Former Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard has dismissed the claims that the golden generation tag on the Belgium team will put huge pressure on them at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The former Chelsea player, in a chat with FIFA .com, highlighted the team’s pride in their third-place finish at the 2018 tournament and acknowledged the difficulty of winning the trophy.
Hazard, who featured for the Red Devils between 2014 and 2022, failed to lead them to any major achievements despite having the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Vincent Kompany, and Thibaut Courtois as teammates.
They were collectively recognized as a golden generation after achieving a quarter-final berth in 2014, securing third place in 2018, and exiting at the group stage in Qatar in 2022.
“That is journalist-speak. ‘Golden generation’, ‘silver generation’ – you could call it whatever you want. We knew we had a great group of players performing for top clubs that were winning trophies every year, and we were all of a similar age, maturing at the same time.
The World Cup is a tough trophy to win. Yes, we could have won one! We had a great run. The squad and the country are extremely proud of what we did in 2018.”
Having hung up his boots, Hazard is following the sport as a fan and supports teams such as France, Spain, England, and Portugal to contend for the title.
He is also backing Ecuador’s Willian Pacho to stage a surprise run as he is also monitoring Belgium’s current squad, which includes veterans De Bruyne and Lukaku alongside younger talents like Charles De Ketelaere and Jeremy Doku.
Belgium are in Group G and will begin their campaign on June 15 in Seattle against Egypt, Iran, and New Zealand.
While pointing out that Belgium are the best side in the group, he said the first game against Egypt won’t be an easy one, adding that the squad is a mix of the old guard and a new generation who are starting to come through.
He said the fact that they are not being tipped as favourites will allow them to play with more freedom and composure.
“Expectations in Belgium are high, of course, but less so than in 2018 and 2022,” he added.
Hazard further expressed confidence in Rui Garcia’s abilities despite it being his first national team role, adding that he has enough experience for the job, and he will know how to handle it.
“He is a coach who speaks his mind, and he is a really great person. I think that’s exactly what we need.”
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