World Cup Team in Focus: Belgium

When the World Cup finally gets underway, a team that is sure to enjoy a lot of support is the Belgian national team. Known popularly as the Red Devils for their home kit, they are a team known for their fighting displays and highly talented players. While traditionally they have been minnows in World football, with their best performance to date being a fourth place finish at the World Cup back in 1986, the rise of a talented new generation has seen an increase in the stature of the team.

Belgium have been placed in Group H, alongside Russia, South Korea and Algeria. As the highest ranked team in the group, they should have no difficulty progressing, barring a major upset by the other teams. The round of 16 promises to be tricky however, with Belgium potentially facing either Germany or Portugal depending on results.

As to the Belgian squad, the manager, Marc Wilmots, has gone with experienced and established players for the most part, and can easily field a formidable starting XI. He also has team depth at crucial positions, allowing him to be tactically flexible, something he will no doubt be looking to take full advantage of.

Analyzing the team by position, Belgium has two quality choices for the position of goalkeeper. Thibaut Courtois has been exceptional for Atletico Madrid this season, especially in the Champions League. Liverpool stopper Simon Mignolet has also impressed, especially since the Liverpool defense was particularly leaky at times. Both have a fair amount of international experience, and while Courtois is widely expected to get the start, Mignolet might also get a look in during the group games.

The Belgian defense is formidable, and will take quite some effort to be breached. Led by league-winning Manchester City and Belgium captain Vincent Kompany, it also boasts of Spurs defensive mainstay Jan Vertonghen, Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen and Toby Alderweireld of Atletico. We will probably see Alderweireld playing as right back and Vertonghen out on the left. This defense line is extremely effective at shutting down opposition attacks, and players like Vermaelen and Vertonghen in particular can regularly get up to the other end to present a goal scoring threat. The Belgium set pieces are very strong, and something that the oppositions should look out for, especially during corners. They also have good depth, with Bayern Munich veteran Daniel van Buyten and Zenit’s Nicholas Lombaerts present in the squad.

The Belgian midfield is probably their most flexible area, and it will be the object of much focus for the manager. While he has talented and versatile attacking players like Axel Witsel, Kevin de Bruyne, Steven Defour, Nacer Chadli and Moussa Dembele, the defensive midfield area is weak, especially since Belgium star Marouane Fellaini has hardly played this season. As an alternative, we can see someone like Vermaelen move up to the midfield. The attacking midfield players meanwhile will be expected to roam freely behind the frontline, looking for openings to play in the forwards.

The Belgian frontline consists of an impressive array of attacking talent like the in-form Everton wide man Kevin Mirallas on the right and Chelsea star Eden Hazard on the opposite flank. For large stretches this season, Eden Hazard was the most effective and dangerous outlet Chelsea had, and may thus be given freedom to play more centrally should he so choose. But the ideal course will probably be to keep him out wide. With his pace and creativity with the ball, he is sure to constantly harry the defenders marking him, and is more than capable of putting deadly balls into the middle.

For the central striker role, Belgium will turn to youngster Romelu Lukaku. The injury to Christian Benteke has made Lukaku almost a certainty in this side, and also his good partnership with Mirallas at Everton is something his manager will hope continues during the tournament. Another interesting, though unlikely, option out wide is Manchester United sensation Adnan Januzaj. Though uncapped at the international level, his performances for United this season have attracted a lot of attention, and being selected for the World Cup is in itself an honor for the talented 19 year old.

Belgium coach Marc Wilmots is an experienced and confident campaigner, and he has worked with the current crop of players for a long time. This bonding and trust in the team will be very important to Belgium, especially if they qualify for the playoffs and come up against the big names of World football.
Tactically, the coach will be looking to play a high line defensively, thus eliminating the space for the opposition midfielders. The Belgian defense is good enough to play this without getting caught on the break. This will also allow the full backs to join in an attack quickly, and this is something the manger will encourage considering the strength of the Belgian wings. With players like Hazard and Vertonghen on one side and Mirallas and Alderweireld on the other, the opposition full backs will be constantly overrun, and this will cause their defense as a whole to spread out. This will thus create space for Lukaku to make incisive runs through the middle, along with Witsel and Fellaini, who on his day is still one of the best box-to-box midfielders out there and a real aerial threat. Hazard and Mirallas are both more than capable of finding spaces out wide regardless of pressure, and putting regular balls into the box might not be a bad strategy, since Lukaku has both the aerial ability and the physique to challenge for and win headers. It remains to be seen exactly which formation the manger will employ, but a 4-3-3 seems most likely, with roving midfielders, or we may even see a 4-4-2 to ensure dominance out wide, with Chadli and Mirallas playing in midfield and Hazard up front with Lukaku. This sort of formation also lends itself to a quick counterattacking style from out wide, and even the big teams may struggle to cope with the pacey Belgian forwards.

All told, Belgium is a dark horse, and barring a mishap in the group stages, we may see them do something special this year. No matter who you support, this is definitely a team worth keeping your eye on.