FIFA World Cup 2018: Brazil vs Belgium

It was the big highlight of the Quarterfinals. Brazil vs Belgium, many expected an offensive spectacle and, in the end, both teams showed their qualities. However, not Brazil reached the next round, it was Belgium, the Golden Generation played great counter-attacking football. In a tight game with lots of chances for both teams, Belgium could secure a 2-1 win and advanced to the next round where they are going to face France.

Team News

Brazil had to replace Casemiro who couldn´t play due to his second yellow card against Mexico in the Round of 16. Therefore, Tite brought in Fernandinho to cover the space before the back-four. Furthermore, Marcelo was back in the starting line-up. Besides those changes, Tite selected the same starting eleven as against Mexico. In their common 4-3-3 Neymar, Willian and Jesus attack in the first line while Paulinho and Coutinho supported them out of the midfield. Thiago Silva and Miranda were the two centre-backs while Fagner defended on the right-side, for Belgium he was a potential weakness of Brazil´s defence.

Belgium on the other side started quite interesting. The formation from above was sometimes observable during the build-up. When Kompany, Alderweireld and Verthonghen tried to find openings in Brazil´s defence. Defensively Belgium defended in an interesting 4-3-1-2/4-3-3 with Fellaini, Witsel and Chadli in front of the back-four. De Bruyne played in the centre, most of the time a little bit deeper compared to the wide positioned Lukaku and Hazard. This defensive line-up was crucial for Belgium´s focus on counter-attacks and also hard to overcome for Brazil.

Belgium approach defensively

As I pointed out above Belgium defended in a 4-3-3/4-3-1-2. During the build-up of Brazil, you could observe that Lukaku and Hazard defended the halfspaces while De Bruyne covered the space in the centre. They tried to close down passing options in the centre, but rarely did they press aggressively or high up the pitch.