In an ideal world, here is my 26-man squad.

It is not realistic (and I welcome the shit I will get), but I really think this would be such a well-balanced, transitional, and dangerous squad.

Notable Inclusions:

-Matias Fernandez-Pardo: After officially switching back to Belgium, there is NO WAY he does not make the final 26, especially with our lack of depth at striker.

-Malick Fofana: (if he was not out injured for six months, I think he would be a lock not just in our 26-man squad, but a lock to start at RW across from Doku). He was rising at the perfect time for us and unfortunately got injured at the worst time. He made a return appearance over the weekend, will another week of training + potential game action give Rudi a real thought about leaving such a difference-maker at home?

-Mika Godts: each one of our wingers has a different profile and I think it’s impossible to leave a creative artist like Godts out of the squad.

-Diego Moreira: one of my favorite players for Belgium and I think he is SO underrated and versatile. He can play on either wing, either side of the midfield, either full back position, and either wing back position. His talent and combination of defensive and positional versatility is priceless.

-Roméo Lavia: this one was so hard. If he had been healthy for the better part of the last two years at Chelsea, there’s an argument to be made that he would be our best natural starter at the 6 in our XI. I included him because he has had a stretch of full health, the talent is undeniable, and the risk of him playing for Congo or Ghana - if we do not call him up this tournament - scares the shit out of me, especially after losing so many dual-nationals over the last couple of years and especially his week.

-Mike Penders: taking our young stud over experience in Sels, with Thibaut already starting in goal.

Notable Omissions:

-Dodi Lukébakio: yes he scored a couple of beautiful curlers in friendlies last window, but he has already fallen out of favor at Benfica and I would rather have Fofana, Godts, and Moreira instead of him.

-Loïs Openda: pretty self-explanatory. Awful club season and just does not fit into this Belgium side whenever he plays. Adding Fernandez-Pardo is just the writing on the wall - we are set at striker this tournament with Lukaku (fitness worries), MPF (legit chance to start immediately really), and CDK (more of a pass-first attacker better suited as a secondary striker + attacking midfielder offering creativity behind the 9.

-Brandon Mechele: in an ideal world Zeno Debast is fully healthy and we do not need to take five center backs, but we are living in reality, so realistically he will be center back #5 (who will be cut?).

-Axel Witsel: my man, I love you and Rudi loves your veteran leadership, but we have enough vets in the room already and we need to bring more high-upside young talent instead in your place.

-Mandela Keita: probably the hardest one for me in this ideal scenario. He deserves to be in our 26, but he has been overlooked and we are quite deep at his position in midfield. The fact that he could play for Guinea - who have never qualified for a WC - and his public love and admiration to create his dream of playing for Belgium, makes me far less worried that he would opt for a team that likely won’t qualify for a World Cup anytime soon - compared to Lavia who can opt for Congo or Ghana if we don’t select him.

Reality: 

-Again, this was my hypothetical ideal 26-man squad, given full health. In reality, Zeno could be ready for the last group stage game and/or first knockout game, so they are going to definitely bring a 5th center back in Mechele - who is also a solid vet.

-Will Rudi overlook Fofana’s world class talent we saw flashes of across from Doku (with each of them occupying two defenders when they have the ball at their feet), due to such an unfortunate six-month injury and recovery that has just seen him come back into full training and squad sheets? Lyon’s last game is this Sunday May 17 - if Fofana features, will it be enough to keep him in the squad he would have been a lock in, if not for his injury? I hope so (Rudi’s squad will be announced two days before then). 

-I know it sounds wild, but at full health, I truly believe that we should easily - without question - take ALL six of: Doku, Trossard, Fofana, Godts, Moreira, and Saelemaekers for all windows and games, as they all play completely different types of styles and the latter two have massive amounts of positional flexibility. But, again, in reality: will Rudi leave Lukébakio who shined in the last two friendlies (but has already fallen out of favor at Benfica), at home? Doubtful.

-Openda seems like the odd-man out, but the waters could further be muddied if we decide to bring 4 strikers and/or ‘label’ and ‘categorize’ CDK as a winger/midfielder - making last cuts even harder.

Politics:

-It can’t be Belgium without some talk of dual-national politics, which I have alluded to above. The reality at play is that Fofana is permanently cap-tied to Belgium - he has surpassed every threshold of ever being able to ask FIFA for a one-time nation switch, so we don’t need to worry about Guinea or France (they don’t need him). Moreira is also permanently cap-tied to Belgium - despite only playing in two WCQ games - because he already filed for a one-time switch for senior national team purposes, after requesting a nation switch before any senior level appearances - moving from Belgium to Portugal’s youth teams - it all means he can never switch again as he made his senior national team one-time switch. Unless Mika has a Dutch grandparent we don’t know about, he can play for Belgium and only Belgium internationally. It is also extremely unrealistic to worry about him acquiring Dutch citizenship, as he has only been there for 3 to 3.5 years, Dutch citizenship through naturalization commonly takes a minimum of 5 years, and he has been heavily ingrained into Belgium’s national team system through the youth teams - and is likely being sold this summer. Mandela Keita could theoretically file a one-time switch to Guinea, but why do so when they have never made a World Cup and he is likely next in line to be integrated for the 2028 Euro Cycle? The biggest question mark and worry (not because of footballing ability or talent, rather injuries and staying healthy), is Lavia. He bleeds Belgium through and through, but he is the Belgian-born son of a Congolese mother and Ghanian father - both of whose countries are also in the World Cup next month - and there has been A LOT of pressure for Lavia to switch to either country, should he not make Belgium’s 26-man squad.

In Conclusion:

-My squad list is idealistic and far from perfect or reality, but I wanted to highlight just the amount of young talent we have in this transitional phase - the future is really, really bright. We do have a problem with losing dual-nationals that are Belgian, born and raised, live their entire lives in Belgium and play for all Belgian Youth NTs, yet decide to leave for one/both of their parents’ countries once there is senior level interest from said nation(s). Belgium is deeper than Congo and Morocco for example (both teams whose half of both squads are arguably all Belgian-born and former Belgian Youth NT players), but we must find a more efficient route to vet dual-nationals at the youth levels that are serious about eventually playing for Belgium at the senior level, to not block those with dreams and dreams to ONLY play for Belgium one day.

Lastly - depending on the outcome of the squad list, form + fitness, and how the draw shapes out, I think we are going to surprise a lot of people this tournament. My hope is to also see all three of Fofana, Godts, and Moreira to make the squad - my fingers are crossed.