The fact that they were widely considered as outsiders in the race for the trophy not only took the pressure off of the side but also probably willed them on to succeed and to make a statement to the world of football.
While all the talk had been about the Brazilians and the Germans and the French, this Belgian side has retained the majority of their last edition’s side, which made the quarter-finals in Brazil. With hardly any player in the side, with the exception of the captain Vincent Kompany, on the wrong side of their careers, it means that the current side has only benefitted from the four-year layoff.
Quarter-finalists in Brazil, the European side has a wealth of talent in their side. They have top quality personnel in each and every position. When Rajda Nainggolan doesn’t make it to the final 23-man squad, there is an argument to be made that they also have top-quality back-ups for each position.
This has given them ample time to get used to each other and gel together as a unit. The experience they’ve earned, playing for the biggest clubs in Europe, in the past four years seems to have done them a world of good, as the talent largely remains the same, but the maturity to see the game through is something that couldn’t be associated with the Belgian side of 2014.
England will be nervous after watching the Belgians blow past both their opponents in the opening two fixtures of the game. With both teams set to take each other on in the final game of the group, Gareth Southgate will have to come up with a plan to thwart, what seems at the moment , the unstoppable Belgian juggernaut.