The chances of Belgium in the World Cup.

Belgium has been the constant dark horse or possible surprise of all the competitions in which they have participated in the last decade, all based on a generation full of talent, who have shown a lot with their respective clubs but have not managed to take it to their national team, save for third place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Can they deliver this time in the World Cup?

Let’s find out.

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Manager

The Spaniard Roberto Martínez has now spent six years as coach of Belgium and has continued to bet on a solid core of this golden generation throughout his entire process in this national team and that is reflected in the calls for the next FIFA World Cup. Throughout his career, Martínez has been known for playing possession-based football and with Belgium he has tried to take advantage of the speed and ability of several of his players to practice a slightly more fast-paced approach, although sometimes it leaves many spaces in defense when trying to focus too much on the offensive side of things

Main Players

Thibaut Courtois is one of the best goalkeepers in the world (perhaps the best) constantly demonstrating it with Real Madrid and is one of the leaders of the Belgian national team. Some of the team’s main references such as Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Axel Witsel or Kevin De Bruyne may be going to play their last World Cup due to a matter of age and, in some cases, because they are in the final stages of their careers.

The case of Eden Hazard, captain and the main star of Belgium for several years, is very particular because he has not had continuity in his club since his arrival at Real Madrid, both due to injury problems and the good shape of the attackers of Los Blancos. However, he is always taken into account by Martínez and also with an important role. His performance in Qatar is an enigma, as of this writing.

Absences

In this section, unlike other national teams, there are not many prominent names, the most important being Alexis Saelemaekers due to injury and Divock Origi due to the inclusion of Lukaku, who is not yet available to play although Martínez considers him essential for the team, so he decided to include it with the hope of being able to use it when the tournament progresses.

Prediction

Belgium is in Group F where its main rival for first place in the group is Croatia, although its matchup in the round of 16 is against group E where, except for surprise, Germany and Spain are expected to qualify. With these possible opponents in the round of 16, it looks like Belgium might not get past this round.

However, many of the possibilities of this team depend on the cohesion and commitment of this generation that, as we already mentioned may be playing its last FIFA World Cup. In this regard, we’ll have to wait and see if the Spanish coach decides to stick with the most experienced players or give important minutes to youngsters like De Ketelaere, Doku, or Onana.