“I'm thinking about passing on the baton”

Belgium make their World Cup debut against Egypt in Seattle on June 15 at 10:00 p.m. Group G also includes Iran and New Zealand.

Thibaut Courtois made his debut for Belgium's first national team in 2011, and since then he has been capped 109 times.

Thibaut Courtois considers retiring from the Belgian national team after the World Cup: “There's a good chance I won't continue”

“I don't know if we should be talking about the future at this point, but I'm more likely not to continue after this tour than I am. I still want to play for a few years. And I have to take care of my body. My family is here because this could be my last tourThibaut Courtois said, according to sportal.bg.

However, the Real Madrid goalkeeper also left a door open for continuation: “If we have a good World Cup, of course. And if we continue to feel the good atmosphere in the team. Then I will have to have an internal discussion with the coach, the technical director and the doctors.”

Courtois revealed that former coach Domenico Tedesco allowed him to miss some of the national team's training sessions and this helped him with his recovery: “I noticed that during these international breaks you can rest and work quietly in the gym.

In addition, in the last year and a half I have not had such physical problems and injuries, so naturally you think more about the future. I'm thinking of passing on the baton.”

Courtois said he was looking forward to playing against Egypt: “Yes, I'm very 'hungry', like the rest of the team. I feel very good and I'm looking forward. I also worked very hard for my comeback in the spring. The injury was unfortunate, because at that time I felt almost invincible. But now I'm ready to maintain my level and stay focused.”

Belgium squad for the World Championship:

• Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Senne Lammens (Manchester United), Mike Penders (Strasbourg)

• 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)

• midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli), Amadou Onana (Aston Villa), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge), Axel Witsel (Girona)

• 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)