With the help of Belgian journalist Gillaume Maebe, we take a look at the Good, Bad and Ugly aspects of the 3rd placed team in the FIFA world rankings.

The Good

We’ve seen the likes of Argentine star Lionel Messi and Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo take centre stage in Russia but Belgium has their own bonafide world class stars as well.

Not surprisingly Chelsea's Eden Hazard, Manchester City’s midfield maestro Kevin De Brynne and Manchester United's powerful striker Romelu Lukaku will be all that is good for Belgium in Russia.

“Eden Hazard has never been better for the national team,” says Maebe speaking to FourFourTwo.

“In the 3-4-2-1 formation of Belgium, coach Roberto Martinez has the 2014/15 PFA player of the year in a key role and he will be the man who can speed things up with just one action.

Next to that, there is Kevin De Bruyne (KDB) who doesn't play alongside him anymore, but plays directly behind him.

“This means you have the passes of KDB from the midfield and the dribbles from Hazard running in between the lines and behind the space of Lukaku.

"This gives the Red Devils two vital and deadly weapons.”

The Bad

It’s a common theme for any attack minded team that having a tight defence will be their greatet challenge for sucess and for Belgium it will be no different. 

“The bad is the defence, and boy does that defence look bad," says Maebe.

“Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld know what to do in the three at the back system, but with Vincent Kompany and Thomas Vermaelen injured, there is a big problem in the heart of the defensive line.

 

“Laurent Ciman has proven to be bad at it against Egypt, while Dedryck Boyata wasn't better against Costa Rica the other day.

"Against strong teams we'll find it difficult, because the attacking formation we play with means that the wings are vulnerable.”

and the Ugly

“The ugly for Belgium are the growing list of injuries,” says Maebe. 

“Belgian players finally have shown that they have a chance in winning something with the national team, but it will be difficult to say how they will react to our latest injury setbacks

"As mentioned Kompany is a big concern and so is Lukaku who was injured for Manchester United during the recent EPL season.

“During the tournament I expect that Hazard will receive a lot of kicks from opponents so, to win the World Cup we need everybody fit for all of the seven games.”