The World Cup of Qatar was a major disaster for Belgium’s golden generation. Roberto Martinez’s former side went 1-1-1 only defeating Canada (1-0) and going scoreless against Morocco (0-2 defeat) and Croatia (0-0).
The disappointing tournament resulted in Roberto Martinez resigning from the national team and a bitter pill to swallow for a national team that had big hopes in Qatar 2022. One of the main stars of Belgium, Real Madrid star Eden Hazard has announced his retirement from the national side as a result.
At 31 and after battling a lot of injuries Eden Hazard has decided to step aside and posted on Instagram his heart felt goodbye to the Red Devils.
Eden Hazard retires from Belgium National Team
On Instagram Hazard wrote, “Thank you for your unparalleled support… Thank you for all this happiness shared since 2008. I have decided to put an end to my international career. The succession is ready. I will miss you.”
Hazard began his national team career in 2008 and played a total of 126 games and scored 33 goals. While never winning a major piece of silverware with Belgium, the program reached excellent heights, placing third in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Hazard will now concentrate on his Real Madrid career where he has been playing since 2019. This season Hazard has only made 6 appearances with 1 goal. Hazard has only been reduced to 72 matches in 4 seasons, mostly due to injury and being second choice, despite that the Belgium star has stick it out intended to making it work at Real Madrid.