"Lammens doesn't cover himself in any glory. He didn't make a mistake for Man United last year but this is another pressure." — Stephen Warnock, BBC Radio 5 Live
A generation that carried a nation
Cast your mind back to Belgium's opening game at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil — a 2-1 win over Algeria. The starting lineup read like a fantasy football dream: Courtois, De Bruyne, Witsel, Lukaku, Eden Hazard, Mousa Dembele, and Vincent Kompany, with Dries Mertens and Marouane Fellaini available from the bench.
That squad topped their group, reached the quarter-finals in 2014, went one step further to the semi-finals in 2018, and claimed third place. They also made the quarter-finals at both Euro 2016 and Euro 2020, before an underwhelming group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Critics have long argued that such a gifted collection of players should have claimed silverware. Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague pushed back on that view.
"To be a golden generation you have to win some gold and then you can be called that. In the context of teams like England, Italy, and Spain, to demand Belgium to win is maybe a little bit too much." — Guillem Balague
Balague noted that with players of the calibre of Lukaku, De Bruyne, and Youri Tielemans, Belgium had enjoyed a strong run — finishing third at the previous World Cup — and that achievement had largely been overlooked.
Beyond the famous four, others have almost certainly played their final World Cup minutes. Leandro Trossard (31), Brandon Mechele (33), Timothy Castagne (33), Hans Vanaken (33), and Thomas Meunier (34) are all unlikely to feature at the next tournament.
