​Fairytale farewells are scarce in football, and Belgium’s 2-1 quarter-final defeat to Spain at the 2026 World Cup may well spell the end for the last four members of the Red Devils’ cherished golden generation. Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, and Axel Witsel have been mainstays of Belgium’s national team since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, yet their final shot at football’s greatest prize ended in misfortune caused by a mistake from one of the next generation’s hopefuls. Courtois, sidelined with an injury and substituted midway through the second half, could only watch as 24-year-old Senne Lammens bungled an 88th-minute save, allowing Mikel Merino to tuck in the rebound. “Lammens doesn’t cover himself in any glory. He didn’t make a mistake for Man United last year, but this is another source of pressure,” former player and pundit Stephen Warnock remarked on BBC Radio 5 Live. The dawn of a new era will come, but for the old guard, the departure felt poignantly sorrowful.
Belgium’s lineup that defeated Algeria 2-1 in their opening group game at the 2014 World Cup resembled an all-star fantasy team at the height of their powers. Courtois, De Bruyne, Witsel, and Lukaku started alongside Eden Hazard, Mousa Dembélé, and Vincent Kompany, with Dries Mertens and Marouane Fellaini appearing as substitutes. The team topped their group in only their second World Cup campaign since 2002 and progressed to the quarter-finals, then matched that success by reaching the final four in 2018 and finishing third in the tournament’s third-place playoff. That same cohort advanced to the Euro quarter-finals in both 2016 and 2020, but failed to progress beyond the group stages at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Critics argue that such a gifted generation should have achieved more, yet for a country with a population under 12 million, was such international triumph ever a realistic expectation? “To be a golden generation, you have to win some gold, and then you deserve the label,” commented Spanish football journalist Guillem Balagué. “The expectations in Belgium have been set extremely high, and it’s interesting to reflect on this group because with Lukaku, De Bruyne, Tielemans, and Trossard they have indeed enjoyed a solid run.” He added that Belgium’s fourth-place finish in the 2018 World Cup is often forgotten when assessing Roberto Martínez’s tenure. “I’m not sure how much more you could have asked for,” Balagué observed. “In the context of other nations—England with its golden era, Italy’s wealth of experience and Euro success, and a resurging Spain—expecting Belgium to win every time perhaps borders on excessive.”
Beyond the quartet, Leandro Trossard (31), Brandon Mechele (33), Timothy Castagne (33), Hans Vanaken (33), and Thomas Meunier (34) are among those who are likely to have played their final World Cup minutes. “I’m disappointed for those who may not return to the national team,” admitted manager Rudi Garcia after the match. As Belgium looks to the future, the challenge will be to translate the wealth of talent into silverware, a feat that has eluded them despite years of promise. The next generation will have to shoulder the weight of expectation, while the old guard’s departure, though saddening, marks the natural progression of a sport that favors the present even as it honours the past.