The Belgium national team sank even deeper after its disappointing performance at the World Cup

The “golden generation” has collapsed.

Belgium topped the FIFA World Rankings for five years – between March 2018 and Spring 2022 – and were among the teams most likely to win the World Cup and European Championships respectively. The ‘Golden Generation’ of Belgians, with players like Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, played in three World Cups and two European Championships between 2014 and 2022 but never made it to the tournament.

The Belgian national team achieved its best finish at the 2018 World Championships by winning the bronze medal in Russia. Lukakus led out of their group by a large margin, ahead of the English, and then had a tough match with the Japanese among the top 16 players: they came from 2-0 down, scoring the all-time winning goal in the 94th minute. The Belgians, who are considered one of the biggest favorites of the tournament, surprisingly knocked out the Brazilians in the quarterfinals, but at first could not fight for the next place against the later victorious Frenchman. The bronze match was held against the English, who were confidently defeated with a score of 2-0. One of the best players of the World Cup was Eden Hazard, who was still playing football for Chelsea at the time and was considered one of the best players in the world, was also included in the Team of the Tournament.

In the 2022 World Cup, the Belgians probably ranked first, and many believed that the Qatar Championship was the last chance for the “golden generation” to make it big. Nothing ever happened, as the Belgian national team failed miserably and was unfortunately eliminated in the group stage.In the quartet, Morocco and Croatia took the first two places, Belgium was ahead of only Canada, and could only reach third place, which was not enough to advance.

Prior to the tournament in Qatar, Swiss captain Roberto Martinez had several problems, and the team’s performance was by no means smooth. The strongest player in the national team, Romelu Lukaku’s hamstring pain did not disappear until the start of the World Cup, but the coach did not dare to remove him from the squad, and even took the Inter star to Qatar. He was unable to play in the match against Canada due to his physical condition, and only played 10 minutes during the shock defeat to Morocco. In the fateful match against the Croats, Lukaku played one game and had many opportunities to advance the team, but he missed the chances and the Belgians were surprisingly eliminated.The defeated team had a hard time coming to terms with the defeat and after the match they broke into the bench.

Of course, the Belgians were eliminated not only because of the poor form of Lukaku, who is traveling to Qatar. The biggest problem for the national team was the lack of unity and team spirit in the team, the players were completely exhausted, and otherwise they had a particularly bad relationship with each other. After the 2-0 defeat against Morocco, Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne made a shocking statement to his teammates, causing a huge response. We have no chance of qualifying for the World Cup, we are too old. I think we had to win in 2018. We lost a lot of our key people” – said the Belgians’ most important player, whose words were taken carefully by his country’s captain, Jan Vertonghen, and spoke back to his teammates.

Our third fourth did not show anything on the screen. I have a lot going on in my head right now, but I better not put it into words on camera. We were weak, that’s not enough. We’ve done almost nothing before. Maybe that’s why we couldn’t get into a situation because our team is too old, right? “- Vertonghen said after the defeat against Morocco.

In light of this, it is not surprising that the Belgian national team only got this far in the Qatar tournament. How can a team, whose biggest star and captain don’t believe this is possible, win the league championship?

There’s still something interesting about De Bruyn, the ManCity star not talking to Real Madrid’s goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, in the national team. The midfielder’s ex-girlfriend, Caroline Lenin, admitted shortly before that she had cheated on De Bruyne with the goalkeeper, and the relationship between them deteriorated as a result. At the same time, the girl also reveals that she was cheated by Strofocista when she was young, so she decided to pay him back. “I could talk to Thibaut about everything, and he always prepared a delicious winter for me. Kevin never did. Since he cheated on me when I was younger, I thought, What can’t I do” – De Bruyne’s former bartender admitted.

The participation of the Belgian national team in the World Cup was also not helped by the fact that the captain of Switzerland, Roberto Martinez, made it clear to the players after the second group match that he would leave the team after the tournament. And the 49-year-old specialist revealed in an interview that although he announced his departure with cowardice on the way to disqualification, he had already canceled the team’s decision after the match against Morocco.

It was very hard for me to fully accept that I was going to stop. I’ve never done it before, and I hope I never have to do it again, because that’s why I can’t control my feelings.” Martinez, who took over Belgium after the 2016 European Championships and scored 79 points off the bench, said. However, the Spanish coach did not remain out of work for long, since Fernando Santos left the Portuguese national team in January.

On the way to the World Cup, the Belgian cheese did not help the team either. The performance of the national team was called the largest team in the World Championship, Pointing out that an era is coming to an end in the history of the national team, which was the worst performance in Qatar in 1998.

Will Thierry Henry fall into your trap?

The situation has not improved after the World Cup, the dirt and uncertainty of the Belgians are getting bigger and bigger, it is still not clear who will be the next captain of the national team, and many frustrated players over 30 years old can also. Resignation from the national team. The 2018 World Cup champion, Eden Hazard, has already done so, announcing his decision after the failure in Qatar. Perhaps the 32-year-old winger won’t be so suspicious of the national team anymore, because when he moved to Real Madrid his performance dropped a bit, he started a lot with mistakes and overweight, and now he’s terribly absent.

As for the next captain of the Swedish national team, a final decision has not yet been made, and today football players Romelu Lukaku and Toby Alderweireld have publicly agreed that they should appoint world and European champions Thierry Henry. Lukaku spoke of that question as if he had already made the decision himself. Nlam Thierry Henry is the captain of the Belgian national team. There’s nothing wrong with that”- the 29-year-old striker announced to Sky Itali.

The local committee is certainly looking for a professional who has already proven himself capable of winning in a row and knows how to handle strokes. Gold medalist of the World Cup and European Championships, twice Englishman, twice Spaniard and once French champion, Frenchman who won the Champions League with Barcelona. Thierry Henry has served as Martinez’s assistant for the Belgium national team in years past, and according to Lukaku and Alderweireld, he fits in the law. It should be noted that the Arsenal legend does not have much managerial experience, having only worked in this position with Monaco and Montreal in the American League (MLS). He was on the bench for a total of 49 of these clubs, and had little success with them, although none of the teams were deemed championship-worthy.

“Dear players, he’s won it all, he’s at the top of our training, he knows what it takes for us to be successful. He knows the team and so on. I think he’s the right coach for the team.” The 45-year-old Lukaku, who scored 104 goals, competed for the Belgium national team.

“Henry has won everything in football, he knows the team so well. I understand that young people are needed, but we also need to know where we started. In this regard, Henry will be the ultimate solution.” said the Royal Antwerp defender who ran 127 times.

After the confident statements of the players, Thierry Henry was also annoyed, and with his words completely contradicted what Lowcock had already planned.

I would like to make it absolutely clear that contrary to rumours, I have never been in contact with the Belgian Football Association nor have I sought the position of captain of the Belgian Football Association. I believe it is essential that the truth always prevails.” Henry announced, also in response to the fact that diamonds in cheese were already being treated as an expert, and there were also reports that Martinez would accept the position at a lower salary than Bren.

The Belgian national team has not yet made a decision, before choosing a new captain, it will consult with De Bruyne and Courtois among the players in addition to Lukaku. There have been reports in the international press that Sweden doesn’t even want Henry to be Martinez’s path, and Saudi national team captain Herv Renard is one of the most likely candidates, but the names of Michel Priodhomme and Louis van Gaal were also. mentioned.

Al-Buraiki will be the chosen one, and it will not be easy to surprise this team, which is full of wounds and full of internal conflicts. It is necessary to create a unity among the unmotivated, separated, hostile to each other, and gradually train the young, eventually leading to a generational competition into which the less routine, but even the apprentice, can easily fall. The future Swiss captain of the Belgian national team faces a difficult challenge – after a historic failure, he has to make a suitable all-world team for the upcoming tournament.