FIFA World Cup 2018: Belgium, who’s on that plane to Russia?

Predict Belgium’s starting lineup for their first World Cup match in the comments below and stand a chance to win a replica of the official FIFA World Cup Ball Telstar!

Terms & Conditions*

Belgium vs Panama
Kick off Time: 8:30 PM (IST)

Note: All entries for the competition will have to be made by 1:30 PM on the 16th June 2018, entries after the mentioned time will not be taken into consideration. Participants must leave their email ID as well.

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Every country has a once in a generation player, someone who breaks onto the scene and gets everyone’s attention. Well, Belgium has a whole team of ‘once in a generation’ players, so much so that this golden generation of footballers are one of the favorites to lift the World Cup in Russia.

Full Squad

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg)

Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Thomas Meunier (Paris St-Germain), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur)

Midfielders: Yannick Carrasco (Dalian Yifang), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham Hotspur), Leander Dendoncker (Anderlecht), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Monchengladbach), Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Youri Tielemans (Monaco), Axel Witsel (Tianjin Quanjian)

Forwards: Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea), Nacer Chadli (West Brom), Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United

Surprises: Let’s get this out of the way first, Radja Nainggolan was left out of the squad, not only the final 23-man squad but also the 29-man Provisional squad, while inferior Midfielders like Fellaini and Januzaj made the cut. Furthermore, Manager Roberto Martinez has included only 6 Defenders in his final squad, which could mean versatile midfielder Leander Dendoncker could spend some time in defence. 

Players to watch out for: Belgium has a lot of stars Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Toby Alderweirald will be key men for Belgium.

Strengths: Belgium has excellent Midfielders, players who can create goals and players who are very good at stopping goals as well. Eden Hazard will have to be at his absolute best along with Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku to have a genuine shot at this World Cup.

Weaknesses: Belgium has some versatile defenders but lack some depth outside their first XI and do not have a top left-back. Their biggest weakness though is their inexperience in World Cups, could this young team go out there and perform? We’ll have to wait and find out.

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Also, predict the Starting XI for:

ARGENTINA 🇦🇷		GERMANY 🇩🇪
ENGLAND 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿		PORTUGAL🇵🇹
BRAZIL 🇧🇷	FRANCE🇫🇷	SPAIN 🇪🇸