Belgium take on Tunisia on Saturday afternoon, knowing that a win would see them qualify for the knockout stage of the W. Cup. Roberto Martinez’ side beat Panama 3-0 in their opening game, with a brace from Romelu Lukaku coming after an excellent opener from Dries Mertens.
Belgium will be hoping to tie up qualification on Saturday, as they face England in their final group game next week. They started off poorly against Panama, playing some slow football, while Kevin de Bruyne was operating too deep for him to be effective. The breakthrough came shortly after half time, with Mertens thumping home a scorcher from outside the box. Once they scored, the game was as good as over and it was a case of how many they would score in the afternoon.
As for Tunisia, they struggled against England, not creating any chances and being overly physical. Their one shot on target happened to be the contentious penalty, which they scored from. Goalkeeper Mouez Hassen went off injured after 20 minutes, having produced a string of excellent saves to deny England and he’s expected to miss the rest of the tournament. Tunisia struggled to deal with England’s pace, but they might fare better against Belgium if they play the same type of game as they did against Panama.
Belgium vs. Tunisia Predictions
Tunisia offered very little against England, while Belgium weren’t impressive against Panama either. However, there’s more than enough talent in the Belgian ranks for them to win this game and they should do so easily.
Belgium vs. Tunisia Betting Tips
Head to Head
- This will be the fourth meeting between Belgium and Tunisia, with both nations winning one game and sharing one draw.
- The most recent meeting between Belgium and Tunisia was a friendly in 2014, with Dries Mertens scoring a late winner for Belgium in a 1-0 win in Brussels.
- This is Belgium and Tunisia’s second meeting at a W. Cup tournament. They previously drew 1-1 in the 2002 group stages, in what was Tunisia’s only point in that tournament.
- Belgium are unbeaten in their three previous W. Cup games against African opponents, with a draw against Tunisia in 2002 the only game they failed to win.
- Belgium are unbeaten in their last 10 W. Cup group games, winning the last five in a row (W5 D5 L0).
- Each of Belgium’s last 11 W. Cup goals have come after half time.
- Tunisia are winless in their last 12 W. Cup matches (D4 L8), since beating Mexico in their first ever match in the competition (3-1 in 1978).
- The last team to have a longer winless run in the W. Cup than Tunisia’s current run of 12 was South Korea (14 games between 1954 and 1998).
- Tunisia have scored with their only shot on target so far at this W. Cup.
- Only Jan Ceulemans (6) has scored more goals in major tournaments for Belgium (W. Cup and European Championships) than Romelu Lukaku (5, level with Marc Wilmots).
Belgium Squad
Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg), Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Thomas Meunier (Paris Saint-Germain), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur), Yannick Carrasco (Dalian Yifang), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham Hotspur), Leander Dendoncker (Anderlecht), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Monchengladbach), Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Youri Tielemens (Monaco), Axel Witsel (Tianjin Quanjian), Michy Batshuayi (Borussia Dortmund), Nacer Chadli (WBA), Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)
Tunisia Squad
Aymen Mathlouthi (Al-Batin), Farouk Ben Mustapha (Al Shabab), Hassen Mouez (LB Chateauroux), Rami Bedoui (Etoile du Sahel), Yohan Benalouane (Leicester), Syam Ben Youssef (Kasimpasa), Dylan Bronn (Gent), Oussama Haddadi (Dijon), Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly), Yassine Meriah (CS Sfaxien), Hamdi Nagguez (Zamalek), Anice Badri (Esperance), Mohamed Amine Ben Amor (Al-Ahli), Ghaylene Chaalali (Esperance), Ahmed Khalil (Club Africain), Aifeddine Khaoui (Troyes), Ferjani Sassi (Al-Nassr), Ellyes Skhiri (Montpellier), Naim Sliti (Dijon), Bassem Srarfi (Nice), Fakhreddine Ben Youssef (Al-Ittifaq), Wahbi Khazri (Rennes), Saber Khalifa (Club Africain)