to bring down Lady Kramrick inside the area.
with luka modric While preparing to take the spot-kick, referee Anthony Taylor was sent to the monitors by VAR, and in the buildup the decision was overturned for an offside.
The rest of the half was tense, but the game came to life after the break.
belgium goalkeeper thibaut courtois Called into action early on and Croatia were stopped on three separate occasions.
Lukaku was brought on in the second half, and the Inter Milan striker wasted two big chances in quick succession.
Just after the hour mark, Lukaku was first to react to the rebound and managed to hit the post from close range with the goalkeeper out of position.
The striker then fired another simple effort over the bar and the goal was at his mercy.
It wasn’t Lukaku’s night — the striker missed two more goals as Croatia fended off Belgium’s late attacks.
