I think I overestimated our overall strength given how we've performed in the qualifying stage - kicking out France and Portugal in the process, both of which I would consider stronger than our team. Sadly we were quite unbalanced and the stronger teams in our group took advantage of that...
Maybe... I honestly didn’t analyze your games in great detail but at first glance it looks like you used more enthusiasm during the qualifying round. That alone already put you in a weaker position later on even if the rosters were somewhat comparable. From there yeah, I think there were a couple of questionable calls.
Greece, Spain and Israel were simply too strong for you, while you realistically had chances against the other two teams. Using enthusiasm against Greece though, drained you even further (and, honestly, I also found the defensive choice in that game quite debatable)
Against Russia you were in an uncomfortable spot mainly because the schedule wasn’t kind to you. I assume (and hope) you used enthusiasm on Monday, while Russia probably used more since they had basically no chance against Greece anyway. Meanwhile you tried to preserve some enthusiasm for Belgium, which makes sense, but at that point it really just comes down to calendar luck (or lack thereof)
Regarding Hungary, I don't have much insight into their actual skillsets, so I was going based on what I could see salary-wise and I think they stand strongest on that front in your group. Also, they were quite dominant throughout the qualifiers ahead of the medal-winning Spain, so I don't think that take was so crazy at the time.
I get that you couldn’t see their actual skills, but it still feels like a bit of a stretch. I wouldn’t say they were particularly dominant in their group since they actually had to spend enthusiasm to beat Spain, and without it I think they would have lost.
Yes their salaries are high, but that metric can be quite misleading. For example a shot blocker will almost always have a lower salary than a classic big man. Likewise, bigs with strong secondary skills often end up with lower salaries if they trained 1v1 or similar skills before turning 21. This is especially true in Europe and for top teams, where you don’t really need to peak in the first 6–7 weeks since the initial group is usually a cakewalk. Most teams aim to be at their best once the tougher games start
With that said, good luck in your final game. You still have a chance to make it to the WC if you beat Belgium by 17 or more and Russia loses to Greece by at least 2 points more than your margin against Belgium.