Brazil ML -150 (2U) 🇧🇷

Belgium To Make Quarterfinals 160 (1U) To Make Semifinals 550 (0.25U) Belgium has always been the ultimate what if story. They were one of the lesser quality European teams historically until their golden generation arrived and passed, featuring guys like Kompany, Courtois, Hazard, Mertens, Vertonghen, Witsel, De Bruyne, and Lukaku. Everyone expected this team to lift a trophy on the big stage, which put massive pressure on them, and they choked time and time again. Now that most of those faces have hung up their cleats, this team has been forgotten and the expectations are completely gone. But I don’t think the story is over for them just yet. They still have a few key guys left from that golden era, Courtois, who is one of the best goalies to ever do it, De Bruyne, the engine and most consistent player for them over the years, and Lukaku, the man responsible for a lot of their past letdowns who is now looking to conquer his ghosts after missing big shot after big shot. So they still possess core leadership that has been through adversity, which is key when identifying potential dark horses. Furthermore, their younger generation is very talented, and I think that is the narrative not getting talked about enough here. Maybe it wasn’t now or never for Belgium. Maybe it was always a culmination of the first golden generation paving a path to bridge with a current generation that provides a much better balance than they had in the past. I’d argue that defensively, they are more complete than ever. In the past, they sometimes had wingers playing full back and full backs playing wing, or slow center backs being forced to play out wide. Now, between the two generations, they have a much deeper roster to work with. Their midfield is highly capable with De Bruyne, Tielemans, and Onana, they have elite wingers in Doku and Trossard, and up top, they have a true perseverance story with Lukaku that can come full circle in this tournament.