Belgium’s World Cup squad were welcomed as heroes in Brussels yesterday, after achieving their best-ever World Cup result in Russia, and were rewarded with the country’s national dish: A bowl of chips.

And then there was one. Well, two actually, but the World Cup third-place play-off is definitely one of those nominally competitive fixtures which presents a fairly robust challenge to my old friend Declan Lynch’s wise maxim that there’s never a good reason not to watch a football match.

France took the lead six minutes into the second half when Samuel Umtiti got to Antoine Griezmann's corner ahead of Marouane Fellaini and saw his header clip the Belgium midfielder on its way into the net.

Belgium have beaten Japan 3-2 in their World Cup last-16 tie in Rostov to set up a quarter-final against Brazil.

The vagaries of the group stage format at a Fifa World Cup were laid bare in the final round of fixtures as England’s reserves laboured to a 1-0 defeat against Belgium, safe in the knowledge that finishing second in Group G probably opens up a better route to the final.

There will be 100 Premier League players in action at the World Cup, spread across 25 international teams.

Chelsea 1 Manchester United 0: If this was Antonio Conte’s final game in charge of Chelsea, then he at least enjoyed the kind of swansong any manager would want.

Substitute Olivier Giroud inspired Chelsea to a 3-2 comeback triumph at St Mary's which dealt a big blow to Southampton's Premier League survival hopes.

"We have two big problems."

Chelsea produced the kind of attacking performance in Europe that Manchester United fans were screaming for 24 hours earlier, but found centurion Lionel Messi was still too good for them, as they lost 3-0 in the Nou Camp in what was the harshest of Champions League lessons.

Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0: And then there were four. Four games and 12 points which Pep Guardiola and Manchester City require to make mathematically certain of the Premier League title after Bernardo Silva’s goal allowed his team to open up an 18-point lead at the top of the table. 

Man United 2 - Chelsea 1: Antonio Conte may have seen his long-running feud with Jose Mourinho come to an end at Old Trafford but it may also have been the afternoon when the Chelsea manager saw his team’s hopes of a Champions League place similarly disappear into thin air.

Romelu Lukaku inspired Manchester United to a comeback win against former club Chelsea as Jose Mourinho got the better of Antonio Conte.

This was an intriguing clash on so many levels, and not just because Chelsea and Barcelona have broken each other’s hearts over the past decade or so.

Chelsea 1 Barcelona 1 

Lionel Messi broke his goal duck against Chelsea to deny Antonio Conte's side a crucial lead over Barcelona in their Champions League showdown.

Olivier Giroud’s presence on the sidelines provided confirmation Antonio Conte had got the new striker he wanted during the January transfer window.

Antonio Conte insists Chelsea's season will be considered a success - even if it finishes without a trophy.

Antonio Conte insists Chelsea’s season will be considered a success — even if it finishes without a trophy.

Eden Hazard inspired Chelsea to victory at Brighton to give the champions their first Premier League win of 2018.

Chelsea 0 Arsenal 0: The frustration felt by Arsene Wenger as his Arsenal side struggled in the face of intense Chelsea pressure was intensified by the manager being forced to watch from the unfamiliar surroundings of the press box.

Arsene Wenger described the penalty Arsenal conceded in Wednesday night's 2-2 draw with Chelsea as "farcical".

Arsenal 2 Chelsea 2: So much for the Premier League schedule killing players.

If there were any suggestions that Manchester City’s solo waltz to the Premier League title would take all the drama out of 2018, then Arsenal and Chelsea provided the perfect riposte with a wonderful match full of skill, resolve, and scintillating football — from two teams who know they cannot win the big prize.

Manchester United's Romelu Lukaku has played the most football of any Premier League player this season going into the festive schedule.

Marko Arnautovic's first West Ham goal secured a 1-0 victory over Chelsea and a first win for manager David Moyes.

Chelsea finished second in Champions League Group C after rallying to draw 1-1 with Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea 3 Newcastle 1: Eden Hazard maintaining his fitness and form is clearly key to Chelsea hanging on to the coattails of what passes for a title race this season. Getting him to stay at Chelsea long-term is central to any future success the London side might challenge for.

Mohamed Salah returned to haunt former club Chelsea but Liverpool were denied a hugely significant victory as Willian conjured an equaliser out of nothing at Anfield.

Antonio Conte says Chelsea risk losing the best goalkeeper in the world if they do not extend Thibaut Courtois’ contract.

Roma 3 Chelsea 0: Chelsea crumbled last night as Roma moved to the top of Champions League Group C with a 3-0 victory at Stadio Olimpico last night.

Chelsea crumbled as Roma moved to the top of Champions League Group C with a 3-0 victory at Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday night.

David Unsworth has set himself the dual target of becoming permanent Everton manager and persuading wantaway midfielder Ross Barkley to stay at the club.

Chelsea 3 - Roma 3: Eden Hazard scored twice as Chelsea battled to a 3-3 draw with Roma to stay top of Champions League Group C. Chelsea had surrendered a two-goal lead to trail 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining after former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko’s quick-fire double.

Eden Hazard scored twice as Chelsea battled to a 3-3 draw with Roma to stay top of Champions League Group C.

Atletico Madrid 1 Chelsea 2: Alvaro Morata and Michy Batshuayi proved there is life after Diego Costa as Chelsea fought back to win 2-1 at Atletico Madrid last night.

Costa, whose return to Atletico was completed on Tuesday, watched on as Chelsea responded from David Luiz's needless concession of a penalty scored by Antoine Griezmann.

Daniel Storey highlights the five things we learned from this weekend's Premier League action 

Arsenal ended a five-match losing streak at Stamford Bridge in an entertaining draw with Premier League champions Chelsea.

The excitement is building and we are just hours away from watching Mayo take on Dublin in today's All-Ireland final.

Tottenham’s Harry Kane is relishing the prospect of facing Real Madrid following a Champions League draw which also saw Chelsea handed a showdown with Diego Costa’s former club Atletico Madrid.

Thibaut Courtois has warned Tottenham that opposing teams will raise their game at Wembley - and also poked fun at the lack of atmosphere at their temporary home.

They are supposed to be embroiled in yet another ‘crisis’ at Stamford Bridge, but a dramatic victory over London rivals Tottenham at Wembley, inspired by two-goal Marcos Alonso, showed pretty emphatically that the Chelsea spirit is very much alive, even in the post-John Terry era.

Chelsea skipper Gary Cahill is in no doubt the club have added quality to the squad over the summer - but it is the quantity which is a worry for the England defender.