The current squad of Belgium players has been lauded as the best in their history but they are yet to deliver on the big stage. The 2018 World Cup presents another opportunity for this group of players to come together and show what they can do.
Belgium qualified for the 2018 World Cup with ease, topping their UEFA qualifying group by 9 points from their nearest challengers, Greece. With the Greeks and Bosnia being the only teams who were realistically going to push Belgium, there was little surprise in seeing the top the group so emphatically.
Having scored 43 goals, Belgium were the joint top goal scorers coming out of European qualifying with Germany. They also had the second best defensive record and will be hoping that continues in Russia.
The draw for the 2018 World Cup has been quite kind to Belgium. They find themselves in Group G with England, Tunisia and Panama. Only England of those three team are expected to give Belgium a game and they should come through the group without too much trouble.
However, a look back on recent tournaments shows a Belgian team who have struggled to live up to the big name players in their squad. Boasting a team full of recognisable players from top European clubs, Belgium are expected to go far in Russia. Players including Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Dries Mertens and Romelu Lukaku are regarded as some of the best players in the world in their respective positions.
This is the essentially the same group of players which played in the 2016 European championships, with two major changes. Roma midfielder Raja Nainggolan has been dropped by the man who has taken over from Marc Wilmots in the Belgium dugout, Roberto Martinez.
The exclusion of Nainggolan came as a big surprise as the midfielder has been involved in the team for many years and opened the scoring in the Euro 2016 quarter-final against Wales. However, Martinez felt he had better options in the centre of the pitch and it remains to be seen if the Spaniard will regret leaving the experienced midfielder out of the squad.
Despite taking the lead against Wales in their Euro 2016 quarter-final, Belgium went on to lose the match 3-1 to the outsiders and it was a game they were expected to win. At the 2014 World Cup, Belgium needed extra-time to defeat United States in the Round of 16 and were involved in a disappointing match against Argentina in the quarter-final, losing 1-0.
Belgium started the 2014 World Cup as ‘dark horses’ and failed to live up to their billing. They were regarded as one of the favourites at the 2016 European Championships and did not live up to expectations.
Will the 2018 World Cup be the tournament where Belgium perform to the level their players are capable of producing? There is no doubt they have world class players throughout the starting XI but a culture of underachievement seems to have set in.
Martinez is a confident, attacking minded coach but his defensive nous has come into question. Belgium will make it out of their group but do not rely on them to go any further then the quarter-final.