France and Holland are supposed to be footballing giants, but both have been upstaged by their European neighbour, Belgium.
The Dutch didn't even qualify and the French… well, we all know what happened to them.
Belgium have far more limited resources, and admittedly they may not have set the World Cup alight but they knew what they were capable of and duly got on with the job.
After drawing their opening match with Japan, a place in the knockout stages looked remote to say the least.
But they got the better of Russia in an exciting final game, booked a ticket for the match against Brazil and again gave a good account of themselves.
They have their very own captain courageous in Marc Wilmots and his three goals were instrumental in their success on his international farewell. It was a good way to go out.
