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After so much hope and expectation, Belgium exited the World Cup at the semi-final stage after a defeat to France. This was Belgium’s golden generation, and for this particular group, it was probably the best chance they will have of winning a World Cup.
Things were looking so hopeful for them coming into the semi-finals. They were one of just three teams, along with Croatia and Uruguay, to win all three of their group games, easing through to the round of 16.
They showed their character in the second round, coming from two goals down to beat Japan, with Nacer Chadli scoring a last-minute winner. They produced a superb performance in the quarter final against Brazil, looking strong in all areas of the pitch as they won 2-1 to progress to the semi-finals.
This was billed as Belgium’s golden generation. There were a lot of top players in this side, and we have seen at club level how good they are. However yet again, they haven’t done it on the big stage.
There were quarter final exits at the Euros in 2016 and the World Cup in 2014, but people believed, particularly after the exits of Argentina, Germany and Spain, that this could be their time.
For many of their top players, they might not have any better chance of winning a World Cup. By the next World Cup in Qatar (2022), Vincent Kompany will be 35, Jan Vertonghen will be 34, while both Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne will be in their thirties. Obviously a few of them will still be around for the next tournament, but they are at their prime now.
The likes of Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku and Yannick Carrasco could be hitting their prime by 2022, but they won’t have as many world class players around them then.
Belgium will hope they get another group of players that can match this one. Here are five men who could help form their next golden generation.
#1 Youri Tielemans (Monaco)
At 21 Tielemans was the youngest player included in Belgium’s World Cup squad, and one who could stick around for the next two or three tournaments. He hasn’t had too much of an opportunity in Russia.
He started the final group game with England, but that was only when both teams rested a host of players, and along with his other two substitute appearances, racked up only 97 minutes on the pitch. This tournament was probably more for him to gain experience than to make an impact.
After four seasons in the first team at Anderlecht, he made the move to Monaco before the start of last season, but sadly that move hasn’t quite worked out well yet. There is no doubting his talent though.
He is an accomplished passer of the ball, and capable of dictating play from the centre of the park. He is able to do a job in front of the defence, but is also able to provide that bit of quality in a more advanced position.
He is a player who has interested Europe’s top clubs in the past, and rightly so. Monaco is the right place for him to develop. We have seen over the past couple of years that players improve drastically in the principality, and Tielemans could be the next man.
#2 Charly Musonda (Chelsea)
Musonda is somewhat of a mercurial talent. It is also fair to say that his career is at a crossroads.
His talent is clear for all to see. He is a tricky winger with pace, skill, and an eye for goal. But they say that sport is 5 percent skill, and 95 percent mind set. It’s that 95 percent that seems to be letting him down at this time, as suggested by the last two years of his career.
At the start of 2016, he joined Real Betis on loan, and impressed enough in his six months there to have that loan extended for the 2016-17 season. However things went backwards in the first six months of that spell, and he made just eight league appearances, before that loan was terminated in January.
He started the 2017-18 season at Chelsea, and was very much a fringe player there, but scored his first goal for the Blues in a League Cup tie with Nottingham Forest.
He joined Celtic on an 18-month loan in January, but once again, that didn’t work out, and it was cancelled just six months in. He has the talent to go all the way to the top, that’s why Chelsea have kept him, but he has to start showing he wants it.
#3 Mile Svilar (Benfica)
Being a goalkeeper, it could be a while before Svilar gets a real go in the Belgian side. Thibaut Courtois is well established in this team, and at 26, still has a long time left as the national team’s number one. But Svilar is still only 18, so has his whole career ahead of him to challenge the Chelsea man.
He isn’t yet first choice with his club side Benfica, but he made eight appearances in all competitions last season, including three in the Champions League, proving that Benfica trust him enough to play in big games.
He is a modern goalkeeper. He isn’t just a good shot stopper, but he can also play with the ball at his feet. There is a long way to go if he is to make it and be part of a second Belgian golden generation, but he has the potential.
#4 Zinho Vanheusden (Inter Milan)
Vanheusden is not a household name, and even some of the most passionate Inter Milan fans may not be too aware of the Belgian defender.
He is very much a player who has shown that he has all the raw talent at youth level, and now the question is whether he can transfer that form to senior level. At the moment, that has been delayed because of a cruciate ligament injury picked up towards the beginning of last season.
He moved to Inter at the age of 16, after seven years in the youth teams at Standard Liege. He was involved in the Inter squad as an unused substitute at the end of the 2016-17 season, and in some early games of the next season, suggesting he was going to be given an opportunity in the first team.
However, his progress was stalled slightly because of that injury, and he returned to Standard Liege on loan, where he made his professional debut.
Next season is going to be an interesting one for the 18-year-old. He will want a go in the first team, but he may have to go out on loan again to get it.
#5 Francesco Antonucci (Monaco)
Another teenager who hasn’t yet made the step up to the first team at his club, but still has a lot to offer.
Although he hasn’t yet made his mark at the Ligue 1 club, his name may be familiar to some, following rumours that when he moved to Monaco from Ajax at the beginning of 2017 - he rejected offers from the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona, and Juventus.
He probably hasn’t had the impact in France that he’d have hoped for. He is still just a teenager, and just like Tielemans - Monaco is an excellent place for him to develop. He is very much in the Kevin de Bruyne mould of a technically gifted attacking player deployed behind the striker.
Manager Leonardo Jardim likes to play an attacking brand of football, and if he makes it into the first team, that will suit him. He is probably the outsider on this list, but don’t rule out the possibility of him making the grade just yet.
