Eden Hazard has been struggling to spend minutes on the pitch at Real Madrid over the past couple of seasons. The Belgian has suffered several injuries after joining the Spanish club four seasons ago. Despite his struggles on the club level, Belgian coach Roberto Martinez kept faith in his forward, and included him in the FIFA World Cup squad in Qatar.

However, Eden Hazard stated that he did not like playing for Belgium in Qatar, as he felt undeserving of his place in the side. He also revealed that his decision to announce International retirement was made well in advance. The Belgian stated that his performance at the World Cup had no bearing on his final decision.

Eden Hazard added that he started thinking about retiring from International football after Belgium's loss against Italy at the European Championships in 2021.

"I knew for some time that I would stop after the World Cup. The performance in Qatar was not decisive for my decision. Of course it is a pity how it turned out, but my decision was made in advance. It was just time to stop," said Hazard.

"I first started thinking about it after the European Championships. I had done my best to be fit in time after my ankle injury. Unfortunately, I couldn't play in the quarter-final loss to Italy and that really made a mental difference," he added.

Eden Hazard was a part of the Golden Generation of Belgian football involving the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne among others. However, he had to retire for his national side without winning a single title.