Giant goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said he was proud of Belgium's 'golden generation' on Friday after their latest attempt to win a major title ended in a 2-1 World Cup quarterfinal loss to Spain in Los Angeles.

Courtois was forced to watch the match from the substitutes' bench as the sun set on the World Cup careers of his veteran teammates, such as Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, at SoFi Stadium.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois (34), along with Napoli's De Bruyne (35) and Lukaku (33), were key members of the talented Belgian generation that topped the FIFA rankings for several years at various points during the past decade.

But this distinguished group, which also included names like Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany, and Marouane Fellaini, failed to succeed in major tournaments, with their best achievement being third place at the 2018 World Cup.

The painful 2-1 loss to Spain on Friday, which came after a mistake by substitute goalkeeper Sini Laminens following Courtois's injury exit in the 71st minute, marked another chapter in Belgium's familiar story.

One commentator said: 'To be a golden generation, you have to win something gold, and only then can you be called that.'

But Courtois stressed to reporters after the loss that the veteran generation can look back on their careers with pride, noting that they were eliminated on several occasions, particularly at the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2021, by teams that later won the title.

He said: 'In major tournaments, we almost always performed well. We are very proud of everything we have achieved so far. Of course, we face a lot of criticism like: the golden generation hasn't won anything, and so on.'

He added: 'But we are Belgium. We are not England, we are not Spain, we are not France. We are a small country with a population of just 12 million, yet we show amazing things in major tournaments.'

He continued: 'In 2018, I think we played the best football in that tournament. So there are things to be proud of.'

He went on: 'It's very easy to criticize and say: you haven't won anything. But look at all the big names in football; not everyone has won a major tournament, and we always tried. I think we can be proud.'

While many of the players who started on Friday are over 30, Courtois expressed confidence that Belgium will continue to produce young talent in the future.

He said: 'We have great youth academies that work well... There are young talents coming, and the younger players now will grow stronger in the coming years.'

He concluded: 'I hope that in the next European Championship or World Cup we will become stronger. I think we have the spirit.'