Belgium at the FIFA World Cup Finals matches until the 2018 world cup when Romelu Lukaku also scored his 5th World Cup goal. 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, crowning himself man of the match. 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
FIFA World Cup qualification tournaments where the fixtures were pre-determined, the fixtures were determined by a draw, which was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw, on 25 July 2015. The top 4 teams from the 10-team group advanced to the World Cup finals, while the fifth placed team entered an inter-confederation play-off for a World Cup spot. Like the previous 2014 tournament, the pairings for the two play-offs were determined by an open draw on 25 July 2015, as part of the aforementioned preliminary draw. Intercontinental play-offs are played as home-and-away ties. Qualification tournaments generally consist of a number