Belgium's national soccer team players Eden Hazard and Axel Witsel fight for the ball during a training session at the squad's camp ahead of the World Cup, in Knokke-Heist
Belgium's national soccer team players Eden Hazard (R) and Axel Witsel fight for the ball during a training session at the squad's camp ahead of the World Cup, in Knokke-Heist June 6, 2014. REUTERS/Laurent Dubrule

Final Score

Belgium 2 Algeria 1

Overview

The fifteenth match of the FIFA World Cup 2014 is going to be held between Belgium vs. Algeria. Several teams wanted to be in Group H because that would have given them a chance to start late in the tournament. This is probably the most balanced group in the tournament.

Teams

Belgium: Belgium happens to be the one that participated in most number (11) of World Cups. Belgium has several top players who can make a difference even against the strongest teams in the world. Strong midfield, high quality centre-backs and fierce attack - this team has all the possibilities to reach the semi-finals at least. It won its pre-World Cup matches against Luxembourg (5-1), Sweden (2-0) and Tunisia (1-0). Coach Marc Wilmots said that Romelu Lukaku would be available for this match even though he suffered an ankle injury against Tunisia. That will make the team even stronger. Premiere League star Eden Hazard will make things "hazardous" for Algeria.

Algeria: Algeria is probably the one which is most habituated with similar climatic conditions in Brazil. This is the 4th World Cup for Algeria. It failed to score any goal in the 2010 World Cup but was able to have a draw against England. Algeria has moved to the top as the highest ranked African team, beating Ivory Coast only a week before the tournament. It has lost only once in its previous 13 matches. It even defeated Romania in a warm-up match on Wednesday, June 4. There may not be much hope for Algeria on paper against Belgium, but 25-year-old Islam Slimani and the team can definitely cause troubles.

Head to Head

These two teams played twice against each other. Belgium won 1, and the other ended in a draw. Algeria scored 1 of the total 4 goals scored.

Key Players

Belgium: Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard & Marouane Fellaini

Algeria: Islam Slimani, Saphir & Sofiane Feghouli

Date, Time & Venue

Brazil's time zone is UTC/GMT -3. The match starts at 1 pm (local time) on June 17, which means it is 2 am on June 18 in New South Wales, Australia. The match will be held at Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte.

Prediction

Belgium will not give much opportunity to Algeria to shine as it is going to be desperate to make an impressive in its opening game in the tournament. Belgium will win the match with the final score line 3-0.

Group Predictions

Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G & Group H

Reference: FIFA

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au

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