who did england lose to in the world cup
England at the FIFA World Cup England played against Sweden in their quarter-final at Cosmos Arena, Samara on 7 July 2018.[58] They won the match 2–0, with defender Harry Maguire scoring his first England goal, a header scored from a corner, and Dele Alli a second header from close range. This would send them through to their third World Cup semi-final and their first since 1990, and third overall.[61] The team played Croatia in the semi-final, resulting in a 2–1 loss after extra time.[62] England would later finish fourth in the competition, the best result since 1990. England would lose again to Belgium in the 3rd place playoff, thanks to goals from Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard, despite an Eric Dier shot being cleared off the line by Toby Alderweireld.[63]
FIFA World Cup The current format of the competition involves a qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase, which is often called the World Cup Finals. After this, 32 teams, including the automatically qualifying host nation(s), compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month.
Belgium at the FIFA World Cup In 2014, Belgium started as group favourites and beat all group opponents with the smallest margin. Thereafter, they played a round of 16 match against the United States in which American goalkeeper Tim Howard made 15 saves,[14][A] crowning himself man of the match.[15] The Red Devils needed the extra time to proceed to the next stage (2–1), where they faced Argentina. In a balanced quarter-final against the Albiceleste, the World Cup ended for Belgium as they failed to equalize after Gonzalo Higuaín's early goal.
England–Germany football rivalry Two years later the teams met once more, in the quarter-finals of the European Championship, which were at the time held on a home-and-away basis. England lost 3–1 at Wembley on 29 April 1972 in the home leg, and on 13 May could only draw 0–0 in West Germany, being knocked out of the competition. Said The Observer in 2001: "England may have been robbed of the chance in Mexico ... but there were no shortage of excuses – the heat, the hostile crowd, the food which had felled Banks, the errors of Bonnetti ... It was a conspiracy of fate more than a footballing defeat. In 1972, there were no excuses at all. West Germany did not just knock England out of the European Championships, they came to Wembley and comprehensively outclassed England."[5] McIlvanney wrote in his match report for The Observer: "No Englishman can ever again warm himself with the old assumption that, on the football field if nowhere else, the Germans are an inferior race."[16]