It could be a showdown between two of the hottest strikers at the World Cup. Or it could be a battle of B teams.
With England and Belgium already qualified for the knockout stage after winning their first two matches, Thursday's Group G game in the Russian outpost of Kaliningrad could be a time to give some weary or ailing stars a breather and underused squad members a run out.
That means fans hoping for a shootout between Harry Kane and Romelu lukaku may be disappointed.
After his hat trick against Panama, Kane is the World Cup's top scorer with five goals. That's one more than lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo, who had a penalty saved in Portugal's 1-1 draw with Iran on Monday.
England coach Gareth Southgate has to balance Kane's pursuit of the Golden Boot given to the tournament's top scorer against keeping the player fresh for the knockout stage. With his three goals against Panama, Kane became the third Englishman after Geoff Hurst and Gary lineker to score a hat trick in a World Cup match.
lukaku, meanwhile, did not train with Belgium on Tuesday and looks likely to be rested. lukaku, playmaker Eden Hazard and winger Dries Mertens are all nursing injuries after Belgium's 5-2 victory over Panama.
There is speculation in England and Belgium that losing Thursday's match could mean an easier route to the final, but both teams insist they will be aiming for a win.
"For our country, that would be a very difficult mindset to have," Southgate said of the possibility of taking it easy. "We want to win every game of football we go into. I don't know how we would go into a game not wanting to win and not wanting to play well."
Belgium defender Toby Alderweireld echoed that sentiment.
"We are going to try to win the game, because as a footballer you want to win every game," he said.
England knows from bitter experience that there is no such thing as an easy draw at major tournaments after its embarrassing defeat by Iceland at the 2016 European Championship in France. That said, Belgium coach Roberto Martinez has already signaled he will be shuffling his team on Thursday.
"The reality is that we are qualified and in a tournament like the World Cup, you're only as good as the 23 players (in the squad). There will be opportunities for other players," he said.