World Cup 2018: Time for Belgium to justify the Dark Horses tag

Indian Super League Prediction

March 14 2026, 05:00 PM

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Kerala Blasters

Romelu Lukaku, Belgium and Manchester United striker (Image: Twitter)

Bengaluru, March 22: Belgium, always tipped to be the Dark Horses at every major event, will have to justify that tag when they take on the field at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Talent does not elude Belgium but they have failed to go past the quarterfinals at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the Euro 2016 in France. It's time that these talented individuals work as a team to give themselves a chance of lifting their first-ever World Cup in June-July this year.

The upcoming international break provides Belgium manager Roberto Martinez the opportunity to get his combination right for the World Cup.

Belgium have testing fixtures in the international break - a friendly against Asian giants Saudi Arabia on March 28 followed by a game against Euro 2016 champions Portugal on April 3. Martinez, a former Everton manager, will look at these matches as a way to fix any hiccups that may hold Belgium back in the mega event that kicks off on June 14.

On paper though, Belgium look an unbeatable side in every department. Let's take a look at their possible Playing XI:

Goalkeeping

Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois will be handed the gloves for Belgium in the upcoming World Cup. Courtois is considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world right now. Hopefully, he will continue to perform well for the national side in Russia. Liverpool's Simon Mignolet, the back-up, will push for Courtois to perform well.

Defence

Martinez prefers to play with a three-man defence at the back. Barcelona's Thomas Vermaelen, Tottenham's Toby Alderweireld and teammate Jan Vertonghen will keep the opposition attack at bay. Belgium also have good back-up options in their squad with the likes of Christian Kabasele, Laurent Ciman and Dedryck Boyata in their midst. The defence, needless to say, looks solid for the upcoming World Cup.

Midfield

Belgium have a got a good set of midfielders who have seen a lot of success at the club level. Kevin de Bruyne is enjoying a great run of form this season with Manchester City. Axel Witsel, who plays for Tianjin Quanjian in the Chinese Super League, and Rajda Nainggolan of AS Roma will be there in the central midfield along with de Bruyne for Belgium. PSG's Thomas Meunier will play in the left wing-back position and West Brom's Nacer Chadli is going to play in the right wing-back position. Youri Tielemans, Jordan Lukaku, Mousa Dembele, Leander Dendoncker and Steven Defour can step in when called.

Attacking

Eden Hazard's dribbling ability and Romelu Lukaku's physicality will keep Belgium ahead of many sides in terms of attacking options. That's not all - they have other options too in Michy Batshuayi, who is scoring for Borussia Dortmund on a regular basis and in-form Dries Mertens of Napoli. Others like Adnan Januzaj, Divock Origi, Thorgan Hazard, Kevin Mirallas and Laurent Depoitre are available for selection if needed.

Roberto Martinez generally plays with 3-4-3 formation with two wingers; but against the tougher opponents he might choose to play with 3-5-2 formation to take control of the midfield. If the team starts to play with a good rhythm from the beginning of the tournament, it will be really hard for the other teams to knock Belgium out.