One side that sits at the top of many people’s ideas of the winner of the European championships is Belgium. They are currently in their ‘Golden generation’ of players and will feel they really need to land a top title with the quality they currently have in the squad. The team includes endless top players, such as Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Dries Mertens, Thibaut Courtois and Axel Witsel. This is just a select few of the names in the star studded squad. When looking at betting guide’s on the tournament, virtually all have the idea that Belgium have a fantastic chance of going on and landing the title.
They are recently coming off the back of a third placed finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and will now be looking to improve on this and land the European title next year. A tournament they have finished as runners-up in back in 1980. Belgium are currently amongst the favorites for the title and can be supported at a general 5/1, with other key contenders including the likes of England, Germany and of course World champions France.
Belgium were one of only two sides, along with Italy, to have taken maximum points from their qualification. They were drawn in Group I against San Marino, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Scotland and Russia. The latter followed them through as runners-up, as they continued their progression following an impressive performance on home soil at the 2018 World Cup.
Belgium won all of their ten matches in qualification, also scoring a qualification high of 40 and conceding a qualification low of three. This gives an indication of just how impressive they were and why they are now clearly one of the sides to beat later this.
They opened up with a 3-1 home victory against Russia, as Hazard netted a brace. Hazard was then again on the scoresheet as they beat a weak Cyprus side 2-0 away from home. Belgium then welcomed Kazakhstan to the King Baudouin stadium and produced an impressive 3-0 victory.
Next up for Belgium was an impressive 3-0 home victory over Scotland. Lukaku netted a brace, in what was another example of how dangerous Belgium are in attack, as they also produced 25 shots over the 90 minutes.
They then won there next two matches of qualification 4-0, with both being away from home. This saw them beat both San Marino and Scotland, with seven different scorers over the two matches. Matchday seven was them a memorable occasion, as Belgium beat lowly San Marino 9-0 at home. It saw the away side fail to produce a shot in the match, in comparison to 44 from Belgium. There were eight different scorers on the night, with Lukaku netting a brace.
Belgium then followed this up with a 2-0 away victory against Kazakhstan. They were not at their usual brilliant best but were still far too good for the home side. The penultimate match of qualification resulted in a 4-1 away victory against Russia. It was another accomplished performance with captain Hazard netting a first half brace.
They then rounded out qualification with a 6-1 home victory against Cyprus. This meant they finished with a perfect qualification. They will now be expected to be battling it out into the latter stages of the European championships, with much bigger tests ahead.
