Belgium Vs Egypt Opens Seattle Run for No. 9 Belgium
Belgium vs Egypt lands Monday in Seattle with Belgium arriving in its tournament base, Longacres, and carrying a one-year unbeaten run into its opener. The match is the first real checkpoint for a side that is moving on from its old core while still arriving with No. 9 status and one of the tournament’s 12 seeded draws.
Seattle Base for Belgium
Belgium will use the Sounders’ Longacres facility as its training center during the tournament, and Seattle now becomes the team’s home base for the first stretch of group play. If Belgium finishes first in the group, it could stay in Seattle for both the Rounds of 32 and 16, giving the opener against Egypt an immediate edge in tournament positioning.
The group stage is short and direct from there. Belgium closes out Group play against New Zealand in Vancouver on June 26, so the Monday result in Seattle sets up the path that follows. A win would keep the group door open; anything else makes the final match carry more weight.
De Bruyne and Belgium's Transition
Kevin De Bruyne remains one of the recognizable figures from Belgium’s prior golden-generation core, but the team is now being measured against a different standard. Belgium has not lost in more than a year, which is the cleanest form line it brings into Seattle, even as the roster reflects a generational shift away from the group that defined the country for nearly a decade.
That older side left behind a record of 1,502 caps and 256 goals, with the nation’s eight most capped players and top three goalscorers ever spread across that era. Yet the collection never delivered a major trophy. Belgium’s best finish was third place at the 2018 World Cup, and it also reached the quarterfinals three times in four other major tournaments before a group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup.
Golden Generation's Legacy
The previous core still shaped Belgium’s place in the global game. Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Mousa Dembele were central to Belgium’s best period in Tottenham Hotspur’s modern history, while Dries Mertens, Axel Witsel, Thomas Munier, Yannick Carrasco, Thomas Vermaelen and Marouane Felliani also carried major roles. De Bruyne and Eden Hazard were each viewed as the Premier League’s best player at different points, Vincent Kompany and Thibaut Courtois were regarded as among the best in their positions, and the group also collected 10 EPL titles at Manchester City and Chelsea, plus a Serie A title, three La Liga titles and three UEFA Champions League titles between them.
That history is now the backdrop, not the main event. Belgium is in Seattle, the opener is Monday, and the first answer to this transition comes against Egypt.
