Despite 6 points from 6, and qualification for the next round secured after today's 1-0 victory over Russia, things still haven't seemed to fall into place for Belgium. The Red Devils, who have been repeatedly brandished with the "Dark Horses" title, have struggled to replicate their impressive qualifying form on the big stage. They have look disjointed, rigid and, at times, erratic. Wilmots has relied on the impact of his substitutes, with Belgium's 3 goals coming from the bench. They have looked like a team of individuals, rather than the brutish unit that walked through the qualifying stage.

None more so than Romelu Lukaku. The young Belgian attacker, who has been pivotal to the recent success of the Belgian national team, has, as of now, failed to live up to pre-tournament hype. Having been impressive in the lead-up to the tournament, (scoring twice in the last qualifying game with Croatia, and scoring 4 goals in 2 friendlies) the fan's disappointment of losing marksman Christian Benteke had subsided, as they looked forward to big things from the talisman.

115 minutes and one touch in the opposition's penalty area, however, doubts are quickly consuming the believers. Things just haven't seem to fallen into place for Everton's on-loan goalscorer. It's hard to believe just how poor he's been up to now. In theory, in the 4-3-3 deployed by Wilmots, (see below) Lukaku is regarded as the loan target man, who can, as well as holding the ball up and bringing others into play, provides the main goalscoring threat for the Belgians. He should also spend the majority of his time in and around the opponent's penalty area, while creating space for the wingers.

In practice, however, it simply hasn't happened. Lukaku has struggled to impact the game in any way, other than breaking down his own sides attacks. His 77% passing accuracy is notably average, but what frightens most fans is that he has had just one shot on goal and one touch in the opposition penalty area. Lukaku is simply playing too far from goal, drifting away from the penalty area in an attempt to attain possession, displayed on the heat maps below:

Lukaku isn't exactly doing himself any favours off the field either. With captain Vincent Kompany "Romelu has a tremendous amount of talent, and for us it's about not putting pressure on a 21-year-old kid to do it for us at a World Cup. “A lot of other people will take the responsibility. He is only 21 so he probably has two or more World Cups left, so there is no pressure on his shoulders. “If he performs well for us we will be happy, but the most important thing is he puts in his performance for the benefit of the group and he'll be okay.”

And coach Marc Wilmots "Romelu had run 6.5 kilometres in 55 minutes. He exhausted the Algerians. He didn't get any room and it was hard for him because there wasn't any pace to the game, but his hard work got the Algerians out of breath." “Just because he hasn’t scored for a change doesn’t mean Romelu has suddenly lost his confidence. Let’s not blow this out of proportion. I have faith in him and so do his teammates. Romelu is a world-class striker. Maybe Origi will start a game at some point and Romelu comes on after 55 minutes. What’s the problem? There is no problem.” attempting to ease the rising pressure on him, Lukaku responded, asking for Maroune Fellaini to be deployed alongside him

“It is always better for me when Fellaini plays. He can give power and presence in the box,” he said. “The defenders always have an eye on Fellaini and that then creates space for me. The next game will be much better, as in the first game we played under a lot of pressure.”

When Fellaini wasn't deployed beside the "isolated" (Eden Hazard) Lukaku, he struggled to retain possession, and was substituted once again on the hour mark. After the game, Wilmots attempted to avoid questions about Lukaku, unitl eventually admitting that he isn't happy “It’s not a problem,” Wilmots said. “That’s normal. It happened to me as well. He had to go to the bench after 55 minutes. Of course, he’s not happy.”

He certainly doesn't look happy, and whether he will be retained in the starting XI ahead of Divock Origi, scorer of two goals from the bench, remains to be seen. Although he remains pivotal to Belgium's World Cup hopes, his poor form as of now raises questions of how long the faith bestowed upon him will remain. What's certain, however, is that Lukaku needs to buck up his ideas, or he and his Belgian colleagues will be heading out earlier than expected.