Belgium’s World Cup 2022 draw in Group F is a "really tough" one, Red Devils head coach Roberto Martinez said on the Belgian Football Union’s Twitter account.
"A really tough draw for different reasons, but fantastic teams to look forward to," Martinez said in a first reaction to the Group F line-up – Belgium, Morocco, Canada and Croatia. He noted that Morocco’s team has many players with links to Belgium, Canada had a "really strong qualification" campaign, while Croatia "that we know well from [World Cup] 2018 is a really competitive team."
"It’s good that we play our first game a little later so our preparation can be a little bit longer and probably we could do a friendly in front of our fans," he said. "That would be a great send-off."
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) April 1, 2022
The top two teams in Belgium’s group come up against the leaders of Group E – which includes Spain and Germany – in the final 16, ahead of a quarter-final that could possibly be against Brazil or Portugal.
After the group phase, the table presents two different pictures, according to Martinez. The first four groups have fewer Top 10 teams than the last four, so it will probably be "final after final," with the "real final" probably being the least of them all, he noted, adding that that’s how draws are.
The first priority is to focus on moving forward out of the group, he said, adding that the Devils will be coming up against three very different teams and will need to find responses fast.
