World Cup 2018: Belgium v Japan – live!

75 mins: A remarkable match, this. Down the other end Inui gets into the area, and Alderweireld slides across to block his shot!

Hazard’s delicious left-wing cross is gobbled up by Fellaini in the middle!

73 mins: Belgium break from the corner, and at the end of it De Bruyne has a low shot from the edge of the area which is brilliantly blocked by Shoji.

72 mins: Japan remain on the front foot. Nagatomo’s excellent cross is cleared by Alderweireld.

71 mins: A Belgium corner was flapped at by Kawashima and then headed (theoretically) away from danger. But Vertonghen was there, and he had other ideas!

Vertonghen scores with a 15-yard looping lob-header from an acute angle! What a header!

68 mins: Meunier – Belgium’s best player – crosses again, and Yoshida does brilliantly to throw a leg between Lukaku and the goal, and the ball flies clear off it!

68 mins: So Fellaini isn’t on as a makeshift desperation centre-forward. Instead he’ll bring his flailing elbows to the midfield, allowing De Bruyne to move forwards.

66 mins: Nearly a third! Sakai scurries down the right and sends in a low centre, that Osako hits into Courtois from close range. Belgium make a double change, bringing Mertens and Carrasco off, and bringing Fellaini and Chadli on.

64 mins: “Yes, I know he’s a great player, and I know that there are different ways of doing things,” writes Matt Dony. “But, this is a moment for a captain to rally, gee-up, and inspire his teammates. Is Hazard that man? Really?” Hazard has just been caught on camera attempting to do this. So, at least he’s not totally ignoring this side of the job.

62 mins: What a chance for Belgium! An excellent cross from Meunier on the right finds the forehead of Lukaku at the near post, and after profoundly outjumping his markers he glances the header wide!

61 mins: The faces of Japan’s fans are an absolute picture. Pure, joyous incredulity.

60 mins: Japan are playing this game perfectly right now, and with Belgium forced forwards there are massive oceans of space down their flanks. They’ve just won a corner, as a cross from the right is turned behind. “Perhaps if Courtois were shorter he would have been able to get down to one of those a bit quicker,” suggests Lee James. Any more for any more?

56 mins: Carrasco, who has been poor, blasts a shot high from the edge of the area. “Who’s throwing his legs in the air now?” asks Wendell D’Souza. With his comments about Pickford Courtois has essentially given the world an open goal, and at the moment the world is merrily knocking the ball into it.

55 mins: “If only Courtois were taller, he might have saved that,” notes Jeremy Solomon, of Japan’s opener. He asked for that, really.

53 mins: That was a class goal. Kagawa chests the ball down on the edge of the area but with defenders well placed in front of him lays it off to Inui, whose shot arrows past Courtois and into the corner!

And another! Inui slams it in from 25 yards!

50 mins: The goal came on the counter-attack, after Meunier passed inside to Mertens and went for the return pass. Two defenders followed his run, and the pass back to him simply was not on, but Mertens gave it a go anyway. Ten seconds later Japan were in the lead.

49 mins: And Belgium hit the post! It’s a nice move down the right and the ball is worked back to Hazard, on the edge of the area, whose first-time shot hits the near post!

Japan take the lead! Vertonghen makes a total hash of an interception, allowing a long pass that should never have made it to run through to Haraguchi, who looks to dally when he needed to dash, but then unleashes a low drive that flies in at the far post!

Belgium have got their attacking players in possession in good areas. Their decision-making has let them down a bit, and the ball hasn’t quite fallen for them, but surely if this continues over 90 minutes it’ll come.

Japan are closing down well, and defending diligently if not always very calmly. One minor tactical observation: when Japan have the ball in their own defence Belgium’s front three drop back and position themselves very centrally, all within the width of the centre circle. The midfielders behind them then move wide, which means that if the forwards don’t put pressure on the ball their opponents are left with a very straightforward pass down the middle of the pitch into their attacking third. Japan have only done this once, but it did worry me a bit.

On the BBC, nobody has mentioned Yoshida’s shove on Lukaku. This seems strange, as a near-certain goal appeared to be prevented. “Regarding Yoshida’s shove, that’s a penalty,” writes Christopher Barnes. “Are the laws of the game even applying at this world cup? Why wasn’t that subject to VAR?”

45 mins: No stoppage time necessary here. It’s been sterile, but played at a good tempo with plenty of interesting stuff happening. It is goalless, but for the entire game it has felt like one is just about to happen.

44 mins: Nagatomo’s shot goes straight to Osako at the near post, who is too surprised about it to spin and slam it in. It rolls off his toe and straight to Courtois, who bends down to pick it up and somehow misses it. Sadly nobody is on hand to convert this from embarrassing mistake to one of the all-time great World Cup goalie howlers.

43 mins: Shoji does a lovely 360-degree spin away from trouble just outside his own penalty area. He’s so happy about it that he immediately passes the ball straight back to a Belgian.

41 mins: Hazard has the ball, Lukaku makes a run ahead of him, and he doesn’t make the pass because Shibasaki trips him from behind. Yellow card.

39 mins: Japan aren’t so much competing here as being tenderised. This has the feel of a thrashing waiting to happen. “How nice that Fifa allowed both teams to play in their first kit,” notes Kari Tulinius. “The only consistently annoying thing at this World Cup has been Fifa’s overzealous rulings on kit clashes. It feels right to watch the Red Devils in red and Samurai Blue in blue.” I agree on all counts.

36 mins: Japan have a good period of possession, which ends with them giving the ball away in their own half and Hazard and then Witsel having shots that are blocked and blazed over, respectively.

34 mins: Japan play a long ball to the left wing, which leaves Nagatomo, at 5ft 6in, attempting to win a header against Meunier. He doesn’t.

31 mins: Japan have a chance! It’s a decent move, which ends with a Nagatomo cross from the left, and Inui heading at Courtois.