Belgium World Cup 2018

The golden generation of Belgian football embark on a journey to Russia, with the belief that they can overcome every opposition to become world champions for the first time.

History at the World Cup

Belgium are a growing force in world football but haven’t really excelled in World Cup finals tournaments. They reached the Quarter Final in Brazil in 2014, before losing to eventual finalists Argentina, but that was the first time they had qualified for the tournament since 2002.

Russia 2018 will be their thirteenth appearance at the finals tournament, with six group stage or round one exits during that time. Their best performance came in 1986, when they reached the Semi Final before losing to a Diego Maradona inspired Argentina. They eventually finished fourth after an extra time defeat to France in the 3rd/4th place play-off. Since then, they have played in five of seven finals and only been knocked out in the group stage once.

• World Cup Finals Appearances – 12
• Previous Best Performance – Fourth Place

How They Qualified

The qualifying campaign was somewhat of a walk in the park for Belgium, as they topped their group to book their place in Russia with ease.

They were the first team from the UEFA region to qualify for the finals, and they did it with two games left.

At the end of the qualifying campaign, they had won nine and drawn one, with forty-three goals scored and only six conceded.

Their only slip-up came in match five, when they needed an 89th minute equaliser to rescue a draw at home to Greece.

Striker Romelu Lukaku topped the scoring charts in the group, with eleven goals, and Eden Hazard was second with six.

Coach/Manager

Roberto Martinez was appointed Belgium head coach in August 2016, with the job being his first managerial position outside of English football.

This came less than three months after he was sacked by Everton and was somewhat of a surprise to fans and pundits alike. In fact, his appointment was met with some criticism.

His first game in-charge ended in a 2-0 defeat to Spain, provoking the critics a little more, but that’s his only loss as Belgium manager to-date.

Since then, they have gone on a run of fifteen matches unbeaten up to November 2017.

Martinez had a pretty unremarkable career as a player, and he hasn’t exactly hit the heights as a manager, but he has enough talent at his disposal to believe he can lead Belgium far in this World Cup.

Star Players

This is a golden generation for Belgian football and their squad is full of star players known all over the world. Captain Eden Hazard is considered to be one of the best players in the world right now, whilst many pundits in English football have suggested Toby Alderweireld is presently the best defender in the world.

The latter is currently injured but will be hoping he is fit to take his rightful place in the squad heading to Russia. Romelu Lukaku is Belgium’s all-time leading goal scorer, despite the fact he is still just 24-years-old. Kevin de Bruyne is one of the best players in the Premier League, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is one of the leading shot stoppers in the game, and Jan Vertonghen is the most capped player in Belgian history.

Basically, the Belgium team is full of quality and they are one of the teams to watch in this World Cup.

Belgium World Cup 2018: Assessing Their Chances & Odds

Any team with the talent in the Belgium national squad is good enough to beat anyone if they are on top form, and that gives them more than just a fighting chance of going far in this tournament.

Ladbrokes have them priced at 12/1 to win the tournament, making them sixth favourites, whilst they are also priced at 5/6 to win their group and 1/8 to advance to the knock-out stages.

The group they have been drawn in matches them with England, who they have never beaten in six previous meetings. The last time they met at a World Cup was at Italia 1990 and ended in heartbreak for Belgium, conceding a goal in the last minute of extra time to exit the tournament.

Belgium will also face Tunisia, who have qualified for the first time since 2006, and debutants Panama. The match with England is tough but the other two games should be convincing victories for the Belgians, meaning they will advance to the next round.

The winner or runner-up of Group H awaits in the last 16 and that should be winnable regardless of who it turns out to be. It’s in the Quarter Finals where it would get tough for Belgium, with probably a match against Brazil or Germany for a place in the last four.

Considering they have never beaten either of those, it looks like the last eight could be where the journey ends for Belgium.

Our Belgium World Cup Prediction

With it looking like a straight shoot-out with England for top spot in Group G, and what should be a relatively straight forward last 16 match regardless of the opposition, a team of Belgium’s quality should be a sure-thing to make the Quarter Final. Unfortunately, that is as far as we think they will go. As good as they are, we don’t believe they are quite good enough to get past a probable encounter with Brazil or Germany. We’re sure they will give it a good go, but we think Belgium will make the Quarter Finals and then exit.