National coach Roberto Martinez had no preference in advance regarding the opponents, but he did want to start the World Cup as late as possible. Because the World Cup is played in Qatar in the winter due to the heat, hardly any time has been made available for preparation.
Martinez was served at his beck and call, because Belgium gets a few days of respite. 2 days after the opening match (the not so attractive Qatar-Ecuador poster), Belgium comes into action for the first time.
The opponent is Canada, which was fished out of pot 4. The Canadians are only there for the second time at the World Cup, but they did win the North and Central American preliminary round with boys like Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan.
4 days after that match, on November 27, Belgium gives the Morocco of, among others, Ghent player Tarik Tissoudali. The Moroccans qualified for the World Cup in the barrages against Congo. Belgium has already played in a World Cup against Morocco. In 1994 it won 1-0.
The last group match, on December 1, will be Croatia. 4 years ago they were the tournament surprise, when the Croats made it to the final against France.
A spicy side effect is that in qualifying for the 1/8th finals, Belgium will in any case play against the number 1 or 2 of group E, with Spain, Germany, Japan and Costa Rica or New Zealand.
