The flags with black, yellow and red stripes were proudly displayed by Belgian fans after their national team secured the third place at the World Cup. Some thanked Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard, who scored the only two goals in this match. Others were already thinking about Belgium’s future victories.
“We are third, unfortunately we’re not first” – says Belgium fan Willy Carpels – “But we proved to the world that we can play football. The Championship was excellent, we had a lot of nice goals.” pic.twitter.com/PegyBoqCla
— Denis Bolotsky (@BolotskySputnik) July 14, 2018
It wasn’t only Belgians who came to Russia on Saturday to support the players, there were people from all over the world. Some Russians, whose national team didn’t make it into the top three, either picked sides, or were rooting for both teams at once, painting English colors on one cheek, and Belgian – on the other one.
Markus from Brazil says that he’s already preparing to watch the final match on Sunday: “I think it’s gonna be France” – he adds.
John is from Canada. He went to see the game with his Russian wife and two kids.
"We loved the Argentina-Nigeria match, it was even better – more paced, faster" – says the man — "But my son likes Belgium and England, so he liked this game."
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It seems that after the match nobody cared about the score or goals anymore. Fans from all over the world gathered in circles to dance and sing.
Neither Brazilian, nor Russian teams were playing today, but their fans were at the St.Petersburg stadium anyway, celebrating. Look at the atmosphere. pic.twitter.com/eKa5pCCpfH
— Denis Bolotsky (@BolotskySputnik) July 14, 2018
It was a sad day for Team England, but British fans stopped to talk to journalists anyway, sharing their impressions from visiting World Cup Russia.
“I think the real winners are the Russian people” – says Mark — “Because we have been made to feel so welcome. It was fantastic” pic.twitter.com/C2mul7089l
— Denis Bolotsky (@BolotskySputnik) July 14, 2018
Belgium and England played twice against each other at the World Cup Russia 2018, and both matches were unsuccessful for England.
France and Croatia will be competing for the first place on Sunday at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.