'They always said Belgium’s golden generation never won a big game - but it was historic to beat Brazil. We deserved more' Why Belgium’s underachievers tag isn’t fair
Belgium's star-studded line-up of the late 2010s and early 2020s were perpetually tipped to go far, but had to settle for a single World Cup semi-final appearance
Thibaut Courtois, Toby Alderweireld, Thomas Vermaelen, Vincent Kompany, Jan Vertonghen, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard.
It's easy to see why the Belgium side of the late 2010s was one of the most-fancied sides in world football, despite the country never having laid claim to a major trophy. They still haven't...but in 2018, they went the closest yet, and Alderweireld feels they deserve more credit for what they achieved.
Belgium finished top of group G ahead of England, Tunisia and Panama without dropping a single point. Their nine goals scored was the best any side managed in the group stage, with Hazard and Lukaku particularly finding form.
After going two goals behind early in the second half of their round of 16 clash with Japan, Belgium roared back to a 3-2 win capped by Nacer Chadli's 94th-minute winner.
And the best was to come in the quarter-finals as Roberto Martinez's side saw off Brazil 2-1 in Kazan to make it to only their second-ever World Cup quarter-final, the previous of which had come in 1986.
Alderweireld told FourFourTwo: “They always said our golden generation never won a big game, then that Brazil game was incredible.
"We had a difficult game against Japan in the last 16 – we were 2-0 down, but still won.
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"In the quarter-final against Brazil, I was against Neymar, who was at the top of his game.
"He was on the left and I was playing right centre-back in a three.
"But he didn’t score, he wasn’t dangerous – that was one of my best games during my career and it was an unbelievable feeling to win against Brazil and go through."
Belgium went on to lose 1-0 to eventual winners France in the semi-finals, before claiming bronze by beating England again in the third-place play-off.
Alderweireld went on: "It was historic for Belgium. If you think about which teams played the best football at that World Cup, we were up there.
"I’m always going to have a feeling like ‘We deserved a little bit more’.”
Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.
- Chris Flanagan Senior Staff Writer
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