Home
Football
Thibaut Courtois major missing as Belgium announce 25-man squad for EURO 2024

Thibaut Courtois major missing as Belgium announce 25-man squad for EURO 2024

Beligium had a poor EURO 2020 outing after being knocked out at the quarter-final stage against eventual winners, Italy.

Head coach Domenico Tedesco has named a 25-man Belgium EURO 2024 squad, with the tournament kicking off in Germany on June 14th. Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne and Jeremy Doku are among the players named, as are Roma’s Romelu Lukaku and Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard. However, in a surprising turn Real Madrid custodian Thibaut Courtois has not been called up. While, Belgium’s most-capped player, Jan Vertonghen also finds himself included in the squad.

Why is Thibaut Courtois absent from Belgium EURO 2024 Squad

The Real Madrid custodian has only recently returned to full health after missing most of the season due to a pair of knee injuries and an ACL. The decision to omit Courtois was somewhat foreseeable, given the ongoing tension between him and manager Domenico Tedesco since June 2018 when he was not chosen to lead the team for games against Austria and Estonia.

Their dispute reached a fever pitch in March, when Tedesco announced that Courtois would not be picked for the Euros, despite his best efforts to reconcile with the custodian. The Real Madrid custodian replied to the Belgian manager’s statements on X with the ‘liar’ emoji.

Belgium EURO 2024 Squad

Goalkeeper: Koen Casteels, Thomas Kaminski, Matz Sels

Defenders: Timothy Castagne, Zeno Debast, Maxim De Cuyper, Wout Faes, Thomas Meunier, Arthur Theate, Jan Vertonghen

Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne, Orel Mangala, Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans, Arthur Vermeeren, Aster Vranckx, Axel Witsel

Forwards: Johan Bakayoko, Yannick Carrasco, Charles De Ketelaere, Jeremy Doku, Romelu Lukaku, Dodi Lukebakio, Lois Openda, Leandro Trossard

Check out more latest news on Euro 2024

Belgium aim for a better finish in EURO 2024

Belgium finds themselves placed in Group E alongside Ukraine, Slovakia, and Romania. Their campaign begins against Slovakia on June 17, followed by matches against Romania on June 22 and Ukraine on June 26 in Stuttgart.

Reflecting on their previous Euro campaign, Belgium aims to improve upon their quarter-final exit against Italy. Players are set to report next Friday, gearing up for warm-up fixtures against Montenegro on June 5 and Luxembourg on June 8 in Brussels.

Follow
Share

Editor's Pick

Sanjay Manjrekar blasts DRS for Cricket Sanjay Manjrekar blasts DRS for "poor supply of technology" after controversial KL Rahul dismissal

Top Stories

Share article
Follow us on social media
Tell us why didn’t you like our article so that we can improve on?
Choose ranking:
ICC Test Ranking
ICC ODI Ranking
ICC T20I Ranking