Belgium have announced their squad ahead of the European Championships in Germany.
As expected, Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne and Jeremy Doku are included, alongside Roma’s Romelu Lukaku and Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard.
Elsewhere, Belgium’s most-capped player, Jan Vertonghen, has also been named in the 25-man squad at the age of 36.
However, Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois hasn’t been called up after an ACL injury that has sidelined him since last summer.
Courtois absence was somewhat expected, with the player having had tension with manager Domenico Tedesco since June 2018, when he was not selected to captain the side for games against Austria and Estonia.
Their feud reached fever-pitch back in March when Tedesco stated that Courtois would not be selected for the Euros despite his best efforts to patch things up with the goalkeeper.
The Real Madrid shot-stopper responded to the Belgian boss’ quotes on X with the ‘liar’ emoji.
Another notable absentee is Fenerbahce’s Michy Batshuayi.
Belgium have announced a squad of just 25 players, meaning they have one space remaining ahead of the tournament.
Indeed, two unnamed young players are set to be added to the training squad with one likely making the final official tournament squad.
Having allowed the golden generation to pass them by without claiming any major silverware, Belgium will be heading to Germany hoping to mark a new era under Roberto Martinez’s successor, Tedesco.
Belgium will be looking to improve on their dismal World Cup showing in Qatar, where they exited a favourable group that also included Croatia, Morocco and Canada.
Courtois and Tedesco have had tension for years (Getty)
Their previous Euro showing saw them knocked out at the quarter-final stage against eventual winners, Italy.
This time out Belgium are in a group with Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine.
Here is the squad in full: Goalkeeper: Casteels, Kaminski, Sels.
Defenders: Castagne, De Cuyper, Faes, Meunier, Theate, Vertonghen, Debast.
Midfielder: De Bruyne, O.Mangala, Onana, Tielemans, Vermeeren, Witsel, Vranckx.
Forward: J.Bakayoko, Carrasco, De Ketelaere, Doku, Lukaku, Lukebakio, Openda, Trossard.
Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Belgium, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Roberto Martinez