Scotland boss Craig Levein admitted that Belgium deserved their 2-0 win in Brussels last night.
Christian Benteke and Vincent Kompany scored in the second half as Marc Wilmots' side maintained top billing in Group A and Levein, whose Scotland side fell to the bottom, felt that the home team were the better of the two competitors.
"It was a fair result," he said.
"We tried manfully for 90 minutes to contain Belgium. We were hoping we could do something on the counter-attack.
"I need to commend the players on their efforts, the way they stuck to the game plan.
"We also have to acknowledge how good a team Belgium are.
"They are strong all over the pitch. I commend the players for the way they managed to contain them for long periods."
Scotland now sits eight points behind the top two after four matches and will need a miracle if they are to progress to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
