Belgium, third in the 2018 World Cup, left the World Cup in the first round on Thursday in Doha after stumbling over Croatia (0-0), despite three huge chances from Lukaku late in the game.
Luka Modric and his teammates, unfortunate finalists from the previous edition, are continuing the adventure.
Second in group F dominated by Morocco (thursday winner of Canada), the men at the checkered will meet Monday the first of group E, that of Spain, Germany, Costa Rica and Japan.
On the Belgian side, coach Roberto Martinez announced after the match that he was leaving his post. “I say goodbye to the national team, and it’s a day full of emotion for me as you can imagine,” said the Spaniard in a press conference.
The disappointment must be immense for the so-called golden generation of Courtois, Hazard, who entered only at the very end of the match, and another De Bruyne who perhaps shot down his last card in a major tournament this fall in Qatar.
For some Belgian players, well into their thirties (like defenders Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld), this meeting therefore looked like a jubilee. Of a sad jubilee.
Victorious but laborious against Canada (1-0) before sinking against Morocco (0-2), the Red Devils, who were to win Thursday to stay in the adventure, were unable to score. However, there were plenty of opportunities at the end of the game after Lukaku entered the game.
Lukaku so close to the goal
Even if it means being eliminated, the players from the flat country wanted to do it in “warrior” mode, captain Eden Hazard had warned on the eve of the shock.
The Spanish coach of Belgium has also played his all by surprising from the pre-match with four changes compared to the team which had taken the water (0-2) four days earlier against Morocco .
Rather than relying on Hazard (leaving the Eden brothers and Thorgan on the bench), Roberto Martinez preferred to occupy the flanks with Yannick Carrasco and Dries Mertens.
And at the forefront, where Romelu Lukaku, convalescent, was still not fit to start a match, it was Leandro Trossard who was responsible for playing in false 9.
By lining up three arrows in front, Martinez thought he was surprising. But it was the Croats who created the first chance in the tenth second on a poorly aimed shot from Ivan Perisic.
The Belgians had another big scare from the 16the minute, when a penalty whistled for a foul by Carrasco was finally canceled following an offside by Kramaric spotted by the VAR.
For the rest, we only saw snippets of the attractive team of 2018 at rare times, which sat at the top of the FIFA rankings for almost four years.
Especially thanks to the entry into the game at the break of Romelu Lukaku (who had only played 38 minutes since the end of August), which directly weighed on the face of the match.
The top scorer in the history of the selection (68 goals) created a first opportunity, with a header, three minutes after his rise to the game before serving as a very valuable point of support for the players on the second line, then finding Dominik Livakovic’s goal post on the hour mark.
But against the Croats, who only needed a draw to qualify, the Belgians exposed themselves to counterattacks, forcing Thibaut Courtois to intervene brilliantly four times (50, 53, 54, 67e).
And Lukaku will long regret the missed opportunities in the last seconds, like in the 90e when he only had to push the ball into the empty goal instead of awkwardly cushioning it with his chest.