World Cup: De Bruyne and Lukaku will lead the “Red Devils”, all about Belgium at the World Cup

The second country in the FIFA rankings, Belgium is one of the tournament favorites along with Brazil. After the 1998 World Cup, the Red Devils continued to improve until reaching the semi-finals in 2018 where France were eliminated. Thus, the spirit of revenge is present in a team that is still chasing its first international title and even its first World Cup final. Will it be this year?

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The Red Devils also went by the nickname “White Devils” in the 1970s during the tenure of Raymond Goethals when the team played with white equipment.

Belgium kit

Failing to qualify for the Nations League Final 4, Belgium hit the wall twice against the Netherlands. Two defeats (1:4 and 0:1), which ruined an otherwise pretty good course, because they were interspersed with victories over Poland (6:1 and 0:1) and, in particular, over Wales (2:1). Thus, the “Red Devils” have suffered two defeats from the “Orange” in the last ten games. But with a golden generation led by Kevin De Bruyne and Thibault Courtois, it’s hard to imagine these players retiring without any trophies with their selection. Thus, the Belgians are the favorites of their group, but they should be wary of the last Croatian finalists, as well as Canada and Morocco, which could be traps.

Player to watch: Kevin De Bruyne

He is the trump card of the team, which he leads like a boss on the field. Sparkling in a Manchester City shirt, the Sky Blues midfielder is the caviar supplier for their striker Romelu Lukaku. At 31, De Bruyne is in great shape and will inflict a lot of damage on the opponent’s defense. It should be associated with Eden Azar, a less reliable value than KDB, along with their number 9.

List of 26 players

List without much surprise, compiled by Roberto Martinez. Striker Romelu Lukaku, uncertain due to injury, is among the 26, as are other very big names who led the Red Devils to the semi-finals in 2018: Courtois, de Bruyne, brothers Eden and Thorgan Hazard, and the oldest Alderweireld, Vertonghen. Witsel or Mertens.

• Guardians: Castiels (Wolfsburg), Courtois (Real Madrid), Mignolet (Club Brugge)
• Defenders: Alderweireld (Antwerp), Debast (Anderlecht), Faes (Leicester), Teat (Rennes Stade), Vertonghen (Anderlecht), Castagne (Leicester), Meunier (Borussia Dortmund),
• Environment: Carrasco (Atletico Madrid), T. Hazard (Borussia Drothmund), De Bruyne (Manchester City), Dendoncker (Aston Villa), Onana (Everton), Tielemans (Leicester), Wanaken ( Club Brugge, Witsel (Atletico Madrid)
• Forwards: De Ketelare (Milan), Doku (Rennes), E. Hazard (Real Madrid), Mertens (Galatasaray), Trossard (Brighton), Batshuayi (Fenerbahce), Openda (Lance) ), Lukaku (Inter)

Likely composition

So if De Bruyne is the master of this selection, Belgium has strong players in all areas of the game. Thibault Courtois, who won the Champions League last season, is still one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Before him, Vertonghen and Alderweireld know each other very well, and Carrasco and Meunier bring speed in the corridors. Finally, Lukaku is an outstanding goalscorer who was still averaging over 20 goals for Inter before his bad spell at Chelsea.

Schedule of matches of the Belgian national team

Refer to the profile of all teams on the main page. In particular, Group F, namely Canada, Croatia and Morocco.