FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: Belgium to finally win a World Cup?

The tale of the last 10 years has been ‘close, but not close enough’ from a Belgian perspective, and there are worries that a golden generation of top class players are going to finish their international careers trophyless. Players such as Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois are all superstars with multiple honours for their respective clubs, but is this the last chance for Belgium manager Roberto Martinez to guide them to international glory? The locals at home aren’t too optimistic about the chances of success.

“The expectations in Belgium aren’t that high,” revealed Kristof Terreur, European Football Correspondent for 5Live, “I already see some people already saying that we won't survive the group stage because we don't have an easy group with Canada and Morocco; teams that could always surprise you. And then there is also Croatia, of course.”

Belgium are the main attraction of Group F, which also includes Morocco, Canada and Croatia. The game against Croatia on matchday three will be incredibly difficult, and both teams will be hoping they can book their route into the knockout stages by taking sufficient points in their other two games.

Croatia were the runners up at the 2018 World Cup, losing 4-2 to France in Moscow in the final. It was a bit of a surprise that they managed to make it that far, but it means that no one should be underestimating them this winter. Much like Belgium, Croatia have a squad that might just be about to decline, but we can still expect the game between them to be very competitive.

“Croatia are always, always a tough team to beat,” explained Terreur, “they set up well. It's going to be a close game and I think Belgium will have to be at their top, top level to beat them, unless