FIFA World Cup 2022 - Belgium's Golden Generation Gets One More Shot

Belgium's 'Golden Generation' is yet to win a major trophy, with the 2022 World Cup looking like their final chance.

Every nation has *that* era. For England, it was the early to mid 2000s. For Brazil, that late 1950s to early 1970s run is unmatched. For Spain, the late 2000s to early 2010s side is the best in their history. 

While each of these eras had varying degrees of success, there is one thing that is for sure, the Belgium side of the mid to late 2010s is one of the best crop of players to never win a major trophy. With world class talent in every area of the pitch, Belgium's biggest missed opportunity was by far the 2018 World Cup. 

Eden Hazard had just played his career-best season, Romelu Lukaku was firing on all cylinders, Kevin De Bruyne was playing unbelievable football at Manchester City, and the centre-half partnership of Vincent Kompany and Toby Alderweireld was one of the best in international football. 

Their loss in the semi-final stung, however, it will have stung even more considering the way their squad has aged in the past four years. De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois are the only players that played in that semi-final who can still be considered ‘elite’ footballers based on recent form. 

On paper, this ageing squad should not have a chance at this year's World Cup. And while Stats Insider Projection has Belgium as the sixth best chance of bringing the trophy home, the football gods like to play games. 

Let’s examine Belgium’s chance at glory, and whether or not it can get the job done.

World Cup 2022 Predictions for Belgium

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Is Belgium Too Old To Win the 2022 World Cup?

As mentioned, the prime of this Belgian golden generation has most definitely come and gone. The 2018 World Cup was the best chance for Belgium to win their first major trophy and as aforementioned, they lost in heartbreaking circumstances. Belgium's prime years were then wasted even further with a disappointing display at Euro 2020. 

Belgium has an ageing squad, a squad that in their last match had an average age of 30. This squad, to its core, doesn’t have a future beyond this World Cup. At least six of the players who started their most recent Nation’s League match against Poland will not feature prominently for the Belgium squad again, or at the very least, their impact will have diminished drastically. 

Jan Vertonghen, Alderweireld and Axel Witsel are on their last legs, and similar can be said about Dries Mertens. And then there's Hazard who has had the latter parts of his career plagued by injuries. 

Even looking at their last match at Euro 2020, a 2-1 loss to eventual champions Italy is a bad sign for their age profile. At the time of the match, they only had one player below the age of 23 starting the game, and five players over the age of 30, with their three substitutes having an average age of 31. 

This is to put into context how much they are relying on their old guard to carry the team and the fact that they are desperate to have some success with their best group of players ever. 

Can Belgium's Talent Outweigh Their Age?

While the squad Belgium will be relying on to have success at the World Cup is near enough the same squad it was four years ago, let’s not forget how good they were in the 2018 World Cup. 

The Red Devils displayed exquisite counter-attacking football, played at a fast, frighting pace able to tear any defence to shred in a matter of moments, just ask Japan. They also still have creativity and tenacity in midfield, and a defence that - despite lacking in aerobic ability -makes up for in experience and intelligence that will take them a long way. 

The likes of Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku have added a new dimension to this side, whereas the always reliable De Bruyne and Lukaku will be heading into their personal prime. Leandro Trossard has been a revelation for the national side, whilst Yannick Carrasco and Timothy Castagne have slotted into their wing-back roles seamlessly. And Hazard, despite not having the best of times for Real Madrid, as always delivered for the national side. 

Furthermore, Roberto Martinez, despite not being the cream of the crop of managers on the world stage, has developed a system that caters perfectly to hide the deficiencies of his squad. With a slightly slower and less physically capable defence, the implementation of a 3-4-2-1 allows for more defenders to cover a large space, while also opens up opportunities for creativity to be exhibited up the field. 

With a balanced system, this talented side is still capable of doing serious damage on the world stage, as seen with their recent 6-1 demolition of Poland. However, should this system be found out and exploited, they are also very susceptible to facing the same fate, as seen via their 4-1 loss to the Netherlands in the previous match.

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What Will It Take For Belgium to Win the 2022 World Cup?

Well, football has a funny way of working itself out. Football, and sport in general, doesn’t really follow any reasonable logic. So, while logic dictates that this old Belgium side should have no chance at winning this year’s World Cup, that isn't how this stuff works. 

Logically, there are about seven teams that are, objectively, ‘better’ than them. However, as I said, football and logic aren't always compatible. The ‘best’ teams, don’t always win. 

Take France for instance, by far had the best team on paper at Euro 2020, however, the pound-for-pound best player on planet earth missed a penalty and they’re out in the round of 16, there is no logic behind that. 

Even in club football, Real Madrid had no right to beat PSG after being 2-0 down with 20 minutes left. They had no right to beat Chelsea after coughing up a 3-1 lead. They had to beat Manchester City after needing to score two goals in two minutes to take the game to extra time. They had no right to beat Liverpool after the chances Liverpool had, but they did. 

Football isn’t played on paper, so, maybe, just maybe, it could be Belgium's time.  

(Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)