Football Results

One of the favourites of this World Cup, the team of Belgium and one of the biggest outsiders, the team of Panama has opened the group G, which also includes England and Tunisia, so it is clear that all but the placement of these two European teams in the round of sixteen, would be a real sensation. The Belgians were very dominant in the qualifiers, and they were invincible in friendly matches, which gave them the right to hope for a great achievement in Russia, while Panama as a debutant at the World Cup has, of course, no expectations and they are happy for the placement themselves. This is the first mutual duel between these two teams

Belgium

Belgium has passed through the qualifiers practically any mistake, with nine wins and a blade, while all the friendly matches were played without a defeat afterwards, but now everything falls into the second plan because the World Cup begins and they must show their strength and justify what is expected from them. And it is expected a lot, given that they are really covered well in all positions and have gained great experience in the previous two major competitions where they were also ranked among favourites, but they did not justify it. It cannot be said that they were disappointed because they played the quarterfinals both times, however, they were eliminated Wales in the European Championship in France two years ago and that was a big disappointment. They changed their coach after that and with the arrival of Roberto Martinez, they have lost only one match and they were very efficient both in qualifiers and in friendly matches.

They have only played a draw with Greece in the qualifiers, while they after that played draws with Mexico and Portugal. They have defeated all other opponents, some very convincing, and they carefully chosen their rivals. As an introduction for this duel, it was the last preparatory match against Costa Rica, which started badly and they have received a goal, but after that they have completely mastered their rival for the final 4-0. A lot of dust was drifted over the absence of midfielder Nainggolan, but it was pushed into another plan, so all forces were focused on success in Russia. They have problems with the injuries of Vermaelen and Kompany, while the rest of the team is known and there should not be any surprises.

Probable lineups Belgium: Courtois – Alderweireld, Boyata, Vertonghen – Meunier, Witsel, de Bruyne, Carrasco – Mertens, E.Hazard – R.Lukaku

Panama

Panama is the first time in the World Cup and of course that this success in the qualifiers has thrown this nation into the trans, and as for their appearances in Russia, there is absolutely no pressure and this could be a mitigating circumstance. They made their way when they managed to win the third place in qualifiers, behind Mexico and Costa Rica, and left behind the favoured Americans. Their friendly matches after qualifiers have shown that they do not really have a chance in the World Cup, because they could not do almost anything against stronger rivals.

They managed to play a draw up with Wales and Northern Ireland on their field, just before their departure to Europe, where they were playing against Norway in the end. And that duel was lost with 1-0 and that was after a goal at the opening of the match. It is clear that they are very inefficient, so the only goal they scored in the last five duels was in the victory over Trinidad and Tobago, while their defeat with 6-0 from Switzerland was particularly painful. Their big stars are not in the team and only a couple of players perform in European teams, but not the best ones, so we certainly expect them to be more closed in this match with only one striker.

Probable lineups Panama: Penedo – Machado, R.Torres, Escobar, Ovalle – Godoy, G.Gomez – Barcenas, Rodriguez, Cooper – G.Torres

Verdict:

Belgium is one of the teams that is hoping for a great success in this championship, maybe even the title of the champion and when it is already so, they should immediately demonstrate their strength against the debutant Panama, which we expect them to do, because the difference in quality really huge.

Pick: Asian Handicap -2 Belgium 2.07 - 107/100 @1XBet