England vs Belgium: Three Lions still left wondering how good they really are after deflating defeat

England 0-1 Belgium: Adnan Januzaj's wonderful second-half goal saw the Red Devils top the group leaving Gareth Southgate's side to face Colombia in the last-16

So we now at least know England's path, but we still have no idea how good England actually are.

That is something Colombia may definitively tell us, as the second-round opponents Gareth Southgate 's side will now place after finishing second in the group. That will be a proper test, after a group that didn’t provide any of them, and ended in a 1-0 defeat to Belgium that was barely a proper game of football.

That could end up meaning there are soon proper questions for Southgate for the first time. If a very dangerous Colombia team do end up eliminating England in Moscow on Tuesday, the wonder will be why he didn’t fully press for a win and name a full side for this match.

They may have an easier path to the semi-final, since they will now avoid any heavyweights until then, but they do not have an easier last-16 game as Belgium's prize is a game against Japan.

That is not a discussion for just yet but, after a match like that, the only thing that really can be discussed is how a tournament as great and dramatic as this World Cup could see the group stage finish with a game so out of sync with everything else - especially when there was still something proper at stake.

The fact it was being staged in an enclave that is apart from the rest of Russia in Kaliningrad only deepened the feeling that this was an event apart from the rest of Russia 2018.

It mostly felt like an exhibition, and occasionally seemed a freak show, even if Adnan Januzaj’s supreme group-winning goal itself stood apart from everything else.

That such a high-profile and previously anticipated fixture ended up like this was not the only frustration.

There’s mostly the frustration that we still don’t have anything like a read on England. The ease of the challenges against a stage-frightened Tunisia and out-of-their-depth Panama was followed by this.

How could we have a read when both sides made so many changes, and the very point of the game was so skewed?

That the managers could even decide to do that when the usual genuine prize of first place was at stake stated enough, but then there was the extra complication of what first place here meant.

Adnan Januzaj's goal decided the game (Getty Images)

Whatever about top spot, the bottom line is this: if there is even a debate or doubt over whether just winning is the best choice for a football match, it renders that match a farce. That is what a lot of this was, and it may cause Fifa to look at measures to try and prevent this in future. Maybe open draws for the last-16, so that nobody knows who they’ll get?

Whatever happens in the future, what happened here means we don’t yet have any serious knowledge about England. We don’t know if Kyle Walker’s role in a three-man backline holds up against a better side. We don’t know if that defence can hold up against attackers of the talents of Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard - so frustratingly rested. We don’t know how this formation as a whole stands up against a better sides. We don’t know if that formation has solved the problem of what seems a fragile midfield, or whether the hugely promising Ruben Loftus-Cheek can himself solve it against the best sides in the competition.

Belgium topped Group G and will now face Japan (AFP/Getty Images)

Most of all, we just don’t know how good England actually are.

Colombia will start to tell us - and maybe end it all - and that in a sudden-death knock-out, with no real preparation. It is a curious situation to be in, but then this was a curious group, and a curious game.

It said much that a lot of the match saw so many moments of amusement rather than action, not least when Belgian fans audibly celebrated their players getting booked because of how the card count might leave them in second if it came down to fair play, or when Martinez himself was so restrained in celebrating his side’s goal.

England will now face Colombia in the last-16 (REUTERS)

It was, to be fair, a goal deserving of a better match. The build-up to it was as ponderous as so much of the game, as many of the attackers opted to pass rather than unleash… until Januzaj just decided to have a go.

He had his goal, as the ball curled into the top corner.

This is the other side of this match, too. We don’t really know how good Belgium are, nor have they really had a proper test, either.

It all meant there wasn’t much to be read into any of the football. Jamie Vardy’s lack of impact and Marcus Rashford’s misses can be forgiven because this was a match of such a conspicuously curious tone that it didn’t feel like there was any real consequence.

Perceptions of that may well change on Tuesday.

England will have their first challenge, and we’ll see how much missing out on first-place really meant.