Eden Hazard Retires from International Football: His Belgium Career in Shirts
Eden Hazard has retired from international football, so here we take a look at all the shirts he wore throughout his time with the Belgian national team.
Eden Hazard's Career in Shirts
An international career that had so much promise has come to a disappointing end. Eden Hazard was a central figure of Belgium's "golden generation" who never quite managed to live up to the expectations placed upon them. Blunt performances and tension within the squad led to their exit at the group stage of this year's World Cup and Hazard has decided to call it quits. Plagued by injuries since his move to Real Madrid, the tail end of his career is not going exactly as he might have planned, but he did have some better times in the Red Devils' shirt.
Hazard made his senior international debut in 2008 when Nike were still making Belgium's kits. Hazard played his first few games of senior international football in the same simple Nike shirt, before that contract expired in 2010.
Burrda then took over as technical sponsor but they - and Hazard - would have to wait until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil to make their first tournament appearance, where Belgium were knocked out in the quarter finals by eventual finalists Argentina. Burrda produced four different kits for Belgium during their partnership before the deal ran out in 2015.
Adidas came in and took their place, giving Belgium a set of teamwear kits initially before creating something more bespoke for Euro 2016. They entered the tournaments with hopes of going all the way, but were stunned by Wales in the quarter finals. They went one better in 2018 with their retro-inspired jersey, reaching the semi-finals but losing to eventual champions France.
At Euro 2020, Belgium's shirt was a downgrade on the last one and they were eliminated one round sooner than at their last tournament, yet again by the team who would go on to win the whole thing. Hazard had picked up an injury and so he wasn't able to play a part in that quarter-final loss to Italy.
Their 2022 World Cup shirt is memorable for its interesting design, but the team's poor performances while wearing it will not do its legacy any favours. Nonetheless, Hazard played 126 times for Belgium and scored 33 goals, so he will have plenty of fond memories from his years with the team. It's still a shame that it had to end like this, and unfortunately he will probably not be the only member of the golden generation to bow out on a low.
Hopefully Hazard will now focus on getting his club career back on track, staying fit and rediscovering some of the form that made him a world-beater in his Chelsea days.
Which is your favourite Belgium shirt that Hazard wore? Comment below.
