FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: Scotland vs Belgium preview

Marc Wilmots’s Belgium side will be favourites to beat Scotland

Belgium go into this week’s FIFA World Cup qualifier against Scotland knowing that they are currently guaranteed at least a 2nd place finish in Group A. A win against Scotland will do them no harm and given the kind of players they currently possess, one would find it hard to predict any other result.

Belgium have been in scintillating form during the qualifiers and are currently stand unbeaten in their group. Out of 7 matches played, they have won 6 and drawn 1. The nation is currently teeming with top-class talent and it’s hard to imagine them not making it to the next World Cup by qualifying directly.

Here’s the squad that manager Marc Wilmots has chosen for the match against Scotland: Koen Casteels, Thibaut Courtois, Simon Mignolet; Toby Alderweild, Laurent Ciman, Guillaume Gillet, Nicolas Lombaerts, Sebastien Pocognoli, Daniel Van Buyten, Jelle Van Damme, Jan Vertonghen; Nacer Chadli, Kevin De Bruyne, Steven Defour, Mousa Dembele, Marouane Fellaini, Eden Hazard, Timmy Simons, Axel Witsel; Zakaria Bakkali, Christian Benteke, Romelu Lukaku, Dries Mertens, Kevin Mirallas.

Of the current members of the squad, Chelsea star Eden Hazard and Spurs’s recent acquisition Nacer Chadli are unavailable due to slight injuries. However, the team has players good enough to get the job done against Scotland.

The Red Devils (not to be confused with Manchester United) have been unstoppable during their qualifying campaign, scoring 13 goals in 7 matches and conceding just 2. The same can’t be said about their opponents Scotland. The Scots have had an abysmal qualifying campaign, winning only 1 match and losing 4. Indeed, Scotland are out of the reckoning as far as the next World Cup is concerned and have nothing but pride to play for against Belgium.

Despite injury concerns for some of his star players, Wilmots has an abundance of talent to choose from and should have no problem selecting a starting XI good enough to beat the Scots. However Croatia, the country who are currently placed second in Group A, would be hoping that Scotland can get Belgium to at least drop points because they are only 3 points off the leaders. Croatia can still qualify directly as they have another match against Belgium to be played in Zagreb. Belgium, and therefore, cannot afford to drop any points against Scotland or anyone for that matter and will have to win all matches in order to ensure qualification for the World Cup.

Scotland should be easy opponents, given that they haven’t been in any sort of form recently and the fact that Belgium are quite strong. However, football is a funny game. The fact that Scotland have nothing but pride to play for might just work to their advantage simply because they don’t have any added pressure on them. They’ll be able to play more freely and might get a result against the Belgians. Make no mistake, Belgium will have to bring their A-game against Scotland. The Red Devils are in a good position right now, but any slip-ups in their remaining 3 matches could see them lose first place in Group A. It should be an intriguing match.