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England players celebrate. Owen Humphreys

Talk of England benefiting from Belgium loss disrespectful to World Cup rivals

Elements of the media have suggested a defeat would help Gareth Southgate’s side.

AHEAD OF THE England-Belgium tonight, with both sides guaranteed a place in the knockout stages, it is no surprise that the build-up has been dominated by the consequences of the game’s outcome rather than the match itself.

Should England gain a favourable result, they would top Group G and thus potentially face Japan in the round of 16, Mexico or Brazil in the quarter-finals, and Uruguay, Portugal, France and Argentina in the semi-finals.

On the other hand, should the Three Lions come second in Group G, they will play Colombia in the second round, Sweden or Switzerland in the quarter-finals, and Spain, Russia, Croatia or Denmark in the semi-finals.

While there is nothing wrong with simply stating these facts, suggestions that England would be better off losing to Belgium and conceivably enjoying an easier passage in the knockout stages is hardly fair to their rivals.

Anyone who thinks that, for example, beating Switzerland in a quarter-final would be foregone conclusion has a short memory.

Just two years ago, there was plenty of concern over England potentially facing France in the Euro 2016 quarter-finals. Of course, it’s impossible to forget what happened next, as Roy Hodgson’s side were dumped out of the tournament by an unfancied Iceland outfit in the round of 16.

Yet that humiliating result hasn’t stopped some people getting over-excited about a perceived easier route to the final.

The Telegraph have a piece entitled ‘Why England should want to lose against Belgium… and what it means for their World Cup chances’. CNN has described the game as the match “both teams might want to lose”. A poll in The Times asked: ‘Should England try to finish second in group G?’ And Business Insider described the encounter as a match “nobody wants to win”.

Meanwhile, there has been plenty of debate on Twitter about the supposed merits of losing to Belgium, with some high-profile names weighing in.

As many critics have acknowledged, anyone who pays heed to claims that England would be better off finishing second has clearly not been paying much attention to this World Cup.

If there is one defining characteristic of the competition, it is that the so-called weaker nations are better organised and harder to beat than ever. The vast majority of games have been either drawn or decided by a single goal. While England’s group is an anomaly, with themselves and Belgium progressing comfortably, the majority of the groups have been quite tight. There have been surprises, such as South Korea’s win over Germany yesterday, while Group G aside, Croatia and Uruguay are the only two teams to have won all of their matches so far.

After tonight’s game, England will face either Japan or Colombia in the round of 16. There are still a number of players in the squad who were part of the Iceland embarrassment. While sections of the media will inevitably get carried away during the major tournaments, the players simply cannot afford to fall into this trap.

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