For four straight years, a proud nation with 11.5 million inhabitants ended the year sitting pretty at the top of the FIFA men’s rankings.
At its peak, the squad had a market value of $AUD1.48 billion, per Transfermarkt.
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Yet for all of their dominance in the rankings and in the quality of their squad, Belgium has only a bronze medal at the 2018 World Cup to show for it.
A 0-0 draw against Croatia confirmed the Red Devils’ early exit from the 2022 World Cup in what was the final act of Belgium’s golden generation, even if departing manager Roberto Martinez refuses to believe so.
It was a sad and embarrassing way for the world No. 2 to bow out from football’s biggest stage.
But given the reported infighting amongst the squad over a star man claim the team was “too old” to win in Qatar, disjointed tactics and a lack of fully-fit players, perhaps the exit shouldn’t come as a shock.
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Having failed to qualify for any major tournaments since 2002 there was an undeniable buzz surrounding Belgium ahead of the 2014 World Cup.
One glance at the Red Devils’ squad for the tournament showcased just how good — and how young — the team was.
Marc Wilmots, Belgium’s manager at the time, had the likes of 22-year-old Thibaut Courtois, 23-year-old Eden Hazard, 22-year-old Kevin De Bruyne and a 21-year-old Romelu Lukaku in the side.
The defence had a little more experience in the form of Vincent Kompany (27), Toby Alderweireld (25) and Jan Vertonghen (27) to name three.
In fact, Belgium took only one player over the age of 30 — Daniel Van Buyten (36) — to Brazil.
Although Belgium won all three group stage games and conceded just one goal, their run was ended by eventual finalists Argentina in the quarter-finals.
Given the inexperience of Belgium’s superstar talent in international tournaments, there was no serious expectations on the team to deliver a medal in Brazil.
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But at Euro 2016, with the team still youthful enough and having their first major tournament under their belts, many had Belgium going all the way.
A 2nd-place finish behind Italy in the group was enough to put Belgium through to the knockout stages and a comfortable 4-0 win over Hungary followed.
But then the wheels came flying off in an embarrassing 3-1 defeat to Wales in the quarter-finals.
Wilmots immediately lost his job and was replaced by former Wigan and Everton boss Martinez, as he was tasked with extracting the most from Belgium’s golden generation that had just blown arguably its best chance to win a tournament.
Martinez comfortably led the side to a 2018 World Cup berth and were considered heavy favourites alongside France to win it all.
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Dominant victories in the group stages only served to fuel the hype train as Hazard, De Bruyne and Lukaku were all in career-best form.
A gritty 1-0 win over Brazil in quarter-finals appeared to be all the evidence the world needed that Belgium would bring home the spoils.
But in the semi-finals, Martinez’s side ran into the other team many expected to win the World Cup: France.
Les Bleus edged a 1-0 victory over Belgium and would go on to win the World Cup, while Martinez’s side settled for a win in the third-place play-off against England to secure the nation’s best-ever finish in the tournament.
Yet a bronze medal never seemed like an adequate reward for just how talented this team was.
Further heartbreak would ensure at Euro 2020 when Belgium lost to the eventual champions again in the form of Italy, with the Azzurri securing a 2-1 win in the quarter-final.
It left the 2022 World Cup as the golden generation’s last dance and it would prove to be one that no players knew the steps to.
When Martinez named his squad for Qatar, it included eight players who took to the field in Brazil: Courtois, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku, Axel Witsel, Simon Mignolet and Dries Mertens.
But this time around, these players weren’t the same fresh-faced, energetic and sprightly stars they were in Brazil.
Hazard was 33 and had been struggling with injuries, Alderweireld and Vertonghen were 33 and 35 respectively while Mertens was 35.
Granted, a 31-year-old De Bruyne isn’t exactly old and his performances with club side Manchester City are clear evidence he is not over the hill by any means.
But he’s not getting any younger and neither was the nucleus of Martinez’s squad.
In fact, the eight players with the most caps for Belgium were in the team for the World Cup.
Although expectations were once again high for the Red Devils given the talent they possess, their first group game against Canada saw Martinez’s side woefully exposed.
The Athletic’s Michael Cox described the performance as “the most individualistic of this tournament” as Canada ran riot over Belgium for the 90 minutes.
Yet Martinez’s side squeaked out a 1-0 victory thanks to a Michy Batshuayi goal that came from a route one ball via defender Toby Alderweireld.
Then came the comments from De Bruyne after the game that sped up the downfall.
The star midfielder claimed the team would not win the World Cup because they were “too old”.
It’s a claim you’d expect to hear from a pundit and perhaps a thought the Belgian players had amongst themselves and discussed internally, but to say it publicly came as a shock.
When Belgium slumped to an embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Morocco, tensions reached boiling point.
Vertonghen and Hazard reportedly had to be physically separated by Lukaku in the dressing room after the match, as the defender explained the defeat by claiming they “probably also attack badly because we are too old, that must be it now, surely?”
With one game against Croatia to go, Belgium had to beat the 2018 World Cup finalists if they had any hope of progressing.
To their credit, Martinez’s side looked significantly better against their European rivals.
But Lukaku’s costly three misses, each more baffling than the next, proved to be the killer blow.
The game finished 0-0, the most anticlimactic way for this golden generation considering how they’d scored goals for fun over the years en route to constant world No. 1 rankings.
Lukaku was inconsolable.
His teammates lay on the ground in devastation and in some respects, disbelief.
But for a team that fielded the second-oldest line-up in World Cup history (31 years and 95 days), it proved that Father Time always catches up with everyone, even in the harshest of manners.
The Telegraph’s Jason Burt was blunt in his assessment.
“For Belgium’s golden generation this has been a World Cup of pure base metal,” Burt wrote.
“It is the end of an era for them and the end, in all probability after six years in charge, for their coach Roberto Martinez.”
So it would, as Martinez confirmed the Croatia game would be his last in charge, although he was quick to state it was a decision he had made before a ball had been kicked in anger in Qatar.
The Guardian’s Andy Hunter believed the absence of cohesion, evident right up until the dying minutes when it seemingly dawned on Belgium’s players of what they stood to lose, was a clear sign this team was not what they once were.
“The sun has set on a trophyless generation that has given a clear sense here of growing tired of each other,” Hunter wrote.
“A team trying to demonstrate unity in response to numerous allegations of fractures within the squad – from dressing-room bust-ups to star names not speaking to one another – had a strange way of showing unity.
“They all put their left arms over the shoulders of the teammate to their left during the national anthem, apart from Thibaut Courtois and De Bruyne, who stood with arms by their sides as La Brabançonne was played.
“Collectively, there was little evidence until the closing stages of the match of fighting for a common cause, to preserve their place on the biggest stage.
“The game is up for this gifted but ageing group.”
With Euro 2024 looming as the next major tournament for Belgium, there will no doubt be a refresh of the playing squad as well as a new manager in the hot seat.
Who knows if Belgium will ever have a squad as good as the one that defined their golden generation.
They delivered some tremendous moments for a nation starved of any international enjoyment.
But, as Cox wrote, their exit at this World Cup may prove to be what people remember most about an era likely never to be seen again.
“A triumph in Qatar was probably always beyond Belgium,” Cox wrote.
“The sad thing, though, is that this failure might not simply define Belgium’s World Cup 2022, but this entire era — it has solidified the existing impression of this group, as the underachievers of their generation.”
