There are wall-to-wall superstars in the Belgium squad, including Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, but they only came third at the World Cup four years ago and many supporters think that was this group’s best chance of glory missed.
Coach Roberto Martinez still has faith though, despite quarter-final defeat at last year’s European Championship, and is likely to stick with much of that team for another bash…
The manager
However Belgium fare at this World Cup, they will have done fine. At least that will be the head coach Roberto Martinez’s message to the media. The Spaniard has been in charge for six years and got the Belgians to their best result at a World Cup, coming third at Russia 2018.
However, he hasn’t overly convinced the general public, largely because he sticks to the trusted players who are his untouchables a bit too much rather than being open to making many changes. His positive nature in front of a camera has not been a match for the rather pessimistic Belgian character; any real connection hasn’t been there.
Read more: How Belgium got it so badly wrong at this World Cup
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Martinez has done a great job for the long-term though as a technical director of the FA — he combines both roles.
As part of that gig, he has visited clubs and organised a coaching course for the country’s golden generation of players. Its first graduate, Thomas Vermaelen, is one of his assistants. Jan Vertonghen, Kevin De Bruyne and Youri Tielemans, among others, have a UEFA A badge already.
The household name you haven’t heard of yet
Lieven Maesschalck. Don’t look for his name in the squad of 26. Don’t look for him on the pitch. You’ll find him on the bench during games playing an important role with this ageing side — the 58-year-old is Belgium’s physio.
For more than a decade, Maesschalck has been heavily involved with the national team, including taking care of Lukaku, who has just returned from a hamstring injury he sustained in August. He is used by Real Madrid as a consultant to keep an eye on their injured players, including Belgium playmaker Eden Hazard. With his staff, he got Axel Witsel fit for the Euros last year after the midfielder ruptured an Achilles tendon in the January.
Martinez will rely on him to get Lukaku back to a decent level and to get Hazard back dribbling, with Carlo Ancelotti having barely given him any minutes at Real Madrid this season.
Strengths
This squad hasn’t got any secrets anymore. Including from each other, which is a major positive: so many of them know their team-mates inside out.
Eleven players have been involved in more than 60 per cent of Martinez’s 76 games as coach: Thibaut Courtois (70 per cent), Thomas Meunier (65 per cent), Toby Alderweireld (80 per cent), Jan Vertonghen (75 per cent), Yannick Carrasco (65 per cent), Tielemans (70 per cent), Witsel (67 per cent), De Bruyne (61 per cent), Dries Mertens (72 per cent), Eden Hazard (66 per cent), Lukaku (67 per cent).
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That experience took time to develop, meaning Belgium will be the old men of this World Cup. They have an experienced squad, with 11 of the 26 players 30 and above. The most experienced partnership in the team is former Tottenham defensive duo Vertonghen and Alderweireld, who have been alongside each other in 362 games for club and country.
Weaknesses
That ageing defence. Vertonghen and Alderweireld will have one of the world’s best goalkeepers behind them in Courtois, but they are not in their primes anymore and are vulnerable when playing a high defensive line.
Martinez has said of tactics: “As a team, we will want to keep defending quickly and high, that will not change. Only, in some parts of the field, we will have to choose between putting pressure on or being compact.
“That is why I emphasise that in those first three games of the World Cup we will have to grow, while we need to get enough points to qualify.”
Local knowledge
Belgium will wear unique pre-match and away jerseys in Qatar. They have been designed in cooperation with Adidas and the Belgian electronic music festival Tomorrowland. The bright and bold colours are inspired by the music festival’s desire to spread a message of love — it’s a bit like England wearing a Glastonbury-themed shirt.
@adidasfootball x @tomorrowland x @RoyalBelgianFA created this kit to create a positive statement of LOVE.
Now available at https://t.co/dyvpforXSi & https://t.co/O0jsV1Rzik pic.twitter.com/tUyqvAyWLF
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) September 23, 2022
Expectations back home
Most Belgian fans don’t like the words ‘Golden Generation’. Even manager Martinez isn’t a fan. The feeling is that this generation of players missed their biggest chance to win a World Cup in 2018, so expectations won’t be too high now they are perhaps slightly too old, despite sections of the media trying to build up hype.
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One attempt has been by Sporza, a national broadcaster, which launched a campaign to promote its World Cup coverage with the hashtag and slogan: “t is aan ons”. Translated, that means “now it’s our turn”. It made a lot of people chuckle that the marketeers still seem to believe Belgium are favourites to lift the trophy.
The quarter-finals seem to be a more realistic goal. Everything else is a bonus.
Underachievement will be blamed on the manager, and on a group of players who never achieved what their talent says they could have.
Less Tomorrowland, more Neverland.
Read more: See the rest of The Athletic’s World Cup 2022 squad guides
Read more: Morocco stuns Belgium 2-0 to move to the top of Group F
Read more: Croatia played Belgium to a scoreless draw eliminating the Belgians from the World Cup
(Design: Sam Richardson for The Athletic)