He began his national team’s campaign at the 2026 World Cup with a draw against North Macedonia. Internal conflicts, deterioration under TedescoThe former Spartak coach got off to a great start at the helm of the “Red Devils,” but the last few months of his tenure have raised serious questions. The best team was at risk in the League of Nations.
Soyuz European Football Association
UEFA
. After the first-round victory in Israel, the Belgians could never win. The first-round impression smoothed out the match against Italy: the team was saved from a 2-0 draw. At the same time, being in that position and saving oneself only thanks to the suppression of the opponent—A Faiche for the top team. But on top of that, Belgium lost to the French team—0-2. Чемпионат мираWorld Cup
-2022 In the locker room, literally everything was quarreling, now the scale was smaller – but the conflict concerned one of the best goalkeepers in the world and the most important coach. The national team was left without a leader, Lukaku periodically disabled the game, and the lack of a young replacement for De Bruyne and company was increasingly evident. The results for the manager were disappointing. But even after his departure, the team entered the new year with the same introduction. Of all the possible candidates, the Belgians chose Rudy Garcia – and that too sounded like a sentence. The French manager hadn’t shown results at the top level for a long time, and above all, the last few years of work had spoken volumes about his qualities. At the age of 58, the coach was in Saudi Arabia – not the current model, with world stars from several clubs. And in one where Ronaldo wasn’t even present. If the sheikhs hadn’t started their massive buying spree, Rudy would have remained in the peripheral league and been forgotten like hundreds of his colleagues.Four months at Napoli are another indicative segment. He transformed the team’s brilliant design from a champion into a primitive vertical football, emphasizing physicality in the center of the field and his reliance on the global center. For the Neapolitans, it was the beginning of a nightmare—and the coach was fired in November 2024.
Rudy Garcia showed he was unable to maintain the culture of a team that was falling from his hands and that he had to accept a high-level problem. The same was true of his heavy-handed debut against Ukraine. With great difficulty, the Red Devils won this two-goal tie against the Ukrainians.
Such a start to the national team for
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World Cup
– Mockery In the summer, they began their 2026 World Cup campaign, and the first-round match against North Macedonia sounded another alarm bell. The Belgians quickly adopted Garcia’s principles and began playing vertically, assuming that the striker would be selected because there was a top-flight player, Lukaku, which was a good solution. At the same time, things are much worse when they play defensively. The Macedonians resisted the opening attack, and the first attack after the transition to the offensive created the most critical moment. After three minutes, they were 100% and had two goals with a difference of a few seconds, and the hosts had already finished with an empty goal. Immediately after the break, the Belgians allowed North Macedonia to equalize, but the goal was disallowed. And in the end, the Red Devils’ defenders blocked Alioski’s run. In other words, playing as an outsider, Belgium allowed him to create three clear moments and missed the goal, which was disallowed.
The Red Devils do not want to accept a new status.
Generational change is a natural process, but for Belgium, it will be more difficult. Just because Belgian schools have provided a boost, preparing the current leaders of the national team, Belgium has failed to produce such high-quality players. Consequently, there is simply no quality replacement for De Bruyne, Lukaku, or Courtois. A step backward is inevitable, and in this situation, the Belgians will be losing at the same level as the best teams: the same France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and England.
The problem is that Rudy Garcia is not a high-quality coach who can fill the resulting chasm. On the contrary, the team’s weaknesses will come to the forefront, and the failures against North Macedonia will cease to be rare. Even so, the step backward for the team is too abrupt. The Red Devils have won only two of their last 11 games under Garcia—one victory in three. Moreover, the qualifying tournament is now starting; qualifying for the World National Team Forum remains the minimum task. And, most likely, if the first matches don’t go as planned, they’ll say goodbye to the new coach.
Belgium
Belgium
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