England vs Belgium: How fair play could settle World Cup Group G
FOUL PLAY could cost England's World Cup chances dear if they fail to keep their cool against Belgium in their final Group G game.
If the two teams draw in Kaliningrad on Thursday, their identical records mean disciplinary tiebreakers will be used to decide who finishes first and second in the group.
England cruised into the second round of the World Cup with a 6-1 demolition of Panama on Sunday, on the back of captain Harry Kane's hat trick, two goals from John Stones and a long-range Jesse Lingard strike.
In addition to their 2-1 win over Tunisia, Gareth Southgate's Three Lions sit on six points from two games, with eight goals scored and two conceded.
But they share the exact same record with Belgium, who beat Panama 3-0 and Tunisia 5-2.
That now means England currently top the group by virtue of picking up two yellow cards to Belgium's three, but that could all change when the two teams meet to decide the group winners.
Fifa's tiebreaker rules state that if two teams are level on points, goal difference, goals scored and head-to-head, then the number of red and yellow cards they accumulate in the group will be used to separate them.
Teams are given one point for each yellow card, three for a red card by way of two yellows, and four if they receive a straight red card.
England's Ruben Loftus-Cheek picked up a yellow card against Panama to add to the booking received by Kyle Walker for conceding a penalty against Tunisia, putting England on two disciplinary points.
Belgium's ill-tempered clash with Panama saw three of their players - Kevin de Bruyne, Jan Vertonghen and Thomas Meunier - booked, so despite avoiding any cautions against Tunisia they sit below England in the Group G table.
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Should the teams end up with the same disciplinary points totals, they will have to draw lots to see who wins the group.
All of these peculiar scenarios will be avoided if either team wins in Kaliningrad, which would seal their place as group winners outright.
Winning the group may not be as beneficial as it appears however, as the second round opponents - one of Senegal, Colombia, Poland or Japan from Group H - are all evenly-matched but the group winners could face a much harder route further on.
The team topping Group G would likely face Brazil or Germany in a potential quarter-final, while the team coming second be handed a tie against Mexico, Switzerland or Serbia.