The Curse of the Golden Generation — Why the Best Teams Never Win Together

Some squads had everything. The talent. The depth. The rankings. The players. And still came home with nothing.

Hungary had Puskas and lost a final they should have won. The Netherlands reached three World Cup finals across three decades and never lifted the trophy once. Belgium had De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku and Courtois all in their prime simultaneously — and the best they managed was third place. Portugal had arguably their most gifted squad ever assembled — and went out in the Round of 16.

And running through two of those failures? The same manager. Roberto Martinez. Two golden generations. Zero finals reached. He resigned from Portugal within minutes of the final whistle.

This is the story of the greatest squads that never won it. And the question of whether it was bad luck, bad leadership, or something football still hasn't figured out how to solve.

💬 Which golden generation do you think was the most wasted? Let us know below.

⚽ Subscribe to First Touch for every World Cup story, every ranking, every angle.

#football #portugal #belgium #worldcup #worldcup2026 #fifa #fifaworldcup2026 #curse

Дата на публикация: 17 юли, 2026
Категория: Спорт
Ключови думи: The Never of Best win Why Together Golden generation Curse teams