Why did Belgium, Germany, and Spain failed at the World Cup?

Belgium, Germany, and Spain all had disappointing World Cups compared to the expectations of their fans and pundits before the tournament. Belgium and Germany both failed to get out of their groups, whilst Spain lost in the round of 16 to Morocco on penalties.

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The backlash in all three countries has been fierce, with plenty of theories as to what went wrong.

Belgium

Although Belgium was the world’s second-ranked team before the World Cup began, there was a sense that their “Golden Generation” had passed their prime, as Kevin de Bruyne mentioned in a pre-tournament interview, comments that did not sit well with some of his teammates.

However, even before that, there were signs that squad harmony was disintegrating, with traditional divisions between Flemish and French-speaking players beginning to reappear. The absence through injury of the main striker, Romelu Lukaku, in the first two games did not help, and when he came off the bench in their third game against Croatia, he missed a hatful of chances.

Germany

This is the second World Cup in a row in which Germany failed to progress beyond the group stage, and already the German Football Association (DFB) has promised a root and branch review of the country’s failings, with Sporting Director Oliver Bierhoff paying the price of failure with his job.

The German press have identified their choice of base in the remote north of Qatar as a mistake and the presence of WAGS (wives and girlfriends) as an unnecessary distraction.

The fact that the country can’t make good strikers anymore is a big cause for concern. Timo Werner, hardly a major success at Chelsea, was injured on the eve of the tournament, and his replacement, Niklas Füllkrug, had only made his debut in November at the age of 29.

The country does have exciting young talent, like Jamal Musiala. But his football development had come in England as a member of the Chelsea academy.

Spain

When Spain put seven past Costa Rica in their opening match, there was talk that they had found the heirs to the team that won the World Cup and two European Championships back-to-back in the space of six years.

However, that proved to be a false dawn, and, whilst playing without a conventional striker proved highly effective against the Latin Americans, it foundered as a tactic against better opposition.

And it ultimately proved that possession without any end product is just sterile. In their knockout game against Morocco, they made nearly three times as many passes as their opponents, but managed just six shots in 120 minutes, with only one of them on target.

Then, despite manager Luis Enriqué claiming they had taken over a thousand penalties in training, they produced three of the worst spot kicks seen at a major tournament.

With talented teenagers like Gavi, Pedri, and Ansu Fati, they have the nucleus of an outstanding team. But it is time for Spain to acknowledge that the era of Tiki-Taka is gone.