There was a moment in 2018, after Belgium beat Brazil in the World Cup quarter-final with a performance of breathtaking counter-attacking football, when I genuinely believed the Red Devils would win the whole thing. They didn’t — France’s defensive pragmatism suffocated them in the semi-final. That feeling of unfulfilled potential has defined Belgian football ever since. The golden generation of Hazard, De Bruyne, Lukaku, and Courtois was supposed to deliver a trophy. It delivered world number one rankings, consistent quarter-final appearances, and the nagging sense that talent without silverware is just a beautiful regret. Belgium at the 2026 World Cup arrive for what is almost certainly the golden generation’s final tournament — and the question isn’t whether they can win it, but whether they can summon one last meaningful run before the curtain falls.
The odds tell the story. Belgium are 25/1 to win the World Cup — their longest price at a major tournament since 2014, when they were still emerging as a force. The drift reflects reality: Hazard has retired, Lukaku is 33, and De Bruyne’s body has been breaking down for two years. This is a squad in transition, caught between a fading golden era and a promising but unproven next generation. For punters, the 25/1 price is interesting only as a sentimental flutter — the real value lies in shorter-term markets where Belgium’s remaining quality can still produce results.
The Squad: What’s Left of the Golden Generation?
Kevin De Bruyne remains the centrepiece, though at 34, his body is held together by willpower and Manchester City’s medical staff. His passing range — the ability to switch play with a sixty-yard diagonal, to thread a through-ball into spaces that don’t exist until the ball arrives — is still the best in world football. But his injury record over the past three seasons has been alarming: hamstring tears, knee problems, and a series of muscle injuries that have limited him to fewer than 25 league starts in each of the last two campaigns. If De Bruyne is fit for all seven matches, Belgium’s ceiling rises dramatically. If he breaks down after two or three games, their campaign ends with him.
Romelu Lukaku’s international record — 85 goals in over 110 caps — is extraordinary, but his club form has been inconsistent since leaving Inter Milan. His movement, hold-up play, and finishing inside the box remain elite, but his participation in the press and his ability to contribute outside the penalty area have declined. At 33, Lukaku offers Belgium a plan A — get the ball to Lukaku in the box — that still works against lesser opponents but has been exposed by better teams who can stop the supply line. Thibaut Courtois in goal provides world-class shot-stopping that could single-handedly keep Belgium in matches where their outfield players underperform.
The next generation offers genuine hope. Jeremy Doku at Manchester City has become one of the Premier League’s most exciting wingers — his dribbling success rate is the highest in the league, and his direct style tears full-backs apart with a frequency that makes him one of the most fouled players in English football. His decision-making in the final third has improved markedly under Guardiola’s coaching, and at 24, he’s entering the peak years of his career at exactly the right moment for Belgium. Amadou Onana provides midfield power and aerial dominance that Belgium have traditionally lacked — his physical presence breaks up opposition attacks and his ability to carry the ball forward from deep adds a dimension that De Bruyne’s more static creative role doesn’t provide.
Lois Openda’s pace and movement up front offer an alternative to Lukaku’s more static approach. His goalscoring record at RB Leipzig — 20 Bundesliga goals in the 2025-26 season — confirms his status as a genuine top-level striker whose runs in behind defences stretch opponents in ways that Lukaku’s hold-up game cannot. Arthur Theate and Zeno Debast form a young centre-back partnership that has improved with each qualifying match, their communication and positioning becoming more assured as the campaign progressed. The talent is there for a competitive squad — it’s the integration of old guard and new blood, the balance between experience and energy, that remains the coaching staff’s biggest challenge. Getting that balance wrong could produce the worst of both worlds: too slow to press, too inexperienced to control.
Group G: Iran, Egypt, New Zealand
Belgium’s group draw is among the most favourable at the tournament. Iran’s participation has generated geopolitical headlines — their matches are scheduled in the United States despite the diplomatic tensions between the two countries — but on the pitch, they’re a disciplined team with limited attacking threat against European opposition. Their 2022 World Cup campaign produced one victory (against Wales) and two defeats, and while their squad has improved through better domestic league development, the gap between Iranian club football and European competition remains significant. Iran will defend deep and hope for set-piece opportunities, a strategy that could frustrate Belgium for periods but is unlikely to produce a result over ninety minutes.
Egypt, led by Mohamed Salah at 34 in what will be his last major international tournament, offer the group’s most potent individual threat. Salah’s ability to produce goals and assists from the right wing remains elite — his Liverpool form in the 2025-26 season confirmed that age hasn’t dimmed his finishing ability or his movement off the ball. Any match featuring him against Doku on the opposite flank will be compelling viewing for Irish Premier League fans. Egypt’s squad has improved beyond Salah, with Omar Marmoush and Mostafa Mohamed providing attacking support that previous Egyptian teams lacked. New Zealand are the group’s outsiders — hardworking, organised, and improved under professional coaching structures, but lacking the individual quality to compete with the other three teams over ninety minutes.
Belgium are 1/5 to win the group, and that price looks about right. Egypt at 7/2 for second place is the value bet — Salah’s presence alone makes them competitive against Iran and New Zealand, and a draw against Belgium isn’t out of the question. My prediction: Belgium top with 9 points, Egypt qualify second with 6, Iran finish third with 3. The group should produce comfortable viewing for Belgian supporters — and comfortable pre-match analysis for punters who can focus their attention on the knockout rounds where Belgium’s limitations will be truly tested.
Odds: Fading Giants or Hidden Value?
At 25/1, Belgium are being priced as a team whose best days are behind them. I think the market is broadly correct — the squad lacks the depth and defensive quality to reach the semi-finals, and De Bruyne’s fitness uncertainty adds a variable that makes any long-term bet inherently risky. The value at 25/1 exists only as an each-way proposition, and even then, the probability of Belgium reaching the last four is too low to justify serious money. Their likely Round of 32 opponent will be beatable, but the Round of 16 — where they’d face the runner-up from a stronger group — is where I expect their run to end. Belgium’s record in World Cup knockout matches since 2018 reads: won one (Japan, after trailing 2-0), lost one (France), lost one (Morocco on penalties in 2022). That’s a knockout record built on one dramatic comeback rather than consistent excellence.
The markets I’d target instead: Belgium to win the group at 1/5 (virtually certain given the opponents), over 2.5 goals in Belgium’s group matches at 10/11 (their attacking talent guarantees goals even against defensive opponents who sit deep), and De Bruyne to provide the most assists at the tournament at 14/1 (if fit, his creative output per match is the highest of any player at the World Cup — his expected assists rate at Manchester City over the past three seasons is 0.42 per ninety minutes, elite by any standard). For a fun accumulator, Belgium to beat all three group opponents and Lukaku to score in each match pays around 12/1 — a price that reflects the combination’s probability without being outlandish given the quality of opposition. Lukaku’s record of scoring in 90% of his international appearances against teams ranked below 30th suggests the group stage is his ideal environment.
Premier League Connections for Irish Viewers
Belgium’s Premier League contingent is the reason Irish fans will tune in to Group G matches even without a rooting interest. De Bruyne at City, Doku at City, Onana at Everton (formerly Aston Villa), Trossard at Arsenal, Lukaku’s Premier League history at Chelsea, West Brom, Everton, and Manchester United — these are players who have been fixtures on Irish television screens for a decade. Watching them in a different context, with national pride rather than club loyalty driving their performances, offers a perspective that Premier League viewing alone can’t provide.
Leandro Trossard at Arsenal deserves particular mention. His versatility — he can play anywhere across the front three — and his improved finishing under Arteta make him Belgium’s most in-form attacking player heading into the tournament. Irish Arsenal fans know his quality intimately: the clever runs into the box, the composed finishing under pressure, the defensive work rate that makes him valuable even when the goals aren’t flowing. If Belgium produce a deep run, Trossard’s contributions from the bench (or from a starting position if De Bruyne’s fitness fails) could be the deciding factor.
Verdict: Back or Fade?
Fade the outright. Back the group markets. Enjoy the spectacle. Belgium at the 2026 World Cup are a team to watch for entertainment rather than profit — the last flickering of a golden generation that promised more than it delivered, supported by a new generation that promises less but might ultimately achieve more in future tournaments. De Bruyne, Lukaku, and Courtois deserve a fitting send-off on the global stage — these three players have given Belgian football a decade of memories that the country had never previously experienced, transforming a small nation into a consistent top-ten force. Whether they get the farewell they deserve depends on whether ageing bodies can summon the performances that younger legs once produced effortlessly. I’ll be watching with respect and a healthy dose of scepticism — the combination that nine years of covering World Cup football has taught me is the safest approach when sentiment and odds collide. Belgium’s golden generation won everything except the trophies that matter most. North America is their last chance to change that narrative, and even if they fall short, the journey will be worth following.