Experts Slam Belgium: "Weakest Group at the World Cup! What More Chances Do You Want?"

In recent years, Belgium has often been touted as a dark horse contender ahead of major tournaments. However, their "Golden Generation," featuring stars like Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, and Romelu Lukaku, has never advanced beyond the semi-finals at the World Cup, a feat they achieved in 2018.

At this year's World Cup in the USA, Mexico, and Canada, the Belgians have struggled. Following an opening 1-1 draw with Egypt, they could only manage a goalless draw against Iran. After yet another stalemate, Roy Keane didn't hold back with his criticism.

"The quality of play was rubbish, truly awful. Belgium, of course, had some good chances, but the level of passing, runs, and decision-making was simply abysmal," stated the Manchester United legend, now an ITV pundit.

The fact that Belgium's players left the match without scoring, despite a significant advantage in chances, is partly due to Alireza Beiranvand's excellent goalkeeping for Iran. However, according to the former Irish midfielder, their own inefficiency also played a major role.

"When players are missing chances from three or four yards out, what more opportunities do they want? They lacked conviction, both in their finishing and overall performance. I was truly disappointed with them," added Roy Keane, a sentiment echoed by Toby Alderweireld.

"With the exception of Courtois, the key players aren't performing as expected. That's problematic. Overall, it simply has to improve. This group is the weakest in the tournament. You simply have to finish first here," commented the 127-cap Belgian international.

Rudi Garcia, however, sees things differently. "The group isn't weak. We dominated, so tactically and in terms of our game plan, we played as we wanted. But we were too wasteful with our chances and not effective enough. We could have won by three goals," said the coach of the Belgian team after the match against Iran.

Romelu Lukaku, who is now on a nine-game World Cup goal drought, also reflected on Sunday's match. "We had many chances but couldn't score. In crucial moments of the game, we played too emotionally. We have to win the next match," said the 33-year-old striker.

If his team fails to secure points in Saturday's match against New Zealand, their World Cup campaign will end after the group stage.