Belgium are looking for a new beginning at the World Cup against USA | Belgium

The whiff of unfulfilment lingers around Belgium. The Golden Generation – and the fact it never quite achieved what it might have done – has dominated coverage of their last three tournaments. This perhaps isn’t quite fair – either on those who were part of that group or those who have followed.

Beating Brazil in the quarter-final to reach the semi-final in Russia 2018 was a fine achievement, but that side featuring Vincent Kompany, Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne then lost 1-0 to France in the semi. The squad was good enough to win a tournament, but that was as close as they came. Courtois, Lukaku, De Bruyne, Axel Witsel and the right-back Thomas Meunier have all endured since 2018. The 2026 Belgium squad is not, as 2022 felt, the Golden Generation redux, just a little bit older and a little bit more tired. A new wave is emerging and, while the likes of Leandro Trossard, Youri Tielemans, Jérémy Doku and Charles De Ketelaere may not have quite the star quality of the previous generation, they’re still decent players – perhaps not World Cup winners, but certainly not to be dismissed. And remember, this is Belgium, a country of just under 12 million; it’s not realistic to think it can consistently produce potential world champions.

This squad seems cursed to be judged against the standards of two World Cups ago, somehow blamed for not being as good as their predecessors and at the same time damned for those predecessors’ failure to convert talent into silverware.

A key member of the emerging generation is Diego Moreira, whose introduction from the bench after 63 minutes for Hans Vanaken, a 21-year-old replacing a 33-year-old, was one of the major reasons for the transformation of the 3-2 win against Senegal. Suddenly Belgium had a pace and invention on the left that Doku had not been able to provide. Where Doku had put in just two crosses, Moreira managed five.

Although Liège meatballs are his favourite food, Moreira wanted to play for Portugal. His dream, he has said, was to play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo – although he may look at this tournament and reflect he had a lucky escape. Moreira was born in Liège but qualifies for Portugal through his father, the former Standard midfielder Almami Moreira, who was capped for Portugal at youth level but played senior international football for Guinea-Bissau. Diego’s grandfather was also a footballer, the German forward Helmut Graf, who was part of the Standard side that lost to Barcelona in the 1982 Cup-Winners’ Cup final.

Moreira moved to Portugal to be closer to his father when he was 15, joining Benfica a year later after Standard managed to block an initial switch. He never started a league game there though and was one of the many young talents swept up by BlueCo Chelsea before being offloaded to the junior partner in their multi-club ownership, Strasbourg. He’s been a regular there over the past two seasons and now, at 21, it feels as though he is properly established, part of the emerging future of Belgian football alongside the likes of Joaquin Seys, Nathan Ngoy and Matias Fernandez-Pardo.

It’s unlikely Moreira will start against the US on Monday, despite how disappointing Doku has been so far, but his performance against Senegal means there’s no reason for Rudi Garcia to have any qualms about bringing him on.

Garcia’s substitutions against Senegal were notably bold as, needing two goals, he withdrew Doku and De Bruyne, high-profile figures who might be considered the most obvious source of creativity. On instead came Nicolas Raskin and Dodi Lukébakio, and with them memories of the 1986 World Cup.

Back then, infighting between Anderlecht players led to a defeat to Mexico in their first game. Belgium then ground out a 2-1 win over an Iraq side who had had a man sent off early in the second half. At which the coach Guy Thys dropped five senior players and brought in the likes of Stéphane Demol, who was 20, Patrick Vervoort, who was 21 and Georges Grün, who was 23. It wasn’t an immediate success, as Belgium drew 2-2, but there was a renewed sense of spirit and purpose.

That draw got Belgium through to a last-16 tie against the Soviet Union, in which the 20-year-old Enzo Scifo, a prodigy whose place in the team had never been in doubt, got the first equaliser in a game Belgium eventually won 4-3 after extra time. Spain were seen off on penalties in the quarter-final, leading to a meeting with Argentina in the semi-final and an inevitable Diego Maradona-inflicted exit. The win over the Soviet Union in the last 16, though, had changed the mood.

A victory over the US might achieve something similar. It’s not even so much about this tournament any more, or how far Belgium might go. It’s more about creating something new, shaking off the weariness and sense of underachievement that has dogged Belgian football since that semi-final in St Petersburg, and opening the door to a freer future.

• This is an extract from Soccer Desk: World Cup edition, a newsletter from the Guardian US that will run regularly during the tournament. Subscribe for free here.