Roberto Martinez announces his departure!

Powerless against Croatia (0-0), Belgium finished third in Group F. Result: after a semi-final in 2018, the Red Devils say goodbye to Qatar even before the round of 16. A first for 22 years.

A shock especially for the Belgian golden generation led by Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku. A drama for Roberto Martinez. Appointed at the head of Belgium in August 2016, the Spaniard had arrived with the reputation of a coach practicing an attractive game ideal for the stars of the selection. Expectations were therefore very high.

A bitter end to the reign

In 2018, during the World Cup in Russia, the former Everton coach thought he could touch the Holy Grail by beating Brazil in the quarter-finals. But that was before breaking his teeth on France. This did not prevent him from winning a fine third place. Three years later, the Belgians were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Euros by future champions Italy. In 2022, this huge disillusion during the Qatari World Cup finally signaled the end of Martinez’s reign. At the end of the contract, the Spaniard has announced that he will not seek a new mandate.

“There are no regrets to have today but of course the first two matches. It’s always difficult to win group matches and we didn’t do it. But it’s still the same feeling as losing in the knockout stage. If this is the end of a golden generation? No, there are still players like Tielemans and Doku who will bring great things. The golden generation will bring a lot to the future generation. It’s clearly not enough to be knocked out in this group stage after everything we’ve done. It was my last match as Belgium coach. I say goodbye to the national team, and it’s full of emotion as you can imagine. Elimination does not change anything, even if we had been world champion I would have left. My decision was made before the World Cup”, he confided in a press conference. Belgium will now have to find a new coach.