New manager Domenico Tedesco has overhauled the Belgium squad, with many of ‘the golden generation’ now cast aside, but questions linger over whether the new wave of talent can succeed where their predecessors failed…
The manager
Marc Wilmots and Roberto Martinez finished empty-handed despite having Belgium’s golden generation in their prime. Now, Domenico Tedesco has the task of trying to claim the national team’s first major silverware with its remaining stars now the wrong side of 30 and their successors still growing into their potential.
Belgium are yet to lose a game since Tedesco took over in February 2023, with the new man typically setting up his team in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation.
Starting off his managerial career at just 31, Tedesco built his reputation with a salvage job at 2 Bundesliga club FC Erzgebirge Aue in 2017 before taking Schalke from 10th to second in his first season as a top-flight manager. The fortunes of Schalke, seven-time German champions, have since plummeted with the club being relegated in 2021.
He has yet to find longevity at any of his jobs so far, however, with 14 months at Spartak Moscow cut short by Covid-19 and just 10 months at RB Leipzig, in which he won the German Cup, brought to an end due to poor league form.
The entry into international football came earlier than anyone expected but he has not been afraid to make big calls, leaving out Champions League winner Thibaut Courtois.
Tedesco publicly criticised the Real Madrid goalkeeper’s walkout in reaction to not being given the captaincy in place of the injured Kevin De Bruyne last year, with Courtois claiming a “breach of trust”.
Courtois called him a liar when the manager claimed he had done all he could to repair their relationship but after recovering from an ACL injury, arguably the best goalkeeper in the world remains in the international wilderness.
Tedesco has fully committed to introducing a new wave of talent with only 10 of the 26 players from Euro 2020 surviving. He has phased out experienced names like Dries Mertens, Michy Batshuayi, Christian Benteke, Thorgan Hazard, Dennis Praet and Leander Dendoncker— proof that Tedesco’s youth should not be mistaken for sentiment.
Belgium are undefeated since Tedesco took over in February 2023 (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
The household name in waiting
PSV winger Johan Bakayoko is electric when in full flight. Playing on the right flank, his athleticism and direct dribbling ability is a lethal combination in open spaces but he is just as adept at using intricate footwork to cut inside and link play in tight areas.
“In the next five years, I want to be close to winning the Ballon d’Or,” Bakayoko told The Athletic last month.
It is not hard to imagine his trajectory taking him to those heights given how rapidly the 21-year-old is maturing.
Nottingham Forest tried to sign him last summer for £30million ($25.5m) but he chose to stay after his manager Peter Bosz cited examples of promising talents moving too early before they have learned their game.
He jumped from 24 starts, seven goals and six assists in 2022-23 to 44 starts, 14 goals and 14 assists in all competitions this season, vindicating his decision to stay put.
Bakayoko made his Belgium debut in March 2023 but he is now at 11 caps and you sense that it will not be long before he is one of Europe’s leading players in his position.
Strengths
Tedesco is likely to favour the sturdy midfield base of Everton’s Amadou Onana and Lyon’s Orel Mangala but ahead of that he has a range of different profiles in the attacking third that he can mix and match.
De Bruyne will play as the No 10, while Jeremy Doku and Bakayoko provide Belgium with two rapid wingers on both flanks, capable of terrorising opposition full-backs on the inside or outside.
Belgium can adapt though as Atalanta’s Charles De Ketelaere, an elegant attacking midfielder who played one of the two inside forwards on the way to winning the Europa League this season, is another playmaker who can unlock defences.
Leandro Trossard has proven for Arsenal that he is a jack of all trades across the forward line, capable of playing any of the three supporting roles or even as a false nine. Yannick Carrasco is a similar utility option.
But Belgium have plenty of conventional firepower. Romelu Lukaku has 83 goals in 114 caps, 11 goals at major international finals and there is an able deputy in RB Leipzig striker Lois Openda, who is pushing him all the way, having scored 24 goals in 34 Bundesliga games this season.
(Manuel Reino Berengui/Getty Images)
Weaknesses
Vincent Kompany and Thomas Vermaelen have retired since the last championships, while Toby Alderweireld has been overlooked despite helping his boyhood club Royal Antwerp to their first league title in 66 years in 2022-23 and into the Champions League group stage for the first time last season.
At 36, Jan Vertonghen, now of Anderlecht, is the only remaining member of the old guard but it is unclear how he and Leicester’s Wout Faes will cope against top opposition as it is a pairing that does not look to possess the athleticism to play in a high line.
Tedesco’s teams at their best are all about balance and cohesion, which was seen in flashes during the 2-2 draw against England, but there were moments that also proved they are a team very much in transition.
Timothy Castagne is the automatic choice at right-back but Tedesco has been creative, using Rennes centre-back Arthur Theate as a hybrid left-back during the qualifying campaign.
The lack of top-level options is highlighted by Axel Witsel having been recalled from retirement last May, even though he plays most of his football as a centre-back for Atletico Madrid rather than as a holding midfielder, where he made his name.
The thing you didn’t know
In a country with three official languages — French, Flemish and German — the diversity means having a universal language is difficult.
The Belgium camp came up with a solution, which was to find a common denominator: English.
It is common for Belgium squads to be heavily expat as early exposure to top leagues has long been part of their development plan, so not only do most of the players grow up learning it at school, but it is reinforced at club level in many places.
Only three players playing in Belgium’s home league have made it into the squad: 20-year-old Anderlecht defender Zeno Debast, his team-mate Vertonghen, and the uncapped Club Bruges full-back Maxim De Cuyper.
Even Croatia, who also tend to sell top players at an early age, have nine players playing in their home league.
(Nigel French/Getty Images)
Expectations back home
A lot depends on how much weight you apportion to FIFA’s world rankings.
Belgium come into this Euros as world No 3 and the only time they have been outside the top five since July 2014 was a five-month spell between April and August 2017.
They first reached No 1 in 2015 — becoming the only nation to have topped the FIFA world rankings without having won a World Cup or continental trophy — but their status as contenders has often clashed with their performances on the big occasion.
They finished third at the 2018 World Cup, where they had their breakthrough moment by beating Brazil in the quarter-final before being edged out by eventual winners France.
But at Euro 2016 and Euro 2020, they were knocked out in the quarter-finals, while in Qatar they massively underperformed going out at the group stage.
Belgium are in a very favourable group this time with Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine. Failure to top the group would be a disappointment but, if they can use those three games to find a settled team and formula, they have the individual quality to go deep as they return to life as a dark horse.
Belgium’s provisional squad for Euro 2024
Goalkeepers: Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg), Thomas Kaminski (Luton), Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest)
Defenders: Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Maxim De Cuyper (Club Bruges), Zeno Debast (Anderlecht), Wout Faes (Leicester), Thomas Meunier (Trabzonspor), Jan Vertonghen (Anderlecht), Arthur Theate (Rennes), Axel Witsel (Atletico Madrid)
Midfielders: Yannick Carrasco (Al Shabab), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Orel Mangala (Lyon), Amadou Onana (Everton), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Arthur Vermeeren (Atletico Madrid), Aster Vranckx (Wolfsburg), Arne Engels (Augsburg), Mandela Keita (Antwerp)
Forwards: Johan Bakayoko (PSV), Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Romelu Lukaku (Roma), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla), Lois Openda (RB Leipzig), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal)
(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
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