Belgium star Hazard announces retirement from international football

Belgium star Eden Hazard announced his retirement from international football on Wednesday, days after the team crashed out of the World Cup in the group stage. The Real Madrid forward, 31, made the announcement on social media, saying “a page turns today”.

Hazard, an attacking midfielder or winger, made his Belgium debut in 2008 as a teenager and collected a total of 126 caps, scoring 33 goals. He was the standard-bearer of Belgium’s much-vaunted “golden generation”, which reached the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The team is still ranked second in the world by FIFA, but many of its players are in their 30s and finished third in Group F behind Morocco and Croatia.