Football is where the most hope is currently invested. The Red Devils last reached a major tournament in 2002, but this year they could finally justify the hopes and expectations surrounding the current generation by qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. The talent has already been recognised by Europe’s big-name clubs, with England in particular poaching Flemish stars like Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal) and Moussa Dembele (Tottenham), and Brussels-born Vincent Kompany (Manchester City).

But Flemish clubs have enjoyed reasonable success in European competitions recently – or, at least, not the ritual humiliations that have been so frequent in the past decade. There are occasional mishaps – Everton’s Marouane Fellaini recently headbutting an opponent; Gent’s Ilombe Mboyo stepping down as captain after taking the world’s worst penalty – but the football renaissance still looks solid.

It could be that Flanders might never regain the tennis glory it basked in during Kim Clijsters’ reign, so recently ended. But try telling that to Yanina Wickmayer (pictured), who reached the final of the Auckland Classic on Sunday. Wickmayer lost to top seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Indeed, along the way, she defeated fellow Fleming Kirsten Flipkens, showing there is life after Clijsters.

In cycling, Flanders is home to some top names, notably Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Jürgen Roelandts and Tom Boonen. None have yet been close to the biggest prizes, from the Tour de France and the Olympics to the Vuelta a España and the Giro d’Italia. Having shown their mettle in one-day classics, the Flemish flyers now have to challenge for more, and this could be the year (in cyclo-cross, the mud-caked bastard son of road racing, the Flemish are giants, with Sven Nys currently enjoying an imperial period – however this discipline rarely takes up much sports coverage).

There are other Flemish sports stars poised to grab some of the biggest prizes available to them, from Nicolas Colsaerts in golf to Luca Brecel in snooker. None have yet scaled the summits to declare themselves undisputed world champs, but Flanders lives in hope that this year could change that.