In sport, a golden generation or golden team is an exceptionally gifted group of players of similar age, whose achievements reach or are expected to reach a level of success beyond that which their team had previously achieved. The term was first being cited by the media for Portugal's success during the FIFA Youth Championships in both 1989 and 1991. Alternatively, it can describe a group of players at a club, who typically are the same age group and often came through the club academy together. Often, a golden generation is given a nickname, such as "The Class of 92" or "The Bengan Boys".
Below is a list of teams who have been referred to by the media as golden generations, most of which played in the 21st century.
Basketball
Argentina (2000–2012) Led by Manu Ginóbili and accompanied by players like Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto, Carlos Delfino, Andres Nocioni, Pablo Prigioni and Walter Herrmann, the Argentina national basketball team between 2000 and 2012 has been referred to as "the golden generation". The team won gold in the Americas Championship 2001, silver in 2002 FIBA World Championship, gold in Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics, gold in FIBA Diamond Ball 2008, bronze in Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and gold in 2011 FIBA Americas Championship, resulting in Argentina reaching the first position in the FIBA Men's Ranking at the end of the 2008 Olympic Games.
Croatia (1992–1995) The Croatian basketball team's "golden generation" refers to the group of players who won a silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, bronze at the 1993 and 1995 EuroBasket, and bronze at the 1994 World Championship. Key players included legends like Dražen Petrović, Toni Kukoč, and Dino Rađa, who, along with other talented athletes, brought Croatia immediate success after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Football Europe
Belgium (2014–2026) During the 10 years from 2002 to 2012 in which Belgium failed to qualify for major tournaments, a golden generation matured, many of whom gained both prime individual and team awards in foreign European clubs and competitions. These include Eden Hazard, who at his peak was one of the top players in the world; defender and former captain Vincent Kompany; Kevin De Bruyne, who is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation; and Romelu Lukaku, who is currently Belgium's all-time top scorer. Other key players of this golden generation include Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Yannick Carrasco, Axel Witsel, Mousa Dembélé, Dries Mertens, Marouane Fellaini, Thomas Vermaelen, and Toby Alderweireld. These players helped Belgium finish in third place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the team's best ever performance at the World Cup; and reach number one in the FIFA World Rankings for the first time in November 2015.
At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium performed excellently, earning themselves a third-place finish. Captain Hazard won the Silver Ball as the second best player of the tournament behind Luka Modrić whereas goalkeeper Courtois was awarded the Golden Glove for his performance during the tournament.
Numerous sports commentators marked Belgium's elimination from the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup as the end of Belgium's golden generation. Ahead of that tournament, midfielder De Bruyne had responded with "No chance, we're too old" to a question about Belgium's chances of winning the World Cup. Similarly, Hazard stated that they had "a better chance to win four years ago." De Bruyne echoed these sentiments, stating, "I think our chance was 2018. We have a good team, but it is aging." Of the 26 players on the 2022 squad, 11 were at least 30 years old during the 2022 World Cup. Coach Roberto Martínez resigned following Belgium's elimination after six years with the team.
Belgium managed to reach the Quarter-Finals of the 2026 World Cup, despite low expectations, with several of the remaining ‘golden generation’ players participating in their last performance.
They managed to equalise with European Champions Spain, but succumbed to a 2-1 loss, due to a goalkeeping error, less than two minutes after their veteran goalkeeper Thibaut Cortois was substituted with an injury in the last few minutes of the game. Many commentators agreed that this would inevitably be the last World Cup for the last remaining stars of the Belgium golden generation.
Croatia (1996–1999, 2017–2026) Croatia's first golden football generation was the team from the late 1990s, which in their first ever major international competition at the 1996 EURO played the quarter-finals against Germany and won the bronze medal at the 1998 FIFA World Cup which was also their first ever World Cup appearance. This generation is remembered for key players like Davor Šuker, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinečki, and Robert Jarni. The team's success, including Šuker winning the Golden Boot, earned them a third-place FIFA ranking in January 1999 marking the fastest ascension in FIFA ranking history and established them as a major force in international football.
The Croatia national football team of the late 2010s was thought of as the "Second Coming of the Golden Generation"; in reference to the Golden Generation of Croatia from the late 1990s who won the bronze medal in at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Croatia's debut at the World Cup.
Following the appointment of manager Zlatko Dalić in October 2017, Croatia experienced one of the most successful periods in its history, combining an experienced midfield with a new generation of defenders and attackers. The team, under the leadership of captain Luka Modrić and the style of play by key players such as Mario Mandžukić, Ivan Rakitić, Ivan Perišić, Vedran Ćorluka and Mateo Kovačić reached the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final, losing to France 4–2. Captain Luka Modrić won the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball as the tournament's best player and later became the first Croatian footballer to win the Ballon d'Or, ending the decade-long dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The squad were praised for their performance at the World Cup. The team made it to the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup before losing 3–0 to Argentina in the semi-finals and then subsequently winning 2–1 against Morocco in the 3rd place playoff. With a silver medal in 2018 and a bronze medal in 2022, Croatia became one of only a handful of nations to reach multiple FIFA World Cup podium finishes within a five-year span. Despite having a population of fewer than four million, the country established itself as one of the most consistent national teams of the era. The team made it to the final of the 2023 UEFA Nations League, but ultimately lost to Spain 5–4 on penalties after Lovro Majer and Bruno Petkovic missed their penalties during the shootout. The latter years of the generation also saw the emergence of younger players such as Joško Gvardiol, who was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 2022 and was widely regarded as one of the world's best young defenders.
Denmark (1981–1992) Starting with the appointment of Sepp Piontek as the head coach of the Danish national football team in 1979, the team achieved remarkable results, including a 3–1 win against reigning World Champions Italy in 1981, a 1–0 win against England at Wembley Stadium, before qualifying for the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, the first time ever in Danish football history. During the 1986 World Cup, the Danish team won all three group stage matches, including a remarkable 6–1 win against Uruguay, and the team was nicknamed "Danish Dynamite" following a chant introduced in 1983.
Sepp Piontek left the team in 1990. Following this, the team failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 1992. However, due to the Yugoslav Wars, Denmark took Yugoslavia's place in the tournament, eventually winning the tournament following a 2–0 win against Germany in the final.
England (2001–2007)
During the reign of Sven-Göran Eriksson, Adam Crozier, the chief executive of the Football Association and some members of the British media, touted players such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Michael Owen, and Steven Gerrard as the nucleus of a potential Golden Generation team. Despite some impressive performances such as the 2001 Germany v England football match in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers and the individual players' successes at club level, inconsistency resulted in this group of players failing to live up to expectations, resulting in the group becoming synonymous with disappointment and failed potential.
After Eriksson left in 2006 and Steve McClaren became manager, although many of the players continued to achieve success with their respective clubs, the team failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 2008, only the second time England failed to qualify for a major tournament in over 20 years (of the last 12 major tournaments). Rio Ferdinand claimed that the pressure of the "Golden Generation" tag had a negative effect on the players, restricting their ability to perform to their full potential for the national team. In 2017, Pep Guardiola said he could not understand why England did not achieve more with players such as Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Joe Cole, and claimed they were on the same level as Spain's golden generation of 2008–2014.
France (1998–2006, 2016–present) In late 1998, the France national football team began a period of international dominance defeating Brazil 3–0 to win the 1998 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first French team to win the World Cup. Two years later, David Trezeguet's golden goal in extra time gave France a 2–1 win over Italy to give France the 2000 European Championship. France was subsequently ranked No. 1 in the FIFA World Rankings and ranked No. 1 in the World Football Elo Ratings for two years. The team also secured the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite this impressive recent record, the French team flopped at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, losing to newcomers Senegal in the opening match of the tournament and crashing out in the group stages without scoring a single goal and taking only one point from their three games. A year later they were successful at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, winning the competition after beating Cameroon in the final thanks to a golden goal from Thierry Henry. They also reached the World Cup final in Berlin at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where they lost to Italy. The French golden team was composed of players such as Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, Robert Pires, Youri Djorkaeff, Stéphane Guivarc'h, Christophe Dugarry, Jean-Pierre Papin, Eric Cantona, David Ginola-Ceze, Lilian Thuram, Laurent Blanc, Frank Leboeuf, Patrick Vieira, Didier Deschamps, Christian Karembeu, Alain Boghossian, Fabien Barthez, Bernard Lama, Emmanuel Petit, Marcel Desailly, Bixente Lizarazu, Vincent Guérin, Alain Roche, Florent Malouda, Sylvain Wiltord, Claude Makélélé, William Gallas, Eric Abidal, Willy Sagnol, Alou Diarra, and Franck Ribéry. Between 2006 and 2016, France underwhelmed in several international tournaments such as Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, both in which they were knocked out in the group stages, only scoring one goal.