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Ammon News - The temptation for Luka Modric, when he shakes hands with his Real Madrid colleague and opposing international captain this evening, must be to make a sly joke at the expense of Eden Hazard’s Belgium.

“Are we too old as well?” Croatia’s Modric could ask, gently rubbing salt in one of the many wounds collected by the Belgians during their fractious first week of World Cup action.

A curious remark in an interview given by Kevin de Bruyne, 31, about Belgium’s World Cup chances – “we’re too old,” he said – has been followed by well-sourced reports of a dressing-room bust-up and finger-pointing between senior players.

There are simmering questions, inside and outside the camp, over whether Belgium’s so-called Golden Generation are slowing up, their manager Roberto Martinez missing opportunities to refresh the line-up with younger men.

The fact is, Croatia might pose themselves similar questions – Modric is 37, one of five over-30s who were in their side in their opening Group F draw against Morocco – except the loyalty shown by their manager Zlatko Dalic to his seniors has yielded four points so far.

It means they go into the last group fixture needing only a draw to progress. Belgium – who fielded six over-30s in the starting XI who lost 2-0 to Morocco – must win to guarantee a place in the last 16.

Martinez, who acknowledges there have been “tensions” within the squad following lacklustre displays against Canada – a 1-0 win – and Morocco, said on Wednesday that the make-or-break meeting between his bronze-medallists from Russia 2018 and that tournament’s finalists “can be the moment our World Cup begins, a second chance we have to seize.”