ST PETERSBURGH — Belgium beat England in the World Cup third-place playoff Saturday to ensure its best-ever finish as tournament top scorer Harry Kane admitted his side needs to improve if it is to end its long trophy drought.

Goals from Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard secured a deserved 2-0 victory in Saint Petersburg and meant Belgium bettered its performance at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, where it finished fourth.

Belgium, which suffered a painful 1-0 defeat to France in the semifinals, also beat Gareth Southgate's England in the first round in Russia on its way to topping the group before beating Japan and Brazil.

"It's all about the achievement. This is Belgium's best finish at a World Cup. The players deserve that and they wanted to make the country proud," said coach Roberto Martinez said.

Southgate's men were forced to settle for England's joint-best performance at a World Cup abroad, matching that of the 1990 generation in Italy.

Tottenham's Kane remains the overwhelming favorite to win the Golden Boot with six goals, although he admitted his frustration at failing to find the net in England's final three games.

He said despite England's run to the semifinals, where it was beaten by Croatia, the young team is still not the finished article.

"We closed it for sure (the gap to the top teams)," he said. "But today shows, and some other games show, that there is still room for improvement."

"Obviously I'm disappointed I couldn't get a goal in the last few games," added the Tottenham Hotspur striker, who is aiming to become just the second England player after Gary Lineker in 1986 to win the Golden Boot.

"Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it doesn't. But if I win it, it'll be something I'll be very proud of."

Southgate made five changes to the team beaten 2-1 by Croatia in the last four, as England fielded its youngest World Cup line-up in history — with an average age of 25 years and 174 days.

Phil Jones, Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Fabian Delph and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all came into the side, while Martinez recalled Meunier and handed a start to Youri Tielemans.

Paris Saint-Germain defender Meunier made a quick impression by firing Belgium in front following an attack started by Romelu Lukaku.

The Manchester United forward released Nacer Chadli down the left into space behind the England defense, and his cross was turned home by Meunier who stepped in front of a static Rose.

Jordan Pickford readjusted his body superbly to deny Kevin De Bruyne a second time, the Everton goalkeeper clawing away the ball after a sizeable deflection off Kieran Trippier.

Hazard sought to exploit the spaces at every opportunity, the Belgium captain linked up intelligently with Tielemans on the edge of the area but was blocked off as he tried to pull the trigger.

England slowly worked its way into the contest as Loftus-Cheek headed straight at Thibaut Courtois on 15 minutes.

Kane blew a terrific chance to surpass Gary Lineker for most England goals at a single World Cup, scuffing harmlessly wide after an inviting lay-off from Raheem Sterling.

Toby Alderweireld, one of six Tottenham players on the pitch, then hooked just over after a mishit Tielemans shot dropped to the Belgium defender at a corner.

Belgium lost Chadli to a hamstring injury before half-time, while Southgate introduced Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard at the break for Sterling and Rose.

Their pace and directness gave England renewed vigor, with Lingard volleying across goal just out of the reach of a lunging Kane.

England received a let-off when Lukaku failed to control a defense-splitting pass from De Bruyne, allowing Pickford to charge off his line to smother.

And it looked as though Dier was going to draw England level when he lifted the ball over Courtois, only for Alderweireld to race back to clear off the line.

With England pushing forward, Meunier nearly produced one of the goals of the tournament, his crisp volley from a Dries Mertens cross drawing an excellent one-handed stop from Pickford.

There was nothing Pickford could do though as De Bruyne and Hazard combined to wrap up the victory on 82 minutes, the latter drilling low inside the near post for his third goal of the competition. — AFP