3 reasons why Belgium will lose their quarterfinal match against Brazil

#2 Belgium's below-par midfield

Takashi Inui bossed the midfield against Belgium

Even though Belgium have had an amazing run in the World Cup, winning all 4 games, they have been relatively untested. Their games against Panama and Tunisia were more like practice matches and even though they let in 2 goals against Tunisia, they still looked extremely dominant. Their final group game against England was also not a good enough match, with both teams putting out much weaker squads and none of the teams looking for the win

Belgium had not been under pressure in any of these matches but regardless of the fact that they possess one of the best midfielders in the world in the name of Kevin De Bruyne, they don't have much talent in that area. He is usually partnered up with Axel Witsel, who is not the best defensive player and he also plays in the Chinese Super League which is not that competitive. They clearly lack a dynamic box-to-box midfielder, and Radja Nainggolan would have been perfect for this role but due to some disputes, Roberto Martinez refused to include him in the squad.

But their game against Japan was different. It was in this game that we found out how weak Belgium's midfield actually is. In the first half, Japan sat back and Belgium's defense was not severely tested. But it was in their second half that they were dealt with a major wake up call. Their midfield was not at all watertight and there were lots of spaces where the Japanese players could run into. That is why players such as Shinji Kagawa and Takashi Inui who are both quite fast had such success against Belgium.

Belgium will now face an even bigger task when they face Brazil, whose midfield is a lot younger, more creative and more vibrant as compared to the Japanese midfield. Belgium cannot allow the same mistakes to happen again as they will now face the likes of Phillipe Coutinho and Paulinho, who would love to exploit those spaces left by the Belgian midfield.