Golden generations in football can be a spectacle to see and watch. It's amazing to see a bunch of talented players play together and producing such magical moments. However, despite boasting the amount of talent a country has, it doesn't automatically equal success and trophies. In fact, it equals the opposite. The latest to falter is the Belgian team. There are examples to prove my point.
To start things off, I believe it's important to define what a golden genereation is. It refers to an exceptionally gifted group of players of similar age, whose achievements reach or are expected to reach a level of success beyond that which their team had previously achieved. e term was first being cited by the media for Portugal's success during the FIFA Youth Championships in both 1989 and 1991.
Hungary had theirs between 1950 and 1956. The team recorded: 42 victories; 7 draws and just 1 defeat, in the 1954 World Cup final against West Germany. Under the Elo rating* system they achieved the highest rating recorded by a national side (2230 points).
*Elo rating system - a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess or esports. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor.
The difference in the ratings between two players serves as a predictor of the outcome of a match. Two players with equal ratings who play against each other are expected to score an equal number of wins. A player whose rating is 100 points greater than their opponent's is expected to score 64%; if the difference is 200 points, then the expected score for the stronger player is 76%.
A player's Elo rating is a number which may change depending on the outcome of rated games played. After every game, the winning player takes points from the losing one. The difference between the ratings of the winner and loser determines the total number of points gained or lost after a game. If the higher-rated player wins, then only a few rating points will be taken from the lower-rated player. However, if the lower-rated player scores an upset win, many rating points will be transferred. The lower-rated player will also gain a few points from the higher rated player in the event of a draw. This means that this rating system is self-correcting. Players whose ratings are too low or too high should, in the long run, do better or worse correspondingly than the rating system predicts and thus gain or lose rating points until the ratings reflect their true playing strength.
Italy had a generation that lasted 12 years. Between 1998 and 2010, they were renowned for an elite defense, most notably consisting of: Paolo Maldini; Fabio Cannavaro; Alessandro Nesta; Gianluca Zambrotta and goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon. Other key players included: Alessandro Del Piero; Christian Vieri; Francesco Totti; Filippo Inzaghi; Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo.
This group of players reached their first major final at UEFA Euro 2000, losing to France in extra time. After a Round of 16 elimination at the 2002 FIFA World Cup (against South Korea) and a group stage exit at UEFA Euro 2004, both under controversial circumstances; they would win the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Italy's fourth ever title at the tournament.
After Italy's win in 2006, the team began suffering poor results including being eliminated at the Euro 2008 quarter finals and then suffering a group stage elimination in both the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup, respectively. They failed to qualify for both FIFA World Cup tournaments twice in history.
They missed out on the 2018 tournament and the 2022 tournament and lost the Euro 2012 final and being eliminated at Euro 2016. Although they went on to win the next edition in 2020, they were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup qualifying by North Macedonia.
The Netherlands had such a group in the 1970's. Nicknamed, 'the Oranje', they were led by Johan Cruyff. This generation of Dutch football saw the introduction of "total football" and the brand led the Dutch to two consecutive World Cup final appearances. However, they would lose to Germany and Argentina in those finals. The latter was marred in controversy as infamy of potential corruption and Argentinian government interference.
Along with Cruyff, the generation was led by Piet Keizer; Willem van Hanegem; Johnny Rep; Ruud Krol & Johan Neeskens. They could be described as a revolutionary squad in spite of falling short. Whilst having good runs in the World Cups, they also reached the semi finals in the Euro 1976 edition.
It's unfortunate that Columbia's first golden generation was overshadowed by controversy. It was at the time, the most talented Colombian squad. The late 80's began to see a rise in talent from Colombia. This era included the likes of: Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama; René "El Loco" Higuita; Leonel Álvarez; Faustino "El Tino" Asprilla; Freddy Rincón and Adolfo "El Tren" Valencia.
The group came into the 1994 World Cup with much anticipation but a shocking own goal by Andres Escobar resulted in their elimination. Escobar would be killed weeks later back home. ESPN's 30 for 30: The Two Escobars gives great insight to this generation and its ties with Pablo Escobar and how the drug lord's downfall also had an affect on the national team.
Over to Africa and Nigeria. It was between 1994 and 1998. After Nigeria won the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Cup, their emerging group of players were heralded as a golden generation and they did go on to make some history for the African nation. In 1994, they won the African Cup of Nations for the first time in 14 years and that same year they qualified for the World Cup for the first time in their history, repeating the feat in 1998.
In both '94 and '98 Nigeria remarkably topped their groups, ahead of nations such as Argentina and Spain. They did even better at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, where they beat Argentina and Brazil to win gold. Nigeria's golden generation included players such as Jay-Jay Okocha, Findi George and Nwankwou Kanu.
Pele once boldly predicted that an African team would win the World Cup before the turn of the millennium. He was wrong, of course, but the Ivory Coast should probably have come close less than a decade after that with the impressive squad at their disposal. This squad was composed between 2006 - 2010.
They qualified for their first ever World Cup in 2006 but put in a poor showing, doing likewise in 2010 and 2014. They produced players such as: Yaya Toure; Didier Drogba; Kolo Toure; Wilfried Bony; Didier Zokora; Emmanuel Eboue; Gervinho; Arouna Kone and Cheick Tiote during this period. They did finally have something to show for their quality when they won the 2015 African Cup of Nations.
Back to Europe and England. They are probably the most well-documented and most hyped/talked about golden generation in history, the term golden generation has become almost synonymous with the England national team around the turn of the millennium. It was a fantastic group of players that emerged for the creators of the game, with David Beckham; Paul Scholes; Frank Lampard; Steven Gerrard; Wayne Rooney; John Terry; Rio Ferdinand; Gary Neville; Ashley Cole and Michael Owen being just some examples of the quality England produced.
Despite these players having wonderful club careers, at international level, they were largely a disappointment. Managers struggled to find a way to accommodate all three of their gifted central midfielders and England's best performance probably came at the 2002 World Cup, where they were narrowly beaten in the quarter finals by eventual winners Brazil.
Unlike England's golden generation, which failed to turn quality into trophies, France's golden generation, between 1998 and 2006, had no such problems. A crop of players which included some of the world's most gifted footballers such as: Zinedine Zidane; Thierry Henry; Nicolas Anelka; Laurent Blanc; Didier Deschamps; Eric Cantona; Patrick Vieira; Marcel Desailly; Robert Pires and more, went on to win both the World Cup and European Championships.
Their first success, in 1998, came on home soil as they defeated Brazil 3-0 in the World Cup final and they beat Italy 2-1 in the Euro 2000 final. After a shocking 2002 World Cup, Italy exacted revenge on France's golden generation, beating them in the 2006 World Cup final, featuring an infamous headbutt by Zinedine Zidane.
Spain had one of the most successful group of players, at club and international level, that the game has ever seen. While Spain had some decent teams over the years, they had always been international football's nearly men and had never assembled a truly great team, just as they had by 2008. Spain's squad, predominantly made up of Barcelona and Real Madrid players, included such stars as: Iker Casillas; Andres Iniesta; Xavi; Xabi Alonso; Sergio Busquets; Cesc Fabregas; Juan Mata; Gerard Pique; Sergio Ramos; Carles Puyol; Fernando Torres; David Villa and many, many more incredibly gifted players.
They won the European Championships in 2008, their first victory in the competition for 44 years, beating Germany in the final. Going into the 2010 World Cup, Spain were big favourites, despite having never progressed beyond the quarter finals at a World Cup (although they did finish fourth in 1950 under a different format). They were a class apart and despite aggressive tactics used by the Netherlands in the final. Spain won their first World Cup. They cemented their place as one of the greatest national teams ever at Euro 2012, thrashing Italy 4-0 in the final to make it three successive major trophies.
The main focus of this post is Belgium. Their golden geeneration is coming to an end. During the 10 years from 2002 to 2012 in which Belgium failed to qualify for any of the major tournaments, a golden generation matured, many of whom gained both prime individual and team awards in foreign European clubs and competitions. These include: Eden Hazard, who at his peak was one of the top players in the world; defender and former captain, Vincent Kompany; Kevin De Bruyne, who is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation and Romelu Lukaku, who is currently Belgium's all-time top scorer.
Other key players of this golden generation include: Thibaut Courtois; Jan Vertonghen; Yannick Carrasco; Axel Witsel; Mousa Dembélé; Dries Mertens; Marouane Fellaini and Toby Alderweireld. These players helped Belgium finish in third place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the team's best ever performance at the World Cup and reach number one in the FIFA World Rankings for the first time since November 2015.
At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium performed excellently, earning themselves a third-place finish. Eden Hazard, one of the best footballers in the world, was one of the main reasons of this success as he won many Man Of The Match awards and broke previous records. He was rewarded with the Silver Ball (second best player at the tournament), whereas Courtois was awarded the Golden Glove for his performance during the tournament.
Numerous sports commentators mark Belgium's elimination from the 2022 FIFA World Cup as the end of Belgium's golden generation. Kevin De Bruyne stated of Belgium's chance to win the 2022 World Cup, "No chance, we’re too old." Eden Hazard stated that "To be fair I think we had a better chance to win four years ago [in 2018]." Kevin De Bruyne echoed these sentiments, stating “I think our chance was 2018. We have a good team, but it is aging."
Of the 26 players on the 2022 squad, 11 were at least 30 years old during the 2022 World Cup, including: Eden Hazard; Kevin De Bruyne; Dries Mertens; Thomas Meunier; Toby Alderweireld and Thibaut Courtois. Coach Roberto Martínez resigned following Belgium's elimination after six years with the team.
Fast forward to today and Belgium have just been eliminated from Euro 2024 in the Round of 16. "Stupid." That was the reaction of Belgium star midfielder, Kevin De Bruyne, as he shuffled away from his post match interviews after his side's 1-0 defeat to France in the round of 16 at Euro 2024 on Monday (1 July).
The 33-year-old was reacting to the suggestion that this "golden generation" of Belgium players came up short by not reaching the final of a major tournament. They came close, making the semi final of the 2018 World Cup, where they also lost 1-0 to France. Since then, there has been disappointment after disappointment. A quarter final exit followed at Euro 2020, followed by a surprise group stage elimination at 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
He said, "And you say that France, England, Spain and Germany don't have golden generations?" he quipped back. "OK. Thank you. Stupid...." With that, De Bruyne bid farewell to Euro 2024. It remains to be seen if the Manchester City midfielder was also saying goodbye to his international career.
"It's too early to answer," De Bruyne told reporters when asked if he would continue to play for Belgium. "Let me process this loss. It's a been a very long season, I need to rest my body. I will make my decision after the summer."
All the talent in the world that you might have, it won't mean a thing if you can't gel them together. As the evidence has shown, having an abundance of talent won't grant you success. If anything, a team should avoid having one. Fans want to see their team lift many trophies. However, it's apparent that that will not happen if you have these types of squads.