Belgium's star-laden squad beat England 2-0 on Saturday to claim third place at the World Cup, their best-ever finish at the tournament.

An early goal by Thomas Meunier set the tone, and a late second-half strike by Eden Hazard sealed the win, capping a tournament in which the Belgians were arguably the most entertaining and dynamic team.

"My feeling is exceptional. I think that we all succeeded in getting something incredible in the last month," said man of the match Hazard.

"Of course, playing the third-place playoff is not as interesting as playing the final, but I think we can be quite satisfied with what we have done, not only on the pitch but off the pitch."

(Eden Hazard seals victory with Belgium's second goal)

"This World Cup was nearly perfect, we all saw that we had a great Belgian team and we are going to have to work on our future."

"In two years' time, there is the Euro (European championship), in four years' time there is another World Cup, so we are going to be geared towards the future."

England were able to impose periods of pressure on the Belgians, particularly midway through the second half, but were unable to convert from their set-piece opportunities, losing to the Red Devils for the second time at this World Cup.

England's lack of open-play punch left them with a fourth-place finish from their most promising campaign in recent memory.

"In the end we are very proud of what we've done. We're under no illusions as to where we stand as a team," said England manager Gareth Southgate. "We've finished in the final four but we're not a top-four team yet, we know that and we've never hidden behind that."

"Against the very best teams we've come up short but we've had a wonderful adventure and some experiences that will stand this group of players and staff in really good stead for the future."

With the race for the golden boot almost certainly being run in this match at St. Petersburg Stadium, neither hopeful got on the scoresheet.

(Harry Kane)

England striker Harry Kane's six goals should be enough to see him take the prize unless France's Antoine Griezmann or Kylian Mbappe can equal him with a hat-trick in the final against Croatia on Sunday night. Belgium's Romelu Lukaku, who played 60 minutes on Saturday, was unable to add to his four-goal tally.

The game's first goal came in the fourth minute when Paris Saint-Germain's Meunier got on the end of a cross from Nacer Chadli.

England's Kieran Trippier appeared to partially deflect the cross, but Meunier still managed to shin it past England keeper Jordan Pickford, who had no time to react.

Minutes after Belgium almost put together what would have been one of the goals of the tournament with a superb end-to-end move that drew a fine save from Pickford, Hazard put the game to bed.

The Chelsea man, who has been one of the most dangerous players at the tournament and is rumored to be a Real Madrid target, got in behind the English line in the 82nd minute, taking advantage of some slow-footed defending by Phil Jones to collect a Kevin De Bruyne pass and slot the ball inside Pickford's near post.