I've finally arrived to the group of my national team, Belgium. Our opponents in Group G will be England, Tunisia and Panama.
Belgium: I have avoided talking about it during the friendly gams, but let's address the elephant in the room one last time. Yes, I wanted Nainggolan at the World Cup. His fighting spirit and offensive drive give the midfield extra quality. So I do not agree that Nainggolan doesn't fit in the team, as our coach Martinez explained his decision. But let's not live in the past and look forward. What will the Red Devils show in Russia? It's a question that's been intriguing me for months now. After 10 long, dark years between 2002 and 2012, the current Belgium team has built a reputation in world football. It seems like everyone admires our team. While the elimination in the previous World Cup against Argentina could be due to a lack of World Cup experience, the defeat against Wales in the quarter finals of EURO 2016 was unacceptable. A missed opportunity. The Belgian team will enter the World Cup with high ambitions to make up for that defeat, and to make it at least to the semi-finals this time. Only when the so called 'golden generation' can actually write history by improving the 4th place of the 1986 World Cup, it will become truly worthy of that name. Our qualification campaign was the best ever for Belgium: 28 points and a record of 43 goals after 10 games. That being said, the competition wasn't very difficult: only Greece managed to be a real test. If you can score 15 goals against one opponent (Gibraltar), it's not hard to reach 40+ goals. The quality of our squad is unique for a small country like Belgium and many bigger nations look at us with envy. Hazard, De Bruyne, Courtois, Kompany, Mertens, ... each of them world class players who have proved themselves for years now and have won multiple prices. It's often easy to forget that Lukaku for example is still only 25 years old because he has been playing at the top level for such a long time now. With a starting eleven like we have (I must say we don't have the strength in depth like the other favorites), we can defeat all the top teams and we should have high ambitions. On the other hand, we haven't really beaten any of the top nations in recent years. The ever returning questions about the fitness of Kompany and his first replacement Vermaelen are worrying as well. With many of our star players reaching their thirties, it seems like it will be the last time we will have this team together at a World Cup. The new generation like Tielemans and Bathsuayi have a lot of potential but are not on the same level yet. That's why there is this feeling of 'now or never' around the Belgian team. Anything less than a quarter final would be a failure, but with Brazil or Germany waiting there for us, it is still a long way towards the final.
Prediction: Quarter Final
England: England is always considered as one of the top nations in world football, and a team to take into account when you're naming the favorites. Recent results of the England team have not really justified that status. On the contrary, England is in general one of the big disappointments at World Cups and European Championships last years. After they were eliminated in the group stage in 2014, England said goodbye to the generation of Gerrard and Lampard. EURO 2016 was another huge disappointment, losing to Iceland in the round of 16. The rejuvenation process that started after 2014, has only been accelerated with new coach Gareth Southgate. No more place in the selection for Rooney and Hart as well. England brings a rather inexperienced selection to Russia. All players are active in the Premier League. English players that are successful in foreign leagues like Beckham are becoming more and more a rarity. Cahill, Walker and Welbeck are some of the few survivors from the last World Cup. For that reason, the English analysts don't have high believes in their young team. I think they are being a bit harsh though. Despite their young age, the likes of Kane and Sterling are among the best forwards in the Premier League for years. It will also be interesting to see what potential world class players like Dele Alli and Rashford will show in their first World Cup. The goalkeepers might be a problem: none of the three was in the selection of EURO 2016 and plays for a top club in the Premier League. Nevertheless, the game Belgium-England on the last matchday might become a thrilling contest.
Prediction: Round of 16
Tunisia: Tunisia was one of the better African teams in the beginning of the century: they qualified for the World Cup in 2002 (where they played and drew against Belgium) and 2006, but couldn't make it past the group stage on both occasions. After 2006, they had 10 less successful years: they failed to qualify for the two last World Cup and couldn't play a striking role on the many African Cups in those years. I must say I was pleased when Tunisia was drawn in our group in December, because most of the players are rather unknown. Khazri played for Sunderland in the Premier League and is at Renners in the French Ligue 1 now, where a lot of the Tunisian players earn their money. They play more for mid table teams than real top clubs however. Defender Bronn plays in the Belgian League for AA Gent, and made a solid impression this season. They do have a rather young squad with a lot of players around the age of 25 or younger and only three players that are 30 or older. The results of their last preparation games- a 2-2 draw with Portugal after being 2-0 down was followed by a narrow 1-0 defeat against Spain- show that they might not be the pushover they were considered to be after all. In another group, they might have had a chance to aim for a place in the round of 16, but normally Belgium and England shouldn't get into too much trouble against Tunisia. Beating Panama for third place is the ambition they should have.
Prediction: Group Stage
Panama: Along with Iceland a debutant on this World Cup. If you consider Tunisia a noble unknown, than Panama certainly is. Probably the most unexpected nation at this World Cup. Their qualification is a unique story. They needed a win at home against Costa Rica in the last match, but were 0-1 down at the break. During a scrimmage after a corner, the ball clearly didn't cross the line but was given as a goal anyway. Panama went on to win the match and because USA lost against Trinidad & Tobago, Panama ultimately snatched the third place in the qualification group. Without that 'phantom goal', we would have seen Honduras instead of Panama. To be fair, Panama only lost 3 of the 10 games in the final stage of qualification so you can say they did earn their spot at the World Cup. I wish I could tell you more about the selection, but I hardly know any of these players. None of them plays in a major European League. I do notice a lot of older players, 4 in total are already above the age of 35 and a lot of others in their thirties as well. Maybe somewhere in their team we discover a new superstar. I do look forward to see them play against Belgium this Monday. Qualification for their first World Cup is in itself already a historical achievement from this team, so any point they get in this group would be another miracle.
Prediction: Group Stage
striking role on the African Cup (which they won