Axel Witsel believes that a blend of youth and experience within Belgium’s 26-man World Cup squad could be a recipe for success in North America.
Witsel is taking part in his fourth World Cup with the Red Devils this summer, with the Girona midfielder one of the more experienced players listed in Belgium’s ranks.
The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Thomas Meunier and Thibaut Courtois were also selected, and all were a part of Belgium’s “Golden Generation” from 2014 to 2022.
Under the guidance of Roberto Martinez, Belgium finished third at the 2018 World Cup, but in Qatar four years later, they were eliminated at the group stages.
Of the 26 players on the 2022 squad, 11 were at least 30 years old during the tournament, with many believing Belgium’s shot for international glory has now been missed.
However, Witsel believes his side have a chance this time around with young players such as Jeremy Doku, Charles De Ketelaere and Dodi Lukebakio all hitting top form.
“I think it’s important to have balance, and a really good mix between the new, the new generation and, I would say, the old one,” Witsel told Flashscore.
“I think it’s really important to have a really good mood, and that’s why now there is me, but there is Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, and Courtois also now started to be a little bit older.
“I’m not the only one, but we are there to make life easier for the younger players, and I think for the World Cup, it’s always important to have some extra experience.”
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Belgium’s World Cup preparations could not have gone any better, with their victory over Croatia followed up by a 5-0 thrashing of Tunisia last Saturday.
They have scored at least five goals in five of their last 10 matches, as many as in their previous 63. Their win against Tunisia was also Belgium’s biggest-ever triumph ahead of taking part in an edition of the World Cup.
Doku was key to that triumph with two assists, while also creating eight chances at Stade Roi Baudouin, the third time he has achieved the feat during his international career.
But the scars still remain from Belgium’s near-misses for Witsel, who acknowledged that despite their run of recent results, they are not the force that they once were.
Reminiscing on the previous decade, Witsel added: “I think with the generation we had, we did amazing things. In 2018, we finished in third place.
“For us, it was really amazing at that time. Nobody expected Belgium to be there, but we can have a kind of feeling, maybe we could do it a different way or a little bit better.
“When we arrived in the semi-final, anything could happen. Today, maybe it’s different. We have to be honest with ourselves.”
The Opta supercomputer has assigned Belgium just a 3% chance of winning the World Cup, and Witsel seemed to agree with that, given the strength of other nations.
“In my opinion, there are countries stronger than us, like France, for example,” Witsel continued.
“I mean, they are a really, really strong team. Then you have Spain and Argentina, so we are in a different world today.
“All the time in the World Cup, you have surprises, a team who go really far, like last time, for example, in Qatar with Morocco, for example.”
Belgium begin their Group G campaign against Egypt next Monday, before taking on Iran and New Zealand in their other matches in the first phase of the competition.
