Lammens' error spells end for Belgium's golden generation

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: Lammens' error spells end for Belgium's golden generation Figure caption, Merino pounces on Lammens' mistake to score late winner for SpainByAlex BrothertonBBC Sport journalistPublished5 hours agoFairytale goodbyes are a rarity in football. Belgium's 2-1 defeat by Spain in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup likely marked the final bow of the four remaining members of the Red Devils' golden generation. Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne and Axel Witsel have been mainstays of the national team since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but their final chance of winning football's biggest prize ended with a mistake from one of their successors.

The injured Courtois, replaced midway through the second half, could only watch as 24-year-old Senne Lammens spilled an 88th-minute shot and Mikel Merino tucked home the rebound. "Lammens doesn't cover himself in any glory. He didn't make a mistake for Man United last year but this is another pressure," said Stephen Warnock on Radio 5 Live.

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The next generation's time will come, but it felt a sad way for the old guard to depart. 'They could have had one last hurrah - everyone deserves to go far'Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Kevin de Bruyne has made 124 appearances for BelgiumThe Belgian side that beat Algeria 2-1 in their opening group stage game of the 2014 World Cup read like an all-star fantasy team of players in their prime. Courtois, De Bruyne, Witsel and Lukaku all started, as did Eden Hazard, Mousa Dembele and Vincent Kompany, with Dries Mertens and Marouane Fellaini coming off the bench.

Belgium topped their group in their first World Cup since 2002 and reached the quarter-finals, before going one better and reaching the final four in 2018 and winning the third-place play-off. The same group of players reached the quarter-finals of both Euro 2016 and 2020, before crashing out of the group stages of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Critics say such a talented group should have achieved more, but for a nation of less than 12 million people, was international success ever a realistic aim?

"To be a golden generation you have to win some gold and then you can be called that," said Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague. "It's put the expectations very high in Belgium and it's interesting that people look back at that group of players because with Lukaku, De Bruyne, Tielemans, Trossard they have actually had a good run. "They were third in the last World Cup and that seems to have been forgotten with Roberto Martinez as their manager.

I'm not sure how much more you could ask for. "In the context of other teams like an England side that had the golden age, with an Italy that have had such experience and managed to get a wonderful Euros, with Spain on the up as well, to demand Belgium to win is a maybe a little bit too much.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.