Belgium v Senegal: World Cup last 32 – live
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Key events
This is the first game of day 21 at the World Cup, with USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina to follow. Ach, who am I kidding.
Ben Fisher
Belgium had just beaten New Zealand 5-1 to secure top spot in Group G and, at least in theory, an easier last-32 draw, but Rudi Garcia was evidently irked. In response to the first question in a curt post-match press conference, he adjusted the microphone to ensure his point was heard.
“I really didn’t appreciate them being called has-beens,” he said, alluding to an article in La Libre, a French-language Belgian newspaper, that compared Kevin De Bruyne to a washed-up Hollywood actor after a flat display against Iran in their previous match in Los Angeles.
“When a nation has players of that calibre, you support them,” Garcia added, praising the performances of his “four leaders” in De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois and Leandro Trossard, who scored twice against New Zealand; Trossard’s opener represented the first goal Belgium scored themselves at the tournament (after an own goal against Egypt) at the 45th attempt after more than 200 minutes of labouring.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Belgium v Senegal in Seattle. In its own quiet way, this is one of the more intriguing games in the last 32, largely because it involves two teams whose level isn’t entirely clear.
Belgium, 10th in the world rankings, have endured a painfully slow comedown since their Golden Generation reached the semi-final in 2018, but any team that includes Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Youri Tielemans, Thibaut Courtois nd Leandro Trossard is surely worth a damn.
Senegal (18th) were one of the hipster picks going into the World Cup. They’re unofficial champions of Africa and beat England handsomely in Nottingham a year ago. But they were drawn in a very tough group and lost to France and Norway before walloping Iraq to progress as one of the best third-place teams.
The United States or Bosnia and Herzegovina await in the last 16. Right here, right now, all four teams will fancy their chances of making the quarter-finals.
Kick off 4pm local/6pm EDT/9pm BST/6am AEST
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