Belgium came into this match as the highest ranked nation in the world and having lost only once in 27 games.

But, their opponents were no pushovers either. Italy were unbeaten in their last 31 games prior to this.

These statistics pointed towards a beautiful encounter with the teams well balanced.

Belgium began the more enterprising of the teams and created two quick-fire chances by Romelu Lukaku whose first shot was blocked while he blazed his second over the bar from an offside position.

Italy got their first chance almost quarter of an hour in when a free-kick from Lorenzo Insigne was turned into the net by Leonardo Bonucci but the Italians celebrations were cut shot by the Video Assistant Referee who spotted an offside in the buildup. The next chance fell to Youri Tielemans whose long range effort could only yield a corner. Kevin De Bruyne then saw his top corner-bound shot saved well by Gianluigi Donnaruma before Lukaku also got the best out of the former AC Milan keeper who's now a free agent. Federico Chiesa then shot at the Belgian goal but via a deflection, the ball fell into the grateful arms of Thibaut Courtois.

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Nicolo Barella gave Italy the lead on 31 minutes when Chiesa intercepted a loose pass by the Belgians before feeding his teammate. Belgium looked stunned and couldn't cope with Italy in the middle of the pack. As a mark of their midfield dominance, Italy doubled their lead before the break. Insigne went on a mazy solo run before letting fly from 25 yards out. What a beauty into the top corner! Goal of the tournament so far. But to be fair to Courtois, the defenders let him down.


 Giovanni Di Lorenzo then gave away a penalty needlessly pushing Jeremy Doku in the box. Lukaku stepped up and halved the deficit before halftime powerfully striking the ball through the middle. Lifeline Belgium. 


The second half then saw chances fall both ways but none was taken. The most glaring miss was by Lukaku who could only hit Leonardo Spinazzola when it seemed easier to score. Doku had brilliantly found De Bruyne who whipped a pass across goal to Lukaku at the back post. What a miss!


 Changes followed and the intensity of the game went down although substitutes Nacer Chadli and Dries Mertens combined to almost draw Belgium level. Mertens slipped the ball wide to Chadli whose deflected cross bounced up and over the head of Lukaku and behind Thorgan Hazard. Unfortunately for Chadli he had to come off injured with virtually his first touch of the match.


The game went into a lull late on but Italy held on for their 32nd game unbeaten and book a date with Spain at Wembley on Tuesday. Spain were the last to beat Italy and it was emphatically so. 


For Belgium, this could spell the end of an era for their golden generation. Thomas Vermaelen, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Eden Hazard, Axel Witsel, Kevin De Bruyne, Dedryck Boyata, Nacer Chadli, Thomas Meunier and Christian Benteke are all thirty years and above. Most of these players may not be available for the World Cup in Qatar next year.