IT'S certainly a one-off that a European team which has failed to qualify for a major tournament since the 2002 World Cup can generally be regarded as fifth favourites to win football's greatest crown - but I guess that's what happens when a perfect storm of a 'golden generation' comes together at exactly the right time.

 

Outright odds: 11/2 

To win group: 8/11

To qualify: 1/6

 

Full squad: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Sammy Bossut (Zulte-Waregem); Toby Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid), Anthony Vanden Borre (Anderlecht), Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Munich), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur), Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal), Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Laurent Ciman (Standard Liege); Axel Witsel (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Steven Defour (Porto), Moussa Dembele, Nacer Chadli (both Tottenham Hotspur), Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg); Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea), Divock Origi (Lille), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Kevin Mirallas (Everton), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United)

Manager: Marc Wilmots

World Cup record: Fourth (1986), 2nd round/last 16 (1982, 1990, 1994, 2002)

How they qualified (most recent first): Belgium were one of seven European sides to book their ticket to Brazil without losing a single game and with a points margin of nine over second-placed Croatia, only Holland matched them in this regard.

Drawn with Croatia, Wales, Serbia, Scotland and Macedonia, Marc Wilmots' side won eight out of their 10 games but it would have been nine had they kept focus against the Welsh in the last few minutes of their final game rather than preparing for a Brussels qualification party.

As comfortable as their passage to Brazil was in terms of points, Belgium hardly ever blew their opponents away in terms of scorelines, which will be discussed later, but the winning habit is certainly something they possess.

v Wales (home) 1-1 (HT 0-0) De Bruyne 64

v Croatia (away) 2-1 (HT 2-0) Lukaku 15, 38

v Scotland (away) 2-0 (HT 1-0) Defour 38, Mirallas 88

v Serbia (home) 2-1 (HT 1-0) De Bruyne 13, Fellaini 60

v Macedonia (home) 1-0 (HT 0-0) Hazard 62

v Macedonia (away) 2-0 (HT 1-0) De Bruyne 26, Hazard 62

v Scotland (home) 2-0 (HT 0-0) Benteke 69, Kompany 71

v Serbia (away) 3-0 (HT 1-0) Benteke 34, De Bruyne 68, Mirallas 90+1

v Croatia (home) 1-1 (HT 1-1) Gillet 45+2

v Wales (away) 2-0 (HT 1-0) Kompany 41, Vertonghen 83

Goalscorers: Belgium tended to spread their 18 goals around but it was former Chelsea midfielder Kevin De Bruyne who netted the most with four.

Romelu Lukaku bagged a brace in the World Cup qualification-clinching 2-1 victory at Croatia - but they were his only goals - while Christian Benteke, Kevin Mirallas and Vincent Kompany also weighed in with two each.

However, Aston Villa striker Benteke will miss the finals due to injury, meaning Lukaku is now set for more game time.

Half-time/full-time: Belgium were leading four games at half-time during the group stages and went on to win all of them. Interestingly they were never behind in any game at the break although they needed a goal deep into first-half stoppage time from Guillaume Gillet in their 1-1 home draw with Croatia. Eight of their 18 goals came in the first half of games while they only conceded one goal before the interval.

Clean sheets: Considering Belgium only conceded four games in total and never more than one in any match, it's no surprise to learn they kept as many as six clean sheets during the qualifying stages.

Win to nil: Six of their eight wins were to nil although only once did they manage to score more than two goals in a game - the 3-0 victory over Serbia. Clearly their route to Brazil was built on a firm foundation at the back rather than blowing teams away up front.

Cards: Counting reds as two, Belgium's 10 World Cup qualification matches produced 34 cards. Of these, Belgium received 12 yellows and no reds.

Other competitive internationals: None during the qualification process or since.

Build-up (most recent first): Belgium have played five international friendlies since the 1-1 draw with Wales but they've only managed to win two of those - the recent 5-1 triumph over Luxembourg and impressive 2-0 victory in Sweden. They suffered defeats to Colombia and Japan before drawing with Ivory Coast - results which may somewhat cool the growing interest in Belgium from punters.

v Sweden (away) 2-0 (HT 1-0) Lukaku 34, Hazard 78

v Luxembourg (home) 5-1 (HT 2-1) Lukaku 3, 23, 54, Chadli 71, De Bruyne 90+1

v Ivory Coast (home) 2-2 (1-0) Fellaini 17, Nainggolan 51

v Japan (home) 2-3 (HT 1-1) Mirallas 15, Alderweireld 79

v Colombia (home) 0-2 (HT 0-0)

Team verdict: It's certainly a one-off that a European team which has failed to qualify for a major tournament since the 2002 World Cup can generally be regarded as fifth favourites to win football's greatest crown - but I guess that's what happens when a perfect storm of a 'golden generation' comes together at exactly the right time.

However, while the star names in their squad are plentiful and easy to pick out, very few of them have experience of a major international tournament at senior level and that's a factor which can't be ignored.

How players gel together - both in training and socially - during a month-long tournament is pivotal to their efforts on the pitch and there have been a number of examples in the past when fall-outs in camp can ruin everything. That's not to say there's any suggestion of disharmony within the Belgium squad - the excitement of this first-time experience may well improve camaraderie - but other countries' federations may be better drilled at organising their team's World Cup adventure on the back of previous campaigns and this can have knock-on effects on how the players prepare and ultimately perform.

Many would still expect the Belgians to progress to the next round although don't expect them to steamroller opposition considering they only scored 18 goals in their 10 qualifying games and have hardly looked that impressive during recent friendlies.

They will, of course, also be without injured striker Christian Benteke which can't be ignored as a key factor.

A run to the quarter-finals is the best they can hope for in my opinion but, as explained later in this analysis, a group-stage exit wouldn't exactly surprise me.