‘What old timers can do’ – the evolution of Belgium’s golden generation
World Cup 2026
When the World Cup began 30 days ago, few believed Belgium – shorn of so many of the star names who featured in their previous campaigns on this stage – were among the potential winners.
Even fewer would have believed it when they were 2-0 down with 85 minutes played against Senegal in the last 32.
But now the Red Devils are in the quarter-finals, having delivered one of the all-time great World Cup comebacks to vanquish the Senegalese, before following it up with one of the most impressive performances of the tournament so far in beating the USA 4-1 on their home turf.
Match Details
Eden Hazard, Mousa Dembele, Marouane Fellaini, and Vincent Kompany may be long gone, but a squad which still features Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne and Axel Witsel has turned a mediocre start into a potential shot at glory.
As they prepare to take on Spain for a place in the semi-finals on Friday (20:00 BST), were the Belgian golden generation written off too soon, or is manager Rudi Garcia harnessing their power in a different way?
How crucial have golden generation survivors been for Belgium?
Tournament Impact
Belgium reached the quarter-finals in Brazil in 2014 and then the semi-finals in Russia in 2018 – when their team was arguably at its peak – but were wretched in 2022, eliminated in the group stage behind Morocco and Croatia.
“I think this âis a new era for us,” Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois, playing in his fourth World Cup, said before the USA victory.
“It is true âthat there â are some players from the golden era, but the World Cup in Qatar for us was â not âthat good.
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