Belgium's Blueprint, Croatia's Chaos, and the Murky Path to World Cup Glory

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — As with every one of these journeys that is transformed by hindsight into a road map, Belgium’s route to the World Cup semifinals started out in bitter disappointment.

Twenty years ago, the country sent an industrious, unremarkable team to France for the 1998 tournament. Belgium did not lose a game, but its three draws — with the Netherlands, Mexico and South Korea — were not enough to escape the group. It was hardly a grand humiliation, but it was enough to convince the Belgian soccer authorities that something had to change.