Belgium's aging golden generation keeping the Red Flame alive

RED HOT: Belgium's Tessa Wullaert duriung Belgium Women's Squad Training at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Pic: INPHO/Dan Clohessy

Three European Championship final appearances in a row underlines the strength of the Belgium team which Ireland will face on Friday — but this is the last shot at World Cup qualification for their golden generation.

Janice Cayman (37), Justine Vanhaevermaet (33) and Tessa Wullaert (32) have formed the spine of this Red Flames that peaked in 2020 by reaching 17th in the world.

Their wait for a major tournament was ended in 2017 when they qualified for the Euros in nearby Netherlands but it was the delayed next instalment, the 2022 version in England, where that marched all the way to the quarter-finals. Sweden’s single-goal victory denied them a semi-final shot against the host nation and eventual champions.

They eventually beat the English in April of this year, prevailing 3-2 in Leuven – the venue of Tuesday’s second leg against Ireland.

Wullaert’s brace in that Uefa Nations League A victory helped swell her haul to the nation’s record of 93 from her 146 appearances. Cayman holds the highest amount of caps at 163 and is capable of chipping in too, illustrated by her 46 goals.

They finished third in an excruciatingly difficult Nations League group behind Euro champs England and World Cup winners Spain, with six points from 24.

That’s forced this playoff against Ireland, second in their League B group, to determine which team starts the World Cup qualifiers in February among the top tier of 16 countries across Europe.

This is Belgium’s first game since July 11, when they completed the Euros by beating Portugal 2-1 in the group phase.