A curious fixture, this one. For Belgium, a nation that has spent the last decade draped in the golden label of a supposed golden generation, the 2026...
A curious fixture, this one. For Belgium, a nation that has spent the last decade draped in the golden label of a supposed golden generation, the 2026 World Cup has begun with the grim rattle of a side on its last legs. They come into this clash with New Zealand winless and wounded, their attacking tally a grand total of zero goals from open play across two group games. That solitary strike in their column was an own goal, a gift from Egypt's Mohamed Hany. It is a bitterly poor return for a side that has managed 38 shots without beating a goalkeeper. For all the huffing and puffing, Romelu Lukaku's first start in over a year looked exactly that: a centre forward forcing the issue, running into channels without the sharpness of old. And with Jérémy Doku absent through illness, they lacked the one thing that might have unlocked a stubborn defence: raw, direct pace.New Zealand, in contrast, will look back on their opening defeat to Egypt with a sick sense of what might have been. For 45 minutes, they were the better side. Absolutely no question. Finn Surman's headed goal in the 15th minute was a moment of real quality, a set piece executed with precision and intent. They played with a low block that frustrated Egypt, then hit them hard on the transition with direct long balls and overlapping runs. It was compact, disciplined, and clever. But the second half told a different story. Mohamed Salah, as he has done so often for club and country, dragged his side back into the contest with sheer force of will. Three unanswered goals later, and the All Whites were left wondering how they had let a dominant position slip. As their manager Bazeley admitted, they could not recreate the tempo. That falling off in intensity is a killer at this level.Belgium's record at major tournaments now reads two wins from their last nine matches. Let that sink in. Two wins. One of those came against Romania at Euro 2024. They are, by any measure, a team in decline. The old guard has not quite stepped aside, and the new wave has not yet arrived in sufficient numbers. Lukaku is not the force he was. The midfield, once the envy of Europe, looks pedestrian. And defensively, they have a habit of switching off at the worst possible moments. For a side that once topped the FIFA rankings, this is not just a slump; it is a crisis of identity.There is, however, a stubborn resilience in the Belgian camp. Sometimes when you have to win, that is the best situation. Those words, likely from the dressing room, carry a certain grim pragmatism. They know a draw is not enough. They need three points to have any realistic hope of progressing to the round of 32. And New Zealand, for all their promise in that first half against Egypt, have now won just one of their last six matches in major tournaments. They are not pushovers, but they are vulnerable. This is Belgium's chance to prove they still have backbone. Squeaky bum time, as they say. But if they cannot find a goal here, against a side that has its own demons, then the obituaries for this generation will write themselves.It is the kind of game where tactics matter less than temperament. Belgium need to rediscover the simple art of clinical finishing, to stop overthinking and start putting the ball in the net. New Zealand, meanwhile, must show they can sustain their intensity for a full 90 minutes. One team is trying to bottle a fading legacy. The other is trying to build one. Football, for all its complexity, often comes down to that simplest of questions: who wants it more Tonight, we find out.
