Belgium will head to Germany with subdued expectations. The 2022 World Cup proved a step too far for a generation of players that perhaps never delivered on its potential. The hype that surrounded the national team in the past decade has been replaced by a more mundane reality: it is a time of transition with a new manager and a younger squad seeking to step out of the shadows of the so-called “Golden Generation.”
In Qatar, the Belgians failed to get out of a group with Canada and two eventual semi-finalists, Croatia and Morocco. It was a major indictment of both Roberto Martinez, who overstayed, and a fractured, old team. In many ways, Euro 2020 and a quarter-final exit to Italy should have prompted change, but it didn’t and so the calamity in Qatar was predictable. Martinez left, later taking up the Portugal post, and Eden Hazard led a series of international retirements.
Domenico Tedesco, an Italian-German
