It was never supposed to end like this for Belgium, but then again, maybe it was always going to. Senne Lammens, thrust into the spotlight at one of football's biggest tournaments, made the kind of mistake that goalkeepers have nightmares about, and Spain made sure they took full advantage. Belgium are out, and the post-mortem has already begun.
The thing about Belgium's golden generation is that we have been writing its obituary for years now. De Bruyne, Lukaku, Hazard in his prime — this group had all the ingredients to win something major and somehow never quite managed to stir them together properly. A World Cup semi-final in 2018 felt like the peak, and everything since has had a slightly deflating feeling to it, like a party that started brilliantly and just kind of fizzled out without anyone declaring it officially over.
Lammens carrying the can for this exit feels a little harsh in the bigger picture. Spain were the better side and probably would have found a way through regardless. But football is brutal like that, and a goalkeeper's error at a World Cup is the sort of thing that gets remembered long after the details of the actual game fade away. The lad will have to live with it, which is genuinely tough.
What happens next for Belgium is the more interesting conversation. The golden generation players are either retired, well past their best, or never quite fulfilled what the hype promised. A rebuilding job is coming whether Belgian football is ready for it or not. Lammens himself is young and will get more chances, but the team around him needs serious work from the ground up.
There is something almost poetic about a generation that promised so much bowing out not with a tactical masterclass or a heroic last stand, but with a moment of individual misfortune. Belgium deserved better as a footballing nation, and their fans certainly did. The golden generation is done. Now the real work starts.
Let me know your thoughts.