As France await, Belgium will look to one man – but can he even save them?

As Belgium’s group-stage campaign came to an end at Euro 2024, there was only one attribute as evident as their innate collective talent: their dependency on Kevin De Bruyne, a player who is not even at his best right now.

This Belgium team has been built upon the fading remnants of a golden generation and the glistening jewels of the next one, but so far in Germany, they have failed to consistently combine. Those shortcomings resulted in the ‘shock’ opening loss to Slovakia, and they resulted in this dispiriting draw with Ukraine.

There were reasons to be encouraged last week, as Belgium saw off Romania and Group E became a literal level playing field, with three points held by each team. Yet most of those reasons could be traced back to De Bruyne.

In truth, his performance was a mixed one, with poor deliveries and shots littered between his well-taken goal and foraging runs in the opposition half. But ultimately that goal, those runs, and his endless pursuit of playing the perfect ball embodied De Bruyne’s most important contribution: a competitive fire that proved crucial.

It was on display once more against Ukraine, but so was the captain’s inconsistency of execution.

His first notable moment was a defence-dividing pass for Romelu Lukaku, who continued his exasperating trend of failing to convert. The striker swung his left boot at the ball while bearing down on goal, but in doing so swung himself off balance. He could only scuff his shot as he tumbled to the turf.

Soon thereafter, De Bruyne was denied an assist not by a faltering teammate but by a laser pointer. The Manchester City midfielder expressed his anger to the referee, having been distracted while trying to take a corner.

Next, he found the side-netting with a shrewd attempt on goal via a free-kick. With his teammates and opponents expecting a curled cross into the Ukraine box, the 32-year-old instead whipped a shot at the near post. Goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scrambled to cover the gap inside the woodwork, but De Bruyne’s delivery went the wrong side of it – just.

With the final notable act of the first half, De Bruyne swept a shot towards the opposite corner, the top left, but he caused Trubin much less concern this time.

In the second half, one chipped corner to Youri Tielemans drifted down too slowly. Tielemans controlled the ball with his chest, but he was rushed into his shot by a marauding Ukraine defender, and the chance was snuffed out.

De Bruyne’s City teammate Jeremy Doku did his best to bring some danger, darting up Belgium’s left flank as frequently as he could, using his speed and skill to decent effect. But, as with De Bruyne, the end product was elusive.

In fact, in the final phases, Ukraine came closer to breaking the deadlock than Belgium. On 79 minutes, Artem Dovbyk drove a shot into the side-netting from inside the Belgian box. Not long thereafter, an Andriy Yarmolenko corner was barely shovelled off the line by Belgium keeper Koen Casteels.

All in all, it was a tense affair in Stuttgart. With Slovakia and Romania drawing elsewhere, each team was on four points and Belgium were second in the group – yet still at risk of cascading to the bottom of the pool. With that in mind, a draw suited Belgium but not Ukraine, while a loss would have been devastating for either. In the end, Ukraine were devastated, while Belgium were relieved.

This goalless stalemate was far from the worst outcome for Domenico Tedesco’s team, yet it was also far from ideal, setting up a last-16 clash with France.

Belgian fans will think of the 2018 World Cup semi-final. They will think of France’s professional performance. They will think of that abrupt end to Belgium’s progress, as Les Bleus closed in on their second world title.

And while six years have passed, including two major tournaments, France resemble their world-conquering selves more closely than Belgium resemble their team from that time. Although France, like Belgium here, finished second in their Euro 2024 group, they will still be clear favourites on Monday.

Yet Tedesco’s side still have a game winner: Kevin De Bruyne. He could not win this game against Ukraine, but he will relish the chance to take revenge against France.