Belgium has the better squad and bench. By why do they put van Buyten in the starting XI?
Belgium
| Player | Goalimpact | Peak GI | Age | Team | No. Games | No. Minutes |
| Thibaut Courtois | 130.8 | 130.8 | 22.1 | Atletico Madrid | 208 | 19335 |
| Toby Alderweireld | 141.3 | 143.9 | 25.3 | Atletico Madrid | 208 | 18300 |
| Vincent Kompany | 143.8 | 148.9 | 28.2 | Manchester City | 422 | 36821 |
| Jan Vertonghen | 143.8 | 146.6 | 27.1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 339 | 30106 |
| Daniel Van Buyten | 89.3 | 146.8 | 36.3 | Bayern München | 460 | 40026 |
| Axel Witsel | 134.7 | 136.8 | 25.4 | Zenit St. Petersburg | 321 | 27551 |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 107.1 | 118.5 | 22.9 | VfL Wolfsburg | 179 | 13460 |
| Eden Hazard | 131.9 | 141.3 | 23.4 | Chelsea FC | 308 | 22433 |
| Moussa Dembélé | 116.2 | 118.4 | 26.9 | Tottenham Hotspur | 396 | 30009 |
| Romelu Lukaku | 106.6 | 129.4 | 21.1 | Everton FC | 196 | 13199 |
| Nacer Chadli | 118.6 | 122.9 | 24.8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 161 | 12268 |
| Average | 124.0 | 134.9 | 25.8 | |||
| Bench | ||||||
| Simon Mignolet | 102.2 | 102.2 | 26.3 | Liverpool FC | 222 | 20651 |
| Sammy Bossut | 100.2 | 100.2 | 28.8 | SV Zulte-Waregem | 239 | 22186 |
| Thomas Vermaelen | 124.9 | 130.3 | 28.6 | Arsenal FC | 327 | 27664 |
| Nicolas Lombaerts | 124.8 | 130.5 | 29.2 | Zenit St. Petersburg | 295 | 26000 |
| Anthony Vanden Borre | 102.4 | 103.9 | 26.6 | RSC Anderlecht | 254 | 17501 |
| Laurent Ciman | 111.9 | 117.4 | 28.8 | Standard Liege | 290 | 24958 |
| Marouane Fellaini | 117.5 | 118.8 | 26.5 | Manchester United | 306 | 26033 |
| Kevin Mirallas | 119.8 | 121.4 | 26.7 | Everton FC | 321 | 19939 |
| Steven Defour | 129.2 | 129.5 | 26.2 | FC Porto | 291 | 21075 |
| Adnan Januzaj | 93.5 | 132.7 | 19.3 | Manchester United | 35 | 2174 |
| Dries Mertens | 127.1 | 129.7 | 27.1 | SSC Napoli | 219 | 17356 |
| Divock Origi | 91.8 | 133.4 | 19.1 | Lille OSC | 49 | 2097 |
| Average | 112.1 | 120.8 | 26.1 | |||
Algeria
| Player | Goalimpact | Peak GI | Age | Team | No. Games | No. Minutes |
| Raïs M'Bolhi | 104.6 | 104.6 | 28.1 | CSKA Sofia | 130 | 12055 |
| Madjid Bougherra | 105.4 | 125.4 | 31.7 | Lekhwiya SC | 223 | 19931 |
| Faouzi Ghoulam | 105.3 | 114.9 | 23.3 | SSC Napoli | 115 | 9628 |
| Rafik Halliche | 99.5 | 103.9 | 27.8 | Academica de Coimbra | 91 | 6810 |
| Carl Medjani | 91.0 | 96.6 | 29.1 | Valenciennes FC | 227 | 19762 |
| Sofiane Féghouli | 103.0 | 108.3 | 24.4 | Valencia CF | 188 | 12727 |
| Nabil Bentaleb | 86.3 | 123.1 | 19.5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 29 | 2070 |
| Saphir Taïder | 94.9 | 109.1 | 22.3 | Inter | 109 | 7591 |
| Mehdi Mostefa | 78.0 | 90.5 | 30.8 | AC Ajaccio | 216 | 19046 |
| El Arbi Soudani | 110.3 | 111.5 | 26.5 | Dinamo Zagreb | 116 | 8423 |
| Riyad Mahrez | 107.1 | 117.0 | 23.3 | Leicester City | 82 | 5312 |
| Average | 98.7 | 109.5 | 26.1 | |||
| Bench | ||||||
| Cédric Si Mohamed | 100.2 | 100.2 | 29.4 | CS Constantine | 65 | 6002 |
| Mohamed Zemamouche | 109.2 | 109.2 | 29.4 | USM Alger | 62 | 5671 |
| Essaïd Belkalem | 105.2 | 107.2 | 25.4 | Watford FC | 59 | 5069 |
| Liassine Cadamuro | 101.8 | 102.3 | 26.3 | RCD Mallorca | 42 | 3222 |
| Aïssa Mandi | 100.3 | 113.0 | 22.6 | Stade Reims | 98 | 8706 |
| Djamel Mesbah | 81.9 | 88.0 | 29.7 | AS Livorno | 240 | 18004 |
| Hassan Yebda | 97.1 | 103.8 | 30.1 | Udinese Calcio | 167 | 10908 |
| Medhi Lacen | 91.8 | 99.8 | 30.3 | Getafe CF | 222 | 16219 |
| Yacine Brahimi | 99.3 | 105.0 | 24.3 | Granada CF | 150 | 10271 |
| Nabil Ghilas | 97.0 | 103.4 | 24.1 | FC Porto | 59 | 3630 |
| Islam Slimani | 111.9 | 112.1 | 25.9 | Sporting CP | 82 | 5060 |
| Abdelmoumen Djabou | 108.3 | 111.7 | 27.3 | Club Africain | 76 | 6449 |
| Average | 100.3 | 104.6 | 27.1 | |||