The obituaries for Belgium’s golden generation have been written for years now. Kevin De Bruyne said it himself before the 2022 World Cup: this group was too old to win it. He was right. And nothing that’s happened since has changed that diagnosis.
But here they are anyway, stumbling into a must-not-lose game against New Zealand in Vancouver, still alive in a World Cup where they haven’t actually won a match yet. They’ve got one point. They’ve scored one goal — an own goal forced by Romelu Lukaku. The other game against Iran ended 0-0. It’s not exactly the stuff of a team that was ranked No. 1 in the world for most of the four years between 2018 and 2022.
The old guard is running on fumes
Lukaku is 33. De Bruyne is 34. Between them they’ve played more than 1,600 professional games. Their bodies are starting to send back the receipts. Lukaku couldn’t even get a Serie A start for Napoli this season because of injuries. De Bruyne still has that right foot, but his legs aren’t what they used to be. Thomas Meunier and Axel Witsel are still around. None of them will see another World Cup after this one.
The weird part is that Belgium kinda lucked into a manageable group. Egypt, Iran and New Zealand isn’t exactly the Group of Death. They should have six points right now. They don’t. And the margins are thin enough that a draw against the All Whites might still get them through — but even that feels like a stretch for a team that can’t find the net.
They have no defense and no backup plan
The real problem is structural. Belgium’s golden generation had everything in 2018 — Kompany, Vertonghen, Alderweireld in the back, De Bruyne in midfield, Hazard and Lukaku up top. That team beat Brazil in the quarterfinals and finished third. It was the greatest day in Belgian football history, and it’s starting to look like the last real one.
Now? They basically don’t have center backs. Nathan Ngoy got himself sent off against Iran, which just makes things worse. There’s no obvious successor to anyone. The next generation is a generation of goalkeepers — Senne Lammens and Mike Penders might be elite someday, but you can’t win a World Cup with three keepers and nobody to defend in front of them.
Thibaut Courtois would help, obviously. But he’s been in self-imposed exile after a falling out with former manager Domenico Tedesco. Current boss Rudi Garcia hasn’t been able to fix that. So Belgium goes into a knockout-or-bust game with a creaky attack, a depleted defense and a goalie situation that’s promising for 2034 but not much help right now.
De Bruyne isn’t sugarcoating it
True to form, De Bruyne told reporters the team is “not up to the task” and pointed out “silly mistakes” that keep costing them. He’s not wrong. Belgium needed a remarkable save from Iran’s keeper to avoid losing. They couldn’t beat Egypt. The only goal they’ve scored was an own goal. The schedule was generous. They wasted it.
Still, the format gives them a lifeline. Three points might be enough to advance, whereas four points sent them home in 2022. If they get through, the bracket opens up. A path to the quarterfinals or even further is not impossible. But it requires Lukaku to turn back the clock, De Bruyne to stay healthy, and a defense that doesn’t exist to somehow hold together.
That’s a lot to ask from a generation that was supposed to win everything and ended up with a lot of almosts. Maybe they’ve got one last performance in them. But the smart money says the golden generation goes out with a whimper, not a roar.
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