Belgium's World Cup Journey: Ready for Senegal Showdown

Belgium arrive at the sharp end of this World Cup with something they have not yet enjoyed at this tournament: a clean bill of health and a clear head.

Rudi Garcia cut a quietly satisfied figure in Seattle on Tuesday. The group stage had been awkward, uneven, at times laboured. Yet his team still finished top of Group G and now move into the knockout rounds with their full attacking armour finally intact.

“Before this game against Senegal, we are lucky to have everyone available,” Garcia said. “That’s a good thing because it was not the case for the first three games.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. Belgium’s campaign opened with two stuttering draws against Egypt and Iran, results that stirred familiar doubts about a side long burdened by expectation. They only truly announced themselves with a 5-1 demolition of New Zealand, a scoreline that flattered the opposition more than the winners.

Even that statement win came with caveats. Romelu Lukaku, the country’s record scorer, arrived in the United States short of rhythm after playing barely an hour for Napoli all season due to a stubborn hamstring problem. Jeremy Doku briefly left camp to be in London for the birth of his son. Charles De Ketelaere missed the stalemate with Iran with a knee issue.

Belgium were trying to build momentum with the handbrake on.

Those constraints have gone. The tone around the camp has changed.

“Everyone was not 100 percent, unfortunately, or everyone was not completely fit. But this is over,” Garcia said, leaning into the new mood. “Jeremy, Romelu are getting better. Charles, I think that his problem is over as well.”

The numbers back him up. Lukaku has been used carefully, mostly from the bench, but his cameos have carried weight, his presence alone reshaping defences and freeing space for runners around him. Doku’s directness remains one of Belgium’s most destabilising weapons. De Ketelaere, fresh from a strong season with Atalanta, offers a different kind of threat between the lines.

This is the version of Belgium Garcia hoped to unleash from day one. It has taken three games to get there.

The coach, though, has little time for regret.

“We wanted to end first in the group and this is what we did,” he said. “I wish we had won more games, all the games, but we’re not going to go back in the past. What matters now is that we progressed out of the group stage.”

Now comes the real test.

Senegal wait in the last 16, a side whose physical edge and tournament know-how will punish any lapse. The safety net has gone. One bad half, one sleepy spell, and Belgium will be on a plane home.

The players know it. They only had to look at Monday’s shock, when Paraguay stunned Germany, to be reminded that pedigree and possession charts count for nothing once the knockout rounds begin.

“At this stage, nothing can be taken for granted,” said De Ketelaere, who has grown into a central figure in Garcia’s attacking plans. “I don’t think it matters who is the favourite. It matters that we have confidence in ourselves and that we are sharp tomorrow to just go win this game, because yesterday showed us that to be favourites or not, it doesn’t matter.

“We need to be alert and sharp to win the game.”

That is the tightrope Belgium now walk. They carry the weight of expectation and the scars of past near-misses, but also, for the first time at this World Cup, a squad that looks physically and mentally aligned.

The group stage asked questions about their resilience. Senegal will ask a different one: with no excuses left and all their stars finally fit, can Belgium now play like a team that truly believes its moment has arrived?