The Belgium vs Algeria World Cup match will be played on June 17, at Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto, Belo Horizonte.
This is the first match in group H, which consists of Russia and South Korea, besides these two teams. Belgium and Algeria played two times in the past. In 2002 they drew, and a year later, Belgium celebrated a 3-1 victory.
Belgium is regarded as one of the “dark horses” of the tournament. They qualified very easily, in front of Croatia and Serbia. They are lead by Chelsea’s star Eden Hazard, but they are oozing with talent – one of the best scorers in last year’s Premier League, Romelu Lukaku also plays for them, as well as Vincent Kompany, the captain of Manchester City, the champion of England. Also, maybe the best goalkeeper in the world, Thibault Courtois is their number one, so it is clear why they are regarded as “dark horses”.
However, in the last five friendly games which they played, they didn’t prove their power – they beat only minnows Luxembourg and Sweden, and didn’t manage to win against either of the national teams playing in the forthcoming World Cup – they drew with Ivory Coast, and lost to Colombia and Japan. Those games showed that their young players are still inexperienced in the top level, and coach Wilmots will have a lot of work to do before the tournament starts.
Contrary to them, Algeria managed to get three victories out of three friendly games, and they will enter this match with great confidence. Algeria beat Slovenia, Armenia and Romania, national teams which failed to qualify for the World Cup, but they are certainly solid squads, and these results are very respectable.
Algeria plays in a pretty disciplined manner, unlike most African national teams. Their style refers to European squads, so they could counter Belgium tactically and physically. Belgium clearly has more talent in the squad, and they are favorites in this match. However, if Algeria stays in the game long enough, Belgium could be in trouble. Most of the games they’ve won, they scored early in them, and after that played on their trademark counter attacks, which are one of the most lethal in the world. But, for example, in the match against Colombia, when they’ve lost 2-0, they didn’t get on the scoreline in the first half, and after that, Colombia scored and easily brought the game to the end.
Also, we will see how they will play the role of the favorite in this game, and if they can manage the pressure. If they score first, it should seal the deal, but if they struggle after the first hour of the match, anything is possible, and we will maybe see an upset.
–>>Match Prediction : Both Teams to Score @2.25 bet365
