In the latest FIFA national team rankings, Belgium is no longer the number one in the world, but has been pushed to the second position by five-star Brazil.

Since September 20, 2018, Belgium has held the number one position in the world for three and a half years.

　　In the 2022 World Cup group draw, Belgium is one of the seeded teams as the second best in the world.

Belgium, the third runner-up in the last World Cup, were divided into Group F. The opponents in the same group included the last runner-up Croatia, as well as the African powerhouse Morocco, and Canada, which returned to the World Cup after 36 years.

　　As the former No. 1 in the world, Belgium has caused a lot of controversy in recent years.

Although Belgium is full of stars and has famous players such as De Bruyne, Lukaku, Courtois, Hazard, etc., the "Red Devils" have never been able to win top championships, just like tennis can't win Grand Slam championships but can Rely on the high winning percentage of the world's No. 1 athlete.

　　In fact, Belgium has been the backdrop for the champions in a row.

In the European Cup last year, Belgium was eliminated 1-2 by Italy in the quarter-finals, and Italy finally won the championship trophy.

In the UEFA Nations League semi-finals last year, Belgium once led 2-0, but were reversed by their old rival France 3-2, and France successfully won the championship trophy.

　　Although Belgium was surpassed by Brazil, the most commendable game in recent years was against Brazil.

In the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup, Belgium eliminated the favourites Brazil 2-1, De Bruyne scored the winning goal, and "Little Monster" Lukaku sent him an assist.

Midfield superstar De Bruyne is often criticized for being soft on the big scene, and that game could justify his name.

　　Now, Belgium has finally unloaded the "burden" of the world's number one and can play lightly.

But what Belgian coach Martinez has to face is that Belgium and Croatia will become the two oldest teams in the 2022 World Cup if they play with the existing backbone.

　　Martinez has to train new players, so in the last two warm-up games, he refused to recruit players who represented Belgium with more than 50 appearances, hoping to give fringe players and young players more performance time. De Bruyne, Lukaku and Courtois and other leading players get a chance to rest.

In the warm-up match against Ireland, Belgium led twice and was equalized twice.

It was because of this draw that Belgium lost the world No. 1 spot, as Brazil have won both of their last two games.

　　The last World Cup held in Asia was the 2002 World Cup. At that time, there was no lack of fantasy. Strong teams such as France, Argentina, Portugal and Croatia failed to qualify for the group.

When the World Cup returns to Asia, Belgium and Croatia cannot be taken lightly.

In the last World Cup, Belgium lost to France 0-1 in the semi-finals, and defeated England 2-0 in the third place competition. Among the top four teams, they only missed the opportunity to face Croatia.

In the third round of this year's World Cup group stage, Belgium will have a strong dialogue with Croatia.

　　Regarding the grouping of this World Cup, Martinez spoke cautiously: "It is a difficult grouping for different reasons. Belgium and Morocco have a lot of origins, and our Fellaini and Chadley are of Moroccan descent. Canada's performance in the preliminaries Very good and will play a great game with us. Croatia is well known to everyone and the runners-up at the last World Cup is not just for nothing."

　　Reporter Liu Yi