Belgium’s “Golden Generation” is looking like a failure.
The Red Devils were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup on Thursday, failing to advance out of the group stage with a 0-0 draw against Croatia. Belgium needed a win to advance; Croatia finished second in Group F to reach the Round of 16.
Star striker Romelu Lukaku, who’s been dealing with an injury, came on after halftime and had a handful of prime scoring chances, but he appeared snake-bitten as he couldn’t convert on any of them.
It’s a massively disappointing exit for a team that finished in third place in the 2018 World Cup and reached the quarterfinals in 2014. Belgium also couldn’t break through beyond the quarterfinals at the 2016 and 2020 European Championships.
The team boasts high-end talent, including a world-class goalkeeper in Thibaut Cortois, but is getting older, as star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne made note of during an interview with The Guardian published during the tournament.
“No chance, we’re too old,” De Bruyne said when asked about his team’s chances in Qatar. “I think our chance was 2018. We have a good team, but it is aging. We lost some key players. We have some good new players coming, but they are not at the level other players were in 2018. I see us more as outsiders.”
Belgium defeated Canada 1-0 in its first game of the 2022 World Cup but was stunned by Morocco 2-0 on Sunday. Morocco won Group F by defeating Canada 2-1 on Thursday, with Croatia getting second place and also advancing.
There were reports that teammates De Bruyne, Jan Vertonghen and Eden Hazard were in a heated locker-room altercation after the loss to Morocco.
