Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published Friday, May 15, 2026, 3:25 p.m. / Updated Friday, May 15, 2026, 3:32 p.m.
Rudi Garcia (62), the Belgium coach, announced the final squad for this summer's World Cup, which will be held in the United States of America, Mexico and Canada.
Among the big absentees are goalkeeper Matz Sels of Nottingham Forest, midfielder Romeo Lavia of Chelsea and striker Lois Openda of Juventus.
The team called by Rudi Garcia for the World Championship
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Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Senne Lammens (Manchester United), Mike Penders (Strasbourg)
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defense: Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Zeno Debast (Sporting Lisbon), Maxim De Cuyper (Brighton), Koni De Winter (AC Milan), Brandon Mechele (Club Brugge), Thomas Meunier (Lille), Nathan Ngoy (Lille), Joaquin Seys (Club Brugge), Arthur Theate (Eintracht Frankfurt)
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midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli), Amadou Onana (Aston Villa), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge), Axel Witsel (Girona)
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Strikers: Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Matias Fernandez-Pardo (Lille), Romelu Lukaku (Napoli), Dodi Lukebakio (Benfica), Diego Moreira (Strasbourg), Alexis Saelemaekers (AC Milan), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal)
Belgium are in Group G of this summer's World Cup alongside Egypt, Iran and New Zealand.
Belgium will debut in the final tournament against Egypt on June 15, from 22:00 Romanian time. The second match will be played on June 21 at the same time against Iran and the final group match will be played on June 27 at 6 am against New Zealand.
At the 2018 World Championship, Belgium took 3rd place, after being eliminated in the semi-finals by France, score 0-1. In the small final, the team prepared by Roberto Martinez defeated England with a score of 2-0.
During that time, Belgium was represented at the final tournament by several top footballers, including Vincent Kompany, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Eden Hazard or Dries Mertens.
Belgium now has only 5 players in the squad who played in the final tournament 8 years ago: Thibaut Courtois, Axel Witsel, Kevin De Bruyne, Youri Tielemans and Romelu Lukaku.
