Back to the Soccer Newsfeed

How Belgium's stars can shine

Related Topics: Marc Wilmots, Eden Hazard, Belgium

Reputations can change quickly at major international tournaments and Belgium manager Marc Wilmots might be scratching his head given the extraordinary turnaround of his side's status over the past week.

Belgium were essentially written off following their opening Euro 2016 fixture, a 2-0 defeat to an unfancied Italian side who nevertheless outclassed them tactically and hit them on the counter-attack.

Since then, though, Belgium have won three matches in a row, scoring eight unanswered goals in the process. They start the quarterfinals as third-favourites to win the competition, behind hosts France and world champions Germany.

Amazingly, the defeat to Italy explains that status as much as the three victories.