Alderweireld: Belgium’s World Cup squad is the weakest, must improve now

Belgium’s World Cup campaign hit fresh lows after a 0-0 draw with Iran. The result leaves the Diables Rouges staring at an early exit. Toby Alderweireld and Marc Degryse joined the chorus of criticism aimed at the national team. The first-place spot in the group now looks increasingly distant following Egypt’s 3-1 win over New Zealand. Alderweireld labelled the squad “the weakest at the World Cup” in an interview with **. “With this group, you have to finish first, full stop,” he said. “They need to realise it’s five to midnight.” Alderweireld questioned the current form of key players, singling out Thibaut Courtois as an exception. “Despite promising preparation before the tournament, several starters are below par,” he said. “The decisive players—apart from Courtois—are not delivering. That’s problematic. We simply need to do much better, overall.”

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Marc Degryse echoed the concerns, citing a lack of collective automatisms within the starting XI. “I still believe this group should have been won,” he said. “We have better players than Iran and Egypt. You should be able to beat them. But collectively, we’re not at the stage where we can find solutions blindly—and that’s an issue.” Both former internationals stressed the urgency ahead of Belgium’s final group match. “There’s too little progress in the team’s play,” Degryse added. “Automatisms are missing. That’s the core problem.”

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Alderweireld: “Ce groupe est le plus faible de la Coupe du monde.” With one game left, Belgium must improve not only results but also their performance. Failure to do so risks an early exit from the tournament.