For a decade, Belgium was supposed to win something. They never did. Now, with what remains of the most talented generation of players their nation has ever produced, suiting up one last time on the world’s biggest stage, that farewell will play out largely in Seattle — a city that, by the time this tournament is over, may know this team better than almost anywhere outside Brussels.
The Red Devils have been based here for the past week and will call the region home throughout the tournament while using the Sounders’ Longacres facility as their training center. They’ll also play their opener against Egypt on Monday in Seattle, will close out the group when they face New Zealand in Vancouver on June 26 and then could play both of the Rounds of 32 and 16 here if they top their group.
To get there, they’ll need to rely mostly on a new generation of players. That group, it should be said, hasn’t lost a match in more than a year and has pushed them to the No. 9 spot in FIFA’s rankings to earn one of the tournament’s 12 seeded draws.
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Who were the “Golden” players?
In order to talk about this version of Belgium, we need to briefly discuss the version that they are in the process of moving on from.
- Kevin De Bruyne spent a decade as Manchester City’s central playmaker and is a two-time PFA player of the year.
- Vincent Kompany was De Bruyne’s teammate, and captain, at City and won a Premier League player of the season award while in Manchester.
- Eden Hazard was a star when he was at Chelsea, and also won a Premier League player of the season award.
- Romelu Lukaku, at his peak, was one of the most dangerous goalscorers in the world while playing for the likes of Inter Milan, Chelsea and Manchester United. He is also Belgium’s all-time leading scorer.
- Thibaut Courtois is currently the starting goalkeeper at Real Madrid, after previously holding the role at Chelsea.
Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Mousa Dembele were central to the best period in Tottenham Hotspur’s modern history. Those are just the most central players, with the likes of Dries Mertens, Axel Witsel, Thomas Munier, Yannick Carrasco, Thomas Vermaelen, and Marouane Felliani also contributing heavily. It was, at that point, a collection of talent like Belgium had never had before.
That group of players accounted for 1,502 caps and 256 goals, which includes their eight most capped and top three goalscorers ever. De Bruyne and Hazard were both considered the best players in the Premier League at different points during that period. Kompany and Courtois were arguably the best players in their positions at some point in their careers; Courtois may still be. Those players’ sides won a combined 10 EPL titles at Manchester City and Chelsea, a Serie A title, three La Liga titles, and three UEFA Champions League titles between them. As individuals, their resumes are beyond reproach.
Are they a Golden Generation?
Given the talent, it’s probably fair to say that this group of players underachieved with their national team. They failed to win any silverware, with their best performance at a major tournament being their third-place finish in the 2018 World Cup. In their other four major tournaments, they made the quarterfinals three times (twice at the Euros and the 2014 World Cup), and went out in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup. The group stage exit marked a disappointing end with the national team for a lot of those players.
So were they really a Golden Generation? That’s tricky to say. Golden Generations are hard to define, in terms of who’s included and how long a generation really is and implies a high-water mark. The usage of the term is even confusing. It’s typically given to a group of players while they’re still playing and then tends to serve as a bit of an albatross, since in almost no circumstances does it lead to actual trophies for that group of players. Realistically, a Golden Generation should only be named in hindsight, but rarely are we so patient to anoint talented players and teams.
While it may be fair to label that generation of Belgium players as underachievers, I do think the “Golden Generation” title still fits. Belgium has often been a feature on the world’s biggest stage. They’ve qualified for 15 of a possible 23 World Cups, something only eight nations have done more often. Not bad for a country of fewer than 12 million people.
Their successes were few and far between, though, which is part of what made their Golden Generation so special. When they qualified for the 2014 World Cup, that ended a 12-year stretch in the international wilderness, having failed to qualify for the previous five international tournaments. Their 2014 and 2018 World Cup performances account for two of the three times Belgium had ever progressed past the Round of 16 in the World Cup, with that third-place finish in 2018 marking their best ever as a nation. In fact, prior to their Golden Generation, Belgium had failed to get past the first stage of the tournament more often than not. This was, without question, the best Belgium has ever been. That fits as a Golden Generation, even if it didn’t end the way many had expected.
Was it the start or the end?
No matter what view you take on those Belgium teams, there’s no question they’ve had to move on from an incredible level and volume of talent. How has replacing that talent gone? Well, it’s been a mixed bag. They moved on from manager Roberto Martinez after 2022, the man who had led them for six years. Under Domenico Todesco, they went undefeated in Euro 2024 qualifying, but finished second in their group in the tournament proper. A group they were heavily favored in, that included Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine. That led to them getting bounced in the second round by France, and, ultimately, Todesco’s sacking.
They followed that up by going undefeated in World Cup qualifying, but their results were far from impressive. In a group that included Wales, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein, they won just five matches and drew three others, including a draw away to Kazakhstan, ranked 114th in the world. They only bettered Wales by two points to top the group.
I think it’s fair to say that the transition hasn’t gone great. It hasn’t gone terribly either. There’s some clear areas of weakness and others of real strength. This team is not as good as the height of the Golden Generation, but it’s a squad with enough quality to make a run. Let’s look at some of the players we can expect to see for Belgium, in manager Rudi Garcia’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, and how they stack up against the guys they replaced.
Attackers
The attack has the potential to be pretty convincing. If Romelu Lukaku is healthy, he’ll represent a fine holdover from the Golden Generation. Jeremy Doku is well on his way to becoming a star. The 23-year-old Man City winger is already one of the best chance creators in the Premier League, and is just about impossible to mark when he’s on the ball. If he can learn to add goals to that, he’ll be in the upper echelon of players in the world. Leandro Trossard is the other likely starter up front, and the veteran is having one of the best seasons of his career with Arsenal. It’s a good front three, with decent depth behind it with the likes of Lois Openda (Juventus), Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta) and Alexis Saelemaekers (AC Milan). It doesn’t measure up to the previous generation though.
Lukaku is still a goal threat, but age hasn’t been kind to him. He was much better when he was younger. As good as Doku is and could be, he’s no Eden Hazard. At least not yet. Trossard is a solid player, but Dries Mertens was a legit star in his own right, he retired as Napoli’s all-time leading scorer. Being able to bring the mercurial Michy Batshuayi, and Nacer Chadli, off the bench, were also a big advantage. If for no other reason, both were consistently excellent in a Belgium shirt. The current attack has the potential to be a strength of this team, but it’s definitely not as good as they were.
Grade: Declined
Midfield
In the midfield, you’ve got some new faces, and some old ones. Kevin De Bruyne may have moved on to Napoli, but he’s still a key player for the Belgium side. I’d expect the very capable Aston Villa duo of Youri Tielemans and Andre Onana to partner in a double pivot behind him. The depth isn’t especially convincing though. Axel Witsel (Girona) is still there, at 37 years old, and Nicolas Raskin (Rangers) is the only midfielder with more than a handful of caps. You could also De Ketelaere get minutes in the midfield.
How does that compare to the Golden Generation? Pretty well, actually. Current KDB is clearly worse than prime KDB, but he’s still a class player. I think Tielemans is better than Witsel, Dembele or Fellaini. Onana probably falls somewhere in the mix with those guys. Better than Felliani, similar level (although very different profile). If the previous generation had a clear edge, it was in depth, but I think there’s enough quality in the current side to say it’s comparable.
Grade – Similar
Defense
This is where things become the most stark. There are only two nailed-on starters in this group — Brighton’s 25-year-old left back, Maxim De Cuyper, and 22-year-old Sporting CP center back Zeno De Bast. It looks like right back will be one of two veterans, Thomas Meunier (Lille), or Timothy Castagne (Fulham). The second center back spot is an open question. Arthur Theate (Eintracht Frankfurt) is the most capped player presumed to be heading to the World Cup, but he’s had a brutal year for his club team. Koni De Winter (AC Milan) and Nathan Ngoy (Lille) are young up-and-comers, but lack international experience. It says a lot that Brandon Mechele (Club Brugge) has re-entered the national team picture at 33 years old, despite having just three caps heading into 2025.
I mean, there’s literally no comparison here. Kompany, Alderweireld and Vertonghen were top-class centerbacks, as was Vermaelen when he was healthy. The heart of their defense was their strength. The Golden Generation often played with three centerbacks, so the comparison isn’t a perfect fit here, but Meunier is a holdover and has clearly declined, and while De Cuyper has been good, he’s no Yannick Carrasco.
Grade – Declined
Goalkeeper
Goalkeeper is arguably the Belgians’ deepest position. We’ve already talked a bunch about Courtois. He has been a fixture for Belgium for a long time, and if fit, he’ll likely be the starter. Even if he’s not, Garcia will have other fine options. Selz was magnificent last season for Notthingham Forest, even if he’s come back down to earth a bit this season, he’d still be an upgrade for the majority of teams in this tournament. Lammens is one of the highest-rated young goalkeepers out there, and has been excellent in his first season under the bright lights of playing for Manchester United. He’s the future of Belgium at ‘keeper.
This comparison is a little hard because it’s basically comparing Courtois against himself. That said, a case could reasonably be made that a healthy 2026 Courtois is better than at least the 2018 version, and maybe even the 2022 version. Goalkeepers tend to get better with age, and Courtois is no exception. If you can Courtois a wash, Lammens and Sels are a clear upgrade of Simon Mignolet and Koen Casteels. There’s even been some talk that Lammens could challenge Courtois for the number 1 shirt, which would have been unthinkable previously.
Grade – Improved
More on the horizon
You can see that the key players have transitioned quite a lot in four years, even if there are some holdovers. While not all of the new generation look like they’ll live up to the predecessors, this is a squad with talent, and more in the pipelines. Some young up-and-comers that you may also see included the roster include:
- Joaquin Seys, 21, Club Brugge
- Nathan De Cat, 17, Anderlecht
- Diego Moreira, 21, Strasbourg
- Lucas Stassin, 21, Saint-Etienne
- Mika Godts, 20, Ajax
- Malick Fofana, 21, Lyon
There’s reason to be even more optimistic about Belgium in the future, especially if any of these players are able to make an impact on this World Cup and jumpstart their careers even more.
2026 outlook
That said, if this team is going to do something special in this tournament, it will still largely come down to the holdovers from the Golden Generation. De Bruyne, and especially Lukaku, are the only proven goal scorers at the international level. Courtois is still among the best at his position, and as previously mentioned, Witsel brings a ton of experience to the fold. These guys were world-class players at their peak. Outside of Doku, there is no one in the new generation who can come close to that. Other than Courtois, none of them are at their peaks any longer, but their quality will still be relied upon.
That might not be ideal. Because those veteran players have also been a part of squads that were less than united. Belgium’s national teams have a long history of disharmony, and the Golden Generation was no exception. The historic reasons for that are complicated, and relate to the uniqueness of Belgium as a nation, but that hasn’t been the only cause of issues within recent squads. Courtois and De Bruyne haven’t had a good relationship for years, but they’ve managed to do quite well in tournaments despite that. In the past, there were veterans in the squad to manage things. Now they are the veterans. Is this young team equipped to handle any tension that still exists?
A key figure in ensuring squad harmony will be head coach Rudi Garcia. The Frenchman is a well traveled manager, who has worked extensively in France and Italy, including places like Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Roma and Napoli, as well as a short stint at Al Nassr (yep he coached Ronaldo). Belgium is his first national team job though. He’s done quite well so far, having only lost his first game in charge, but none since. The 62 year old is a veteran of the game and has proven to be a steady hand in his year plus in charge.
Belgium are the heavy favorites to win Group G. Should they do that, they’ll play their Round of 32 game in Seattle as well. If they’re able to top whichever third place team they face in that match, which I couldn’t possibly predict without a degree in advanced mathematics, they’d play their Round of 16 game in Seattle as well. That matchup could potentially feature the U.S. men’s national team, if they were to win their group and advance from the Round of 32.
Despite having to transition from some of the most talented players their nation has ever seen, Belgium are still in great position to make a deep run in this World Cup. The schedule sets up favorably for them, and they have the talent to take advantage of it. Will they do it? Well, we’ll all just have to wait and find out.
