Belgium vs. Japan, World Cup: Lineups & Game thread

Three of the four quarterfinalists on the “tougher” side of the bracket are now set, with Brazil joining France and Uruguay after beating Mexico, 2-0, earlier today. Facing off against the Selecao will be the winner of this match, widely expected to be Belgium. It is their “time to shine”, after all.

But if there’s anything we learned in the past two weeks is that none of the teams should be taken lightly. If Belgium relax, Japan would surely take advantage.

Hazard and Courtois start, as usual, with Batshuayi on the bench.

Here we go.

Belgium starting lineup (3-4-3):
Courtois | Vertonghen, Kompany, Alderweireld | Carrasco, Witsel, De Bruyne, Meunier | E.Hazard (c), Lukaku, Mertens

Substitutes from: Vermaelen, Fellaini, Mignolet, Casteels, T.Hazard, Tielemans, Januzaj, Dembele, Boyata, Batshuayi, Chadli, Dendoncker

Japan starting lineup (4-2-3-1):
Kawashima | Nagatomo, Shoji, Yoshida, Sakai | Shibasaki, Hasebe (c) | Inui, Kagawa, Haraguchi | Osako

Substitutes from: Ueda, Honda, Endo, Okazaki, Higashiguchi, Muto, Yamaguchi, Oshima, Makino, Sakai, Nakamura

Date / Time: Monday, July 2, 2018, 19:00 BST; 2pm EDT
Venue: Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don
Referee: Malang Diedhiou (Senegal)
On TV: BBC One (UK); FOX, Telemundo (USA); elsewhere
Streaming online: BBC iPlayer (UK); FOX Sports Go, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo; Sling World Cup (USA)