Until recently, the golden era of the Belgium football dated back to the 1980s when the Red Devils were among the top sides of the world. The team featuring world-class players such as Jean-Marie Pfaff, Eric Gerets, Enzo Scifo and Jan Ceulemans, earned a silver medal at EURO’1980 and finished fourth at 1986 World Cup.

The beginning of the new century, however, saw a deep crisis in the national team, who missed all major tournaments between 2002 and 2014. However, the Belgians invested a lot into the youth development programmes during that time, and it bore fruit as a lot of promising players made their way to the professional football already by the end of the past decade.

At the two most recent major tournaments, 2014 World Cup and EURO 2016, Belgium were listed among the favourites. They performed pretty well, reaching the quarter-final both times, but failed to fully live up to the high expectations. But now the Red Devils will make an attempt to reach farther, and it seems like they have a chance to even win the World Cup.

Stars from top clubs

Indeed, when you look at the star-studded Belgian squad, you can’t help asking yourself: why not? The talent is certainly there, as a big number of players represent the biggest European clubs and have been performing on top level for a long time. Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard play for Chelsea, Vincent Kompany and Kevin De Bruyne for Manchester City, Thomas Vermaelen for Barcelona, Romelu Lukaku and Marouane Fellaini for Manchester United, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Verthongen and Moussa Dembele for Tottenham, Thomas Meunier for Paris Saint-Germain, and the list can go on. Actually there are few national teams in the world with comparably expensive and impressive squads, and it’s even surprising that a country with the population of just 11 million people could bring up so many international stars.

They proved their quality during the World Cup qualification - in Europe, only Germany showed a better result than Belgium who did not lose a single game and claimed 28 of 30 possible points in Group H. 43 goals in ten matches was another impressive record, and notably four of six group’s best scorers represented the Red Devils. Romelu Lukaku had a special impact, netting as many as 11 times - and at just 25, he is already the joint all-time scorer of the national team with 30 goals. Actually Belgium were the first European team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup as they booked their ticket to Russia already in early September 2017.

Reaching golden age

Belgium is quite a balanced team as they have quality on every position. Courtois is one of the world’s top goalkeepers, Verthongen, Kompany, Alderweireld and Meunier make up a solid defensive line, Lukaku is an excellent attacker, and the English Premier League stars Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne are indispensable in midfield with their creativity. Other coaches can only be jealous of Roberto Martinez, who arguably has the Belgian all-time best squad at his disposal.

Of course even a bunch of world-class players must play as a whole unit if they want to achieve something. In this respect, Belgium has an advantage as the core of the team have been playing together for almost a decade. Many key members of the “golden generation” have now reached the golden age - Hazard is 27, Courtois, Meunier and De Bruyne are 26, Lukaku is 25, while the defenders are a bit older and more experienced - Kompany and Vermaelen are 32, Verthongen is 31, Alderweireld is 29. While in 2014 and 2016 Belgium probably lacked maturity, now their squad looks likes a perfect mix, which can go really far and bring Belgium their first ever international title after winning the Olympics in 1920.

In Russia, reaching the Last 16 should not be a problem for the Red Devils, who have been drawn into Group G with England, Tunisia and the absolute debutant Panama. Certainly the opponents will be stronger in the play-offs, yet Belgium have enough quality to beat anyone.