England take on Belgium in a World Cup Group G clash in Kaliningrad on Thursday.
Where: Kaliningrad Stadium
Capacity: 33,973
When: Thursday June 28, 2000 local
Referee: TBC Key stats:
* England and Belgium have both progressed to the Round of 16 after convincing victories in their two opening matches against Tunisia and Panama in Group G.
* England’s 6-1 win over Panama was their biggest victory in a major tournament, while Belgium scored five goals in a single World Cup match for the first time in their 5-2 win over Tunisia.
* England striker Harry Kane leads the race for the World Cup Golden Boot with five goals so far, while Belgium counterpart Romelu Lukaku is level with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo on four goals.
* Lukaku’s brace against Tunisia made him the highest scoring Belgian at major international tournaments, scoring seven goals across the 2014 World Cup, 2016 European Championships and the current tournament.
* The 25-year-old has scored 17 goals in his last 11 appearances for Belgium.
* Belgium playmaker Eden Hazard has been directly involved in 23 goals in his last 21 appearances for his nation, scoring 11 and providing 12 assists.
* England captain Kane’s hat-trick against Panama made him the third player for his country to score three goals in a single World Cup match after Geoff Hurst in 1966 and Gary Lineker in 1986.
* Kane is also the first player to score two or more goals in their first two World Cup appearances since Poland’s Grzegorz Lato in 1974.
* Both the sides are equal on points and goal difference but England are currently leading the group due to the team’s higher fairplay ranking.
* If the match ends in a draw, the team with the better fairplay ranking, decided by the number of red and yellow cards accumulated, will top the group.
England have had two yellow cards so far, while Belgium have had three.
* The winner of the group will take on the runners up of Group H, which could be Japan, Senegal or Colombia.
The runners up from the group will face the winners of Group H.
Previous meetings: The two sides have met on 21 occasions, with England getting the better of Belgium 15 times. They have played twice at World Cups, with a 4-4 draw back in 1954 and a 1-0 win for England in 1990.
