British sports media giants, Sky Sports, has rated Belgium low in the just-concluded 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, naming them the underachievers of the tournament.
They made the declaration in an Instagram post after the World Cup tournament ended. They also named their player of the tournament, young player of the tournament, as well as manager of the tournament.
Belgium, rated second by FIFA in its last world ranking in October, exited the World Cup in the group stage after struggling to keep up with other teams in Group F.
Belgium’s opening match was against Canada, who they narrowly defeated 1-0, then they lost 2-0 to Morocco and finally drew 0-0 with Croatia, totalling four points which was not enough to see them through to the round of 16.
Sky Sports analyst, Gary Neville, who was quoted on their Instagram page said, “The manner in which they were eliminated, the communications coming out of the camp didn’t feel right.
“I think Belgium fell out of love with each other, having grown old together things got a bit stale and sometimes things need breaking up. Things you would never expect were coming out of the camp.”
Sky Sports after Morocco’s match wrote that Belgium didn’t know what to do with all the possession they had over the African side, saying Morocco wanted the win more.
They wrote, “Belgium’s body language looked concerning from the first minute against the African underdogs. They controlled possession, but never looked to know what to do with it. It would have all felt very familiar for anyone who lived through England’s years of underperforming.
“Morocco had moments of quality, flashes of brilliance through Sofiane Boufal in particular but there was only one reason they won the game – they wanted it more.”
Belgium star and Manchester City player Kevin de Bruyne earlier during the World Cup tournament said that Belgium had no chance winning the tournament, stating that the team was too old.
Similarly, Sky Sports also named Argentina’s Lionel Messi, the player of the tournament, Argentina’s Julian Alvarez, young player of the tournament and Morocco’s coach, Walid Regragui, manager of the tournament.
The World Cup ended on December 18 with Argentina lifting the trophy after a feisty match with France that ended 4-2 on penalties.
