Short answer is No.
Right now it may appear advantageous for England or Belgium to finish 2nd in Group G as Brazil beating Serbia, Germany beating Sth Korea and Mexico getting at least a point in the Sweden game are all highly likely results.
These results would mean a Round of 16 tie of Brazil v Germany.
That would put either Germany or Brazil on a collision course with the winner of the Group G (Belgium or England) provided they themselves got through their Round of 16 game.
This is the key here though, Belgium or England would need to get through their Round of 16 game for this to even matter.
In Group G the winner plays 2nd in Group H while 2nd plays top of Group H.
Group H happens to contain a very dangerous side in Colombia who put on a clinic, smashing Poland by 3 goals in their last match.
There is a more than even money chance that Japan only draw or even lose to Poland which would hand Group H to the winner of Colombia v Senegal.
No offence to Senegal, they have been good value in their first 2 games but Colombia are a class above them and I expect them to beat Senegal.
This would mean Colombia would top Group H with Japan 2nd.
Neither Belgium nor England would want to face Colombia in a sudden death Round of 16 match especially since I suspect both would struggle to keep a clean sheet against a super fast Colombian team.
This means that while finishing 2nd in Group G would potentially gift England or Belgium an easier quarter final match up, it would mean firstly going through Colombia instead of the much less intimidating Japan.
By the time their match rolls around, neither England nor Belgium will know whether or not Colombia or Japan top Group H but they will know the Brazil, Germany results.
So, if either wanted to engineer a 2nd place finish what would it take?
Right now England top Group G on fair play only.
Belgium & England both have 6 points, have incredibly the same goal difference of 6 and the same goals scored of 8.
This means if their match ends in a Draw they can't be split other than fair pay rules.
Fair play allocates points against for all cards and is a tie break method when teams can't be split.
Right now England have only had 2 yellow cards as opposed to Belgium's 3 which puts them fractionally ahead.
This means engineering any sort of finish on the table is problematic as it is not even as simple as playing out a nil-nil draw.
Can you really control players not accidentally getting carried away in a moment for a full 90 minutes?
So if one of them wants to finish 2nd badly enough they would need to throw the game and ensure they lose.
While the cynic in me can definitely accept that teams will play for a Draw no doubt especially when it suits both parties but I don't believe either would throw a match on the World Stage.
The negative message that would send to their players, the divide it would cause in the player group not to mention media scrutiny, it just wouldn't happen.
In summary the permutations add to even more intrigue for this up and coming match up.
For the record I think both sides will do away with all the crystal balling and just go for the win.
You can't put a value on confidence and winning form heading into the knockout rounds regardless of who it means you play.
I am going to tip England to win it 1-0 and top the Group as I think there is something special brewing in the English camp this time around.
Thanks for reading
- Dahmsy79