It was up in the air, but this morning (Wednesday) it became official: Eden Hazard announced his retirement from the Belgium national team.
The 31-year-old Hazard, who barely plays for Real Madrid, but from Roberto Martinez received the team shirt in the World Cup in Qatar that ended in an embarrassing relegation for the Red Devils, chose not to continue with the team for the qualifiers for the 2024 European Championship and said goodbye: “I have decided to end my international career. The next generation is already Ready. Thank you for all the support and the beautiful moments we shared together since 2008. I will miss you very much,” the contact wrote.
Hazard, according to a report in “HLN”, informed his teammates of his decision to retire already after the Belgium team drew 0:0 against Croatia in the group stage final round and thus officially ended its journey in the World Cup in Qatar. Even six days later, he did not change his decision and now announced his retirement via Instagram.
Following his precarious position to say the least at Real Madrid and in an attempt to restore his career, three and a half years after he was sold from Chelsea to Real Madrid for approximately 100 million euros and since then he has not been able to restore his ability in the Premier League, Hazard decided to retire from the national team at the end of 14 years, during which he made 126 appearances, scored 33 goals and netted another 36. He made his debut at the age of 17 against Luxembourg in November of 2008. Unfortunately, his last appearance illustrated how much his status in the national team was also damaged – he started the World Cup as a squad player, but in his and his team’s last game in Qatar he only came off the bench in the 87th minute .