ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – The nature of international tournaments is that perspective changes quickly. Four days ago, Belgium’s golden generation beat Brazil and looked as though it might at last be about to deliver on its immense promise. On Tuesday, it lost to France 1-0 in the World Cup semifinal, and now there is a clear sense of the clock ticking. The window of opportunity for a nation such as Belgium, from which the flow of talent isn’t constant, is narrow, and the sense, rather suddenly, is that for this team it is closing.
The margins are desperately fine.