For Belgium, this was the latest in a series of false dawns dating back to their arrival as a bona fide international football powerhouse in the early 2010s. In Belgium's last four major tournaments, they have been knocked out in the quarterfinals thrice and the semifinals once. To make matters worse, Belgium's quarterfinal exits in the 2014 World Cup as well as the 2016 and 2020 European Championship were ostensibly very winnable matches; indeed, one could make the case that Belgium entered all three of those matches as favourites.
The final remnants of the team which burst onto the scene with such hype almost a decade ago are now gearing up for what will almost certainly be their last World Cup - and perhaps the last in which Belgium are a genuine title threat for quite some time. Six of Belgium's starting 11 against the Netherlands featured in the 2014 World Cup in which they were once predicted to make such a splash. Eight years on, it's beginning to seem as though Belgium might never live up to all the buzz that once surrounded them.
On paper, this is a Belgium squad with the ability to go toe-to-toe with just about any of the world's elite teams. In Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, and Romelu Lukaku, Belgium have four players who have established their places among the all-time greats. On top of that, they also have intriguing blend of veterans and younger players that features the likes of Yannick Carrasco, Youri Tielemans, Axel Witsel, Thomas Meunier, Toby Alderweireld, Alexis Saelemakers, and Charles De Ketelaere. Yet, in spite of this impressive squad depth and abundance of talent, Belgium's loss against the Netherlands highlighted several key flaws.
From a tactical perspective, Belgium were thoroughly overmatched. While this was understandable to an extent given the fact that head coach Roberto Martínez was serving a touchline ban, it is not particularly likely that the Spaniard's presence in the dugout would have led to a better outcome; after all, it was almost certainly his tactics which were incorporated. In multiple key matches, most notably in Belgium's Euro 2020 quarterfinal loss against Italy, Martínez has been found lacking in the strategic department. It would not be surprising if Martínez were to be fired should Belgium once again underwhelm at the coming World Cup.
There also seems to be somewhat of a disconnect between the veterans from the original "golden generation" and the younger players. Once again, it isn't difficult to see why this is the case. The older cadre made Belgium relevant at the highest level of international football for the very first time, while the younger group entered the international game at a time when Belgium had already established itself as a force. While this might not necessarily seem to be a major issue on the surface, it has arguably manifested itself in the form of somewhat disjointed, disorganized play.
Additionally, despite having found the net in 49 consecutive matches prior to this match, Belgium were clearly in serious need of firepower up front. Despite their overall depth, they do not have a truly top-tier goalscorer outside of Lukaku, who was absent through injury. This lack of positional balance might ultimately prove to be Belgium's undoing at the World Cup, especially when facing elite defenses. There's not much good in going 18 or 19 deep if the squad has just one legitimate goal threat.
It has been an incredible decade for Belgian football - by far the finest in the history of a country which before it had seen precious little footballing success. This Belgium team should once again make a deep run at the World Cup. Qualification from the group stage is the bare minimum; a quarterfinal spot is expected. But to go all the way and bring home the World Cup for the very first time? The odds of that are, unfortunately, appearing increasingly slim.
The "golden generation" may just be fading to copper.