Belgium's golden generation evolves as World Cup run continues

When the World Cup began 30 days ago, few believed Belgium—shorn of many star names from previous campaigns—were among the potential winners. Even fewer would have believed it when they were 2-0 down with 85 minutes played against Senegal in the last 32. But now the Red Devils are in the quarter-finals, having delivered one of the all-time great World Cup comebacks to vanquish the Senegalese, before following it up with one of the most impressive performances of the tournament so far in beating the USA 4-1 on their home turf.

Eden Hazard, Mousa Dembele, Marouane Fellaini, and Vincent Kompany may be long gone, but a squad which still features Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne and Axel Witsel has turned a mediocre start into a potential shot at glory. As they prepare to take on Spain for a place in the semi-finals on Friday (20:00 BST), the question arises: were the Belgian golden generation written off too soon, or is manager Rudi Garcia harnessing their power in a different way?

How crucial have golden generation survivors been for Belgium?

Belgium reached the quarter-finals in Brazil in 2014 and then the semi-finals in Russia in 2018—when their team was arguably at its peak—but were wretched in 2022, eliminated in the group stage behind Morocco and Croatia. Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois, playing in his fourth World Cup, said before the USA victory: "I think this is a new era for us. It is true that there are some players from the golden era, but the World Cup in Qatar for us was not that good. Now we have another generation with younger people, new people, willing to do great things and writing in the history pages for Belgium."

Courtois is right—the younger players are harbouring much of the burden. Of the four survivors from 2014 and 2018, 34-year-old Courtois has played every minute of this tournament, but De Bruyne, Lukaku and Witsel have featured far less regularly. Central midfielder Witsel, 37, who left relegated Girona at the end of the La Liga season, was brought on for a single minute at the end of the win over the USA. At 33, Lukaku has scored an impressive three goals but has done so by playing fewer than 50% of minutes, often coming on as a substitute and taking advantage of a tired defence reeling from the strong pressing of 25-year-old Atalanta forward Charles de Ketelaere. De Bruyne, now 35, was injured during the Senegal game—before his departure Belgium had won one out of three matches, but since then they have won twice and scored seven goals in roughly 130 minutes of play. Full-back Thomas Meunier also played in the 2018 tournament, but not 2014, and his minutes played have decreased as the tournament has gone on.

None of that is to say the more senior players are not contributing—Courtois remains one of the world's best goalkeepers, Lukaku's goals have been crucial, and De Bruyne's performances were among the team's best before his unfortunate injury. But their role in the squad is changing, with a greater reliance on them making the difference in key moments rather than taking responsibility for the overall quality of the team's performances. So far at least, Garcia and Belgium appear to be handling the transition better than many teams do when their stars begin to fade.

Who has stepped up for Belgium?

As far as Garcia is concerned, a focus on age is irrelevant and underplays the quality of players he has at his disposal. "I really can't stand it when my four leaders are called 'veterans'," he said earlier in the tournament. "It is ugly. It is awful. If you are lucky enough as a country to have players of this calibre, then encourage them. This is what Belgium's 'old-timers' can do."