GROUP D PERMUTATIONS | A lot at stake as Belgium’s golden generation go in with everything to play for

There is a very strong likelihood of a big name country in Croatia and Belgium biting the dust at the end of the final round the 2022 FIFA World Cup group stage matches on Thursday evening. The 2018 FIFA World Cup finalist are top of the group with four points, but a slip up against the number two country on the FIFA World Rankings could see them slide down to third and out of the tournament, depending on the results between Morocco – who have all to play for – and Canada who have nothing to play for.

Sitting on the brink of group stage elimination, there are already questions being asked about whether Belgium’s golden generation has finally lost its spark. Kevin De Bruyne and his men have looked far from their best self in their narrow win over minnows Canada in their opening match and going on to lose 2-0 to Morocco in their second 2022 FIFA World Cup group stage encounter. And now on three points, a point behind Croatia and Morocco who are tied on four points, Belgium will have all to play for when they face off against the 2018 World Cup finalists on Thursday night.

A win for Belgium would take them to six points and secure their last 16 place and possibly have them avoid Spain, who are expected to finish top of Group E later in the evening. A draw could suffice but that would require Canada to win against Morocco by a decent margin. But Belgium’s knockout prospect will be made difficult by Croatia who just need a point to go through to the last 16. But Croatia can still go through even if they lose depending the outcomes of the match between Morocco and Canada.

Worst case scenario

For Group F, the worst case scenario is arguably the most likely scenario with Belgium registering a second group stage loss in their final group stage encounter and crashing out the tournament on the backdrop of high expectations ahead of the tournament.

Prediction

Belgium and Morocco to go through