“And the Belgian generation?”, said Luiz Felipe Scolari before the Copa do Brasil in 2014. The projection that Belgium would be one of the favorites of this Cup has become a joke. But Felipe was right.

The Belgians only stopped in the quarter-finals, against finalist Argentina. In Russia, in 2018, they eliminated Brazil and lost the semi-final against the champions of France, taking the third place, the best in history.

Now Belgium’s ‘great generation’ is looking to go one step further and take them to their first World Cup final. The Belgians make their debut in Qatar this Wednesday (23), at 4 p.m. (Brasilia time), against Canada at Ahmad Bin Ali, in Al-Rayyan.

Vice-leader of the FIFA rankings and contesting the favoritism in group F, Belgium has a balanced workforce, endowed with great collective strength. In creation, the highlight is Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne. Last season’s protagonist, however, was goalkeeper Courtois, one of the main contributors to Real Madrid’s Champions League title.

Another highlight of the squad, striker Romelu Lukaku of Inter Milan, will not play on Wednesday due to an injury to the back of his left thigh. The player should only be available for the third match of the group stage, against Croatia.

Under the orders of the Spanish coach Roberto Martínez, the Belgian selection should come into play this Wednesday with: Courtois; Debast, Alderweireld and Vertonghen; Meunier, Tielemans (Onana), Witsel and Timothy Castagne; Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Batshuayi.

Begin a new period in men’s football in the country. That’s Canada’s goal when it returns to a World Cup after 36 years. In the only participation in a World Cup, in 1986, in Mexico, the Canadian team lost all three games in the group stage, and did not score a goal.

In 2018, the local federation put John Herdman, a coach who won two Olympic bronze medals with the women’s team, in charge of the men’s team. It worked. Canada qualified for Qatar with the best campaign in Central and North America, ahead of Mexico and the United States.

The highlights are in the front. Jonathan David, the Lille striker, was the top scorer in the Gold Cup last year. Alphonso Davies, who plays as a left-back for Bayern Munich, plays as a winger for the national team.
Bayern’s highlight was a doubt for the game due to a muscle injury in his right thigh. However, Herdman said on Tuesday (21) that Davies is already taking part in group training, and is expected to step up to the side in the initial 11.

So Canada can start Wednesday’s game with: Borjan; Johnston, Victoria, Miller and Adekugbe; Laryea (Samuel Piette), Eustache, Hutchinson (Hoilett) and Davies; Larine (Buchanan) and David. (Folhapress)

Stadium: Ahmad Bin Ali, in Al-Rayyan (Qatar)
Time: At 4 p.m. (Brasília time) this Wednesday (23)
Arbitrator: Janny Sikazwe (Zambia)
VAR: Juan Soto (Venezuela)
Streaming: Globo, SportTV and Globoplay

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