Throughout much of the 2010s, little ol’ Belgium had arguably the best starting XI in the world. Eden Hazard was ripping it up at Chelsea, Kevin de Bruyne had established himself as Manchester City’s main man, and Romelu Lukaku was well on his way to becoming his country’s all-time top goal scorer.
By Alex Roberts
Those are just a few members of Belgium’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’. With massive potential comes even bigger expectations, now that the years and tournaments have flown by, it’s clear, not all that glitters is gold.
With the possible exception of Brazil in 2002 and Spain between 2008-2012, international sides chock-full with big names aren’t necessarily the best. Ego’s clash, and as England fans and players know all too well, club allegiances can take precedence when they shouldn’t.
In the decade before this crop of wonderful talents (2002-2012), Belgium failed to qualify for a single major tournament. Times were tough, but thanks to large investments from the Belgian FA into grassroots and youth football, all of that was about to change.
Vincent Kompany’s move from Hamburg to Manchester City in 2008 was the prototype. This was the first time an influential Belgian player had moved to the Premier League since Luc Nilis joined Aston Villa in 2000.
Pundits across the UK were baffled by the move. “Who is he!?” They screamed to anyone who would listen. “They’d have been better off spending that money on someone who knows the league, someone like Phil Jagielka”.
Knowing the league is overrated. Kompany fit in just fine, he now has a statue outside of the Etihad Stadium having captained them to a vast amount of silverware during his time as a player and captain.
Scouts across the continent were starting to take notice of Belgian players, and they liked what they saw.
Over the next seven years, Belgium could boast having some of the best players in every major European league. Hazard was one of the most sought-after youngsters in the world, eventually choosing to join Chelsea the season after they won their first Champions League.
The little winger wasn’t the only Belgian to make the move to Stamford Bridge. Lukaku, De Bruyne, and Thibaut Courtois all made the switch, to varying degrees of success. They’ve all had pretty decent careers since leaving the club.
Spurs were also reaping the rewards of Belgium’s rise. The centre back partnership of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld must be considered as one of the best the club has ever had. Further forward, they had the silky smooth Mousa Dembélé, the man who could do anything with a football with his feet, one of the most underrated players in Premier League history.
In Europe, Dries Mertens had Neapolitans questioning whether Diego Maradona was really that good after all over in Napoli. Yannick Carrasco had become one of Diego Simeone’s go-to guys at Atlético Madrid, and Axel Witsel was plying his trade at Zenit St Petersburg.
Since they didn’t qualify for the 2012 European Championships, the Golden Generation’s first real shot of winning something was at the World Cup in 2014. Much like in the popular superhero movies, The Wrekers had been assembled, and they were ready to take on whoever came their way.
Led by Marc Wilmots, their group was tricky yet manageable. Their first game was against Algeria, and it didn’t get off to the greatest start. Sofiane Feghouli scored a penalty to give the Desert Warriors the lead. Whatever Wilmots said at half-time must have worked. Belgium ended up winning the game 2-1 thanks to goals from Marouane Fellaini and Mertens.
Their second game against Russia was also harder than it should have been. It wasn’t until the 88th minute that the deadline was finally broken. Divock Origi finally broke through the Russian defence to win the game in its dying moments. He has a habit of doing that.
By the time their final group game against South Korea came about, they had already qualified. A perfect record in a World Cup group stage is pretty hard to come by, but that’s exactly what they got, beating South Korea 1-0.
The USA were up next in the round of 16. From the first whistle Belgium dominated, they just couldn’t get the opener. After 90 minutes it remained 0-0, then, three minutes into extra time, De Bruyne scored. The relief on his face and the faces of his teammates burst out into screams.
On the 105th minute, Lukaku sealed the deal. Julian Green scored for the USA two minutes later to make it a little tense, but it was too little too late.
The quarter final was this sides first serious test at a major tournament, Lionel Messi and Argentina. Ultimately, they failed. Gonzalo Higuaín scored just eight minutes from the start to know the Belgians out.
As they usually do, the Euros came about two years later. This time, Kompany was ruled out due to injury, thankfully Thomas Vermaelen was at hand to take his spot. Other than that, the side remained mostly the same with all the usual suspects.
This time, their group was tougher, they had to face Antonio Conte’s Italy first up. On paper, the Belgians had the stronger side, but you can never rule out the Italians. It ended 2-0 to Conte and co.
With everything to prove and just as much to lose, Belgium faced the Republic of Ireland in their second game. It was a stressful first half but three minutes into the second Lukaku opened the scoring. By the time the final whistle was blown, it was 3-0. Witsel scored the second and Lukaku again with the third.
Their final game of the group was against Sweden. Again, they left it late. It was the mohawk sporting, cigarette smoking central midfielder, Radja Nainggolan that scored the winner on the 88th minute.
The luck of the draw was with them as they were drawn against Hungary in the next round. The Hungarians were helpless. Alderweireld scored their first goal after ten minutes, then, in the last 15 minutes of the game, Belgium scored three times to win 4-0.
It seemed like Belgium’s ascension was written in the stars as they faced Wales in the quarters. They were the heavy favourites, but the Welsh didn’t care. Nainggolan scored again to open the scoring and everything was going to plan, until it wasn’t.
Ashley Williams was the first Welshman to score, making it 1-1, then something incredible happened. Hal Robson-Kanu received the ball in the box before gently backheeling it to fool three Belgian defenders, leaving him one-on-one with Courtois. He couldn’t miss. Robson-Kanu had just scored one of the best goals in the tournament’s history.
Wales won 3-1, and Belgium’s golden generation once again went home empty handed.
The 2018 World Cup was the one. With Roberto Martínez now in charge, this was THE opportunity to finally win an international tournament and get these players the reward their ability deserved.
They faced Panama, Tunisia, and England in the groups, and won every single game. Belgium were finally living up to the world number one ranking FIFA had given them.
It wasn’t quite as simple in their game against Japan in the first knock-out round. The Japanese were 2-0 up with just over 20 minutes left to go, then they flipped the switch. Vertonghen scored their first on the 69th minute, just five minutes later, Fellaini had equalised. The Belgians were now on the front foot. Finally, on the 94th minute ex-Spurs man Nacer Chadli scored the winner.
The last time Belgium were in a quarter final they faced Wales and lost, this time they faced five time World Cup winners Brazil. Fernandinho’s 13th minute own goal gave them hope, and they built upon it. Some wonderful hold-up play from Lukaku left space for De Bruyne. The forward passed the ball to the midfielder, and he drilled it into the bottom left corner.
Little Belgium beat big Brazil 2-1 to head into semi-final against France. The French were the favourites to win the whole thing, and of course, they eventually did but Belgium made them work for it.
It was Samuel Umtiti’s goal that knocked Belgium out, breaking their hearts once again. Unfortunately, a 2-0 third place play-off win against England wouldn’t make up for their elimination. Still, it remains Belgium’s greatest World Cup campaign in their history.
By the time Euro 2020 finally came about in 2021, most of the golden generation had dissipated. Hazard was technically still a professional football, but years of having the snot kicked out of him in the Premier League had caught up, and his dream move to Real Madrid had turned into a nightmare.
Kompany, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, and Vermaelen, four of the best defenders of their generation had all either retired or had their best days well past them. Mertens was still at Napoli, but not for much longer, and midfield duo Dembélé and Fellaini were both playing in China.
The only players that were still in their prime when Euro 2020 came around were Courtois, Lukaku, and De Bruyne. All three are fantastic players, but unable to carry their team to victory for various reasons.
It’s well reported that Courtois and De Bruyne hate each other. Courtois allegedly stole De Bruyne’s girlfriend, understandably making their relationship irreparable. Lukaku’s move from Inter Milan back to Chelsea has to go down as one of the worst transfers in history, taking all the momentum he had after his stint at Manchester United away.
Now with Euro 2024 well underway, only two remain after an ACL tear ruled Courtois out for the season and he wasn’t selected for the tournament. A 1-0 defeat to Slovakia in their opening game left a bad taste in the mouths of fans. Beating Romania was a must, and they managed it, winning 2-0, but that’s what’s expected.
Belgium have prospects. Jérémy Doku had a decent first season at Manchester City but being a winger under Pep Guardiola is hard, it’s only a matter of time until any spontaneity Doku has is drained out of him, and all he does is cut inside to pass instead of trying to beat a defender.
Amadou Onana, don’t call him Andre, was a rare bright spark in a tough Everton campaign, and it’s likely he’ll get a big move soon. Roméo Lavia is also a huge prospect, but injuries have hindered his progress.
It’s unlikely Belgium will ever have such a talented group of players ever again. De Bruyne himself admitted they had no chance ahead of the 2022 World Cup. De Bruyne stated of Belgium’s chance to win the 2022 World Cup: “No chance, we’re too old.”
Hazard said that “To be fair I think we had a better chance to win four years ago”. Kevin De Bruyne echoed these sentiments, stating “I think our chance was 2018. We have a good team, but it is aging.”
Two years on, the sentiment remains the same. It’s a sad end to the greatest era in Belgian football.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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