Belgium told that playing for a draw is no

Jun 21, 2016 - 6:19 PM Playing for a draw is not an option. That's the message Belgium coach Marc Wilmots is drumming into his star-studded team ahead of its final Group E match at the European Championship.

Wilmots has ordered his team, which includes a wealth of attacking talent such as Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, to ignore the group table when it plays Sweden on Wednesday in Nice.

Fresh from a convincing 3-0 victory over Ireland, Belgium knows that a point will be enough for it to progress to the round of 16.

"I don't want these permutations, I don't want a goalless draw because with 10 minutes to go we might concede a goal and that would be a nightmare situation," he said Tuesday.

Wilmots said he's told his players to take no notice of the complex system that's in use for the first time.

Having started with a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Italy, Belgium now has its future participation in the tournament in its own hands.

A victory or a draw would secure second-place in Group E.

A defeat would push Belgium down the table and a potential exit from the tournament.

It would certainly be out if loses to Sweden and Ireland beat Italy.

Wilmots said it would be wrong for his players to under-estimate a Swedish side that has yet to register a single shot on goal at Euro 2016.

The only goal it has scored came in the 1-1 draw with Ireland courtesy of a Ciaran Clark own goal.

"If (the Belgian players) think that it's going to be easy then we're going to take a slap in the face," Wilmots said.

Wilmots said midfielders Yannick Ferreira Carrasco and Moussa Dembele had "question marks" over their fitness ahead of the Sweden game. Both were substituted in the Ireland game.

Source: AAP