Belgium beat Sweden 1-0 to finish second in Group E

Belgium beat Sweden 1-0 here on Wednesday with Radja Nainggolan's late goal, advancing to the last 16 of Euro 2016 as the Group E runners-up.

Sweden were sent packed, finishing at the bottom of the group with only one point (1-1 with Ireland, 0-1 to both Italy and Belgium).

It was 34-year-old star Zlatan Ibrahimovic's last game for Sweden as he had announced at the pre-match press conference that he would retire from international football.

In a sense, Sweden failed to score a single goal actively in the tournament, as the 1-1 tie with Ireland was awarded by opponents' own goal.

As Ireland stunned Italy 1-0 at the same time, Belgium, which lost 2-0 to Italy and crushed Ireland 3-0, leveled Italy on the same 6 points but had to be the runners-up for the head-to-head loss.

Ireland finished third with four points and became the last team into the knockout stage as one of the four best third-placers.

In the do-or-die match against Belgium, Sweden played all out but could not get the luck.

Only five minutes into the game, forward Marcus Berg squandered the best scoring chance for Sweden. Victor Lindelof's free-kick fell kindly inside the penalty box for the Panathinaikos striker, who volleyed goalwards in close range, but Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois' positioning was good enough to palm the ball away.

Belgium gradually gained the upper hand with Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard leading the attack. Striker Romelu Lukaku made several solo runs in the second half to press hard on Sweden's defense.

The statistics showed that the two teams shared 50-50 ball possession and 82 to 82 percent passing accuracy. Belgium were superior in total attempts which were 23-12 and "on target" was 8-4. Endit