Romelu Lukaku is curious to see what Belgium can do at the upcoming World Cup, with their "Golden Generation" of players coming to an end.

Belgium were ranked as high as number one in the world during the 2010s, but they were unable to live up to that moniker, with their best finish at the World Cup being third place in 2018.

The likes of Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois are still in the squad for the 2026 World Cup, having been a part of the "Golden Generation" alongside the likes of Eden Hazard and Vincent Kompany, both of whom are now retired.

Their experience will be mixed with the young talents of Jeremy Doku, Amadou Onana and Matias Fernandez-Pardo, as Belgium look to improve on their group-stage exit from Qatar 2022.

This time around, Belgium are given just a 2% chance of lifting the World Cup by the Opta supercomputer, making them 10th-favourites to win it.

And Lukaku, who is the Red Devils' all-time top scorer with 89 goals, is excited to see what the future holds for the squad, as he feels the pressure they have felt for so many years has now lifted.

"For us, it's like a new cycle that has started, so I'm looking forward to that," Lukaku told Stats Perform.

"So, there is not much pressure. I think it's something we're very curious to see what we can do, how the new, younger generation are going to manifest themselves on the biggest stage.

"And then, we want to keep going as long as we can physically. [De Bruyne], [Courtois], myself, Thomas Meunier, we want to keep going as long as, physically, we're okay to help this generation achieve great things in the future.

"But it's a process. So, let's see how we start the preparations on Saturday, and then prepare for the first game."

Lukaku has not played since March, having suffered an injury that forced him to miss the end of Napoli's season.

In fact, his injury-hit campaign meant he managed just five substitute appearances for Napoli in Serie A, but he is raring to go on the international stage.

"[I feel] excited. Fourth [World Cup finals], first time with a new generation, which is nice," he said.

"And I think the team spirit is really good; the preparations are going to start Saturday, so I'm looking forward to doing that with the team and making the best out of it."

Belgium have been drawn in Group G, alongside Egypt, Iran and New Zealand, with the Red Devils the favourites to top the pool at 52%, according to the Opta supercomputer.

But they will come up against a strong goalscoring threat in their World Cup opener against Egypt, with Mohamed Salah expected to lead the line.

Salah, who recently said farewell to Liverpool after a glittering nine-year career at Anfield, was both the top scorer (nine goals) and top provider (three) for Egypt during World Cup qualifying, being directly involved in 60% of the Pharaohs' goals.

"I think it's the hard work and education that [Salah] has for the game. I think he's somebody that wants to improve all the time," Lukaku said.

"He puts everything in his ability to be the best version of himself week in, week out. You can only salute him and the career that he had at Liverpool; it's something that you have to respect.

"He really played at the Ballon d'Or level for many, many years. And you can also see the setback that he had when he was at Chelsea. When I was there at the time, he was a young kid, but in the end, he's had an unbelievable career.

"For the [Egypt] national team, I think he's a very important player. He also wants to prove himself on that stage, so it's going to be a big challenge, but a nice challenge [for Belgium against Egypt], because you want to compete against the best."