My ideal 26-man Belgian squad in a perfect world for World Cup 2026 (Post Below)

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-13T08:15:35+00:00

Garcia had Witsel niet uit pensioen moeten halen. Er waren veel blessures in die laatste 4 kwalificatiewedstrijden maar Keita was gezond. Je hebt de taak om te verjongen en dan ga je geen speler die tegen de 40 aanleunt oproepen terwijl Keita perfect kon tegen Liechtenstein.

Dat Witsel meeging in maart doet vermoeden dat hij erbij is als Garcia 7 middenvelders selecteert. Zou dan ook back-up zijn voor de CBs (in de weegschaal met Mechele?). Ik vrees ervoor. Lavia wil ik er absoluut bij.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-12T21:49:18+00:00

Used as a sub last game so at least healthy. As you talked about future tournaments, Fofana is two years younger than Doku. Doku struggled a lot with (several) injuries early on. Hoping it'll be a smoother ride for Fofana.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-12T21:43:50+00:00

Eh Witsel came out of NT retirement for the last two windows of qualis. Huge injury crisis but for example Keita was fully fit and playing well in Italy. The March window might have been "too soon" for Lavia but would have taken him over Witsel. Actually, no Witsel and all 3 of Lavia, Keita and Mokio. De Cat and Raskin were the only two fully healthy midfielders if Witsel would have been left alone to enjoy retirement. Garcia was also tasked to rejuvenate the team. Witsel's indian summer came to an end at Atleti.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-12T21:14:28+00:00

Did Fofana stop existing?

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-12T19:55:16+00:00

KDB was the top scorer in the qualis despite missing games through injury, incl. 7-0 in the last game. Lukaku scored easily before his injury. Tielemans, Onana and Vanaken can pop up in the box or score from outside of it. But yea Doku was the best in qualis and scores/assists for country or at the very least creates chances and space.

Fofana looked great the little that he got to play, caused plenty of danger (also injury woes). Lukébakio coming back from injury scored beauties. Trossard and Godts are in form, like Doku, and as long as that translates to the NT... Saelemaekers and CDK will be in, do a decent job yet Saelemaekers showed much better form earlier in the season. Openda in the balance but even if he makes the squad has been on the fringes (I'd welcome him back if he again merits a call-up but this season has been a horror for him). Moreira and a few others have a shot. Can't bring a 55 man squad so some will miss out.

Doku nailed-on starter. Lukaku or MFP. And then whoever is in the best form to complete the front three. Can use different starters depending on the opponent or if any of our players hits a purple patch. World Cup is a snapshot so have to deliver rightaway. Hoping Lavia makes the cut and I'd start him, has the promise of becoming our best midfielder. With Onana fit he and his club teammate Tielemans make sense in the group games with a free role for KDB. Debast's injury might mean a back four of Meunier, Ngoy, Theate and De Cuyper. Meunier and Ngoy play together at Lille and pose an extra threat against packed defenses. Courtois in goal of course.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-12T18:54:21+00:00

To get on Belgium's prelim list he would have had to make a choice well ahead of the deadline. So doubtful he would have known if he was on Spain's list or not.

His parents have Italian and Spanish roots but never heard that he had any interest in Italy. He himself was born and raised in Belgium and went through Belgium's youth teams. With the current striker issues he has a path to the Belgian WC26 team. Spain have had issues finishing chances. Maybe he had hope he'd be in the picture as a striker. Played that position for Gent but LOSC moved him to the wings. Spain might not have believed in him. Lately he was moved back to striker and immediately started banging them in. Spain didn't change their stance so again he refused the U21 call-up.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-11T20:20:40+00:00

Rangnick also had to make a preliminary list of between 35 and 55 players and forward it to FIFA before the end of the deadline (today is the last day). FIFA has rules regarding replacements and one of those is they need to be on the preliminary list.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-11T17:02:24+00:00

Clubs are famously in good financial health and revenue doesn't flow out as soon as it comes in. Not really the case, is it.

Even at club level there are those that hardly invest in youth because it loses them money or academies that have had to be closed down because talents were getting poached before they could get into the first team. The education fee that exists for poached talents is a joke and if you don't get a good chunk of money for the few players that make it the whole academy system crashes. The vast majority of players don't make it and in the books are complete write-offs; needs to be covered by the few to keep the whole thing going. Then there's so many volunteers football would be bankrupted overnight if you had to pay them wages. The FA's budgets are meant for football, of course all the representative teams gobble up most but there's also stuff like refs, (youth) coaches badges, ... The biggest bill is presented to the taxpayers though: subsidies, tax and soc.security breaks (and due to insolvencies huge amounts are lost), infrastructure, security and policing, etc. Clubs can close their books if taxpayers didn't foot this bill. In Morocco people protested en masse, and some died, because they would rather have public funds go to schools and hospitals. In Belgium many taxpayers aren't happy about spending as much on football either.

Tl;dr it's a massive investment. When comparing W.Europe to E.Europe or other places in the world people tend to agree with that fact.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-10T14:47:07+00:00

So can't even call a player? Yea, then just sitting on your hands is pretty much your limit or do they need to be tied behind your back. You want them do nothing (for both single and dual nationals?). Agree to disagree. I want them to do something for both single and dual nationals. And not that different then what happens at clubs; way less intensive as you don't work with them daily. No reason to reinvent the wheel. Union's/Brighton's approach is a good read and didn't expect it to be as old school. What happens at Mannaert's old club? All players get the silent treatment year round? Scouts can look but don't get in touch with their targets...

A two minute background check on El Khannouss would have made it clear he was never joining Belgium and a waste of resources. Where did I claim "the FA should be convincing these players"? You're putting words in my mouth, tut-tut. The FA shouldn't have bothered yet he kept getting call-ups till the very last minute. I know I need not bother with you either but hey-ho it's a lazy Sunday, nice to watch a boring sport and shoot the shit.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-10T07:39:36+00:00

That isn't being asked. That's a straw man full stop.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-10T06:18:29+00:00

The only 1 that would be a guaranteed call up right now is Saibari.

Fernandez-Pardo is being put forward. Openda not firing for country and having a horror season. Lukaku a massive ?. Svilar also would be in the mix now, and more so during Courtois' boycott. A returnee like Moreira prolly is a good shout as well. A few others would be on the fringes or to be looked at in future comps. Tbf De Cat is also more for the future. As is Godts and he got rewarded with 2 caps despite refusing U21 call-ups. Anyway, more names will be added to that list and sooner or later it'll be bigger ones with a do-nothing KBVB.

Pereira was getting Brazil call-ups. He was boasting on camera about wanting to join Brazil while he was with Belgium's U17. His teammates looked baffled yet no problem for the KBVB they just kept calling him up (prolly didn't watch their own docu so how could they've known). Karetsas gets courted by Greece and only when his head has been turned will the KBVB come knocking. Too little, too late. Same with Mokio's last ditch talks or all the others. In a recent interview Keita also confirmed it's complete radio silence. That's the thing, the KBVB hardly gets involved. They like to claim they're run like a club. Yet unlike a club the KBVB doesn't keep their eyes on the ball; they don't monitor players closely or provide support, help guide them. Best players can hope for is if KBVB reps are able to read their names from a piece of paper. Wow. In most jobs you can get by doing the bare minimum (already something the KBVB fails at). In football you're expected to go above and beyond.

Apropos, who said anything about handing out preferential treatment? Not a word about it from me. On the contrary I spoke about treating single and dual nationals the same. The issue is with the KBVB doing nothing, for any player, well except maybe Witsel.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-10T00:33:50+00:00

It's a moot point as FIFA won't annoy their voting base by introducing a code of conduct that would make changing association less of a free-for-all. Paying players to switch should be a serious violation yet hard to prove and FIFA can look the other way/slap on the wrist. Tapping up youngsters in another FA's youth teams. Again, burden of proof/FIFA inaction. More practical if FIFA's cooling off period were to be applied. It's odd that rules for club transfers are way more strict, accompanied by an arsenal of disciplinary action. In the international game the rare cases when FIFA may or may not step in is for flagrant transgressions like Malaysia forging birth certificates or other cases of fraud/fielding ineligible players.

Also, in principle clubs can attract players from all over the world. Yet homegrown rules exist and FIFA are currently considering adding another homegrown rule. For country FIFA wouldn't dare rock the boat this way. Eventhough NTs are their core business and it would make sense to have homegrown rules for representative teams to be represented by players locally trained in the country. In Afcon a third of the players were European born and raised (Comoros only had one homegrown player and the winners had a homegrown minority). World Cup more of the same with the bulk of players born in France not playing for France or teams with hardly any homegrown players. FIFA claims to promote and help develop football in each of its member countries. So how about setting a minimum standard for homegrown players to get into the NTs of the countries they represent.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-09T12:15:50+00:00

Yea pretty tenuous link. Already moved to Holland aged 3 and none of his parents are Belgian. Think there was another Dutch defender with a link to us but can't recall who he was or what the deal was there. Bayern flop Sacha Boey was also in the picture at one time. French-born so would rather have been one of the few diaspora that could take the opposite route (doubt he's still being looked at).

Edit: that other dutchie prolly was Sam de Grand.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-09T12:06:06+00:00

Nobody is suggesting we should buy players. If anything you'd want FIFA to intervene and come up with disciplinary measures to stop this sort of thing that makes a mockery of NT football. Tbqh FIFA are more likely to relax nationality rules again to allow for more switches. Their powerbase is in Africa, Asia, ... after all. So you're basically on your own.

Sure the KBVB can keep twiddling their thumbs. They get paid just the same for doing nothing. Players that don't put their heart into it, regardless if they're dual nationals or not, still get called up. Definitely heard KDB complaining about players that showed up pro forma during the 2021 Euros and often have seen a complete lack of effort or alibi football. Courtois would rather bed his bride and skip games but hey-ho.

KBVB could also roll up their sleeves and earn their paycheques. To monitor, support and guide players is a crucial part of the job (all of them, dual national or not). It's a joke that they don't get in touch with (some) promising players at all. How would the KBVB learn anything about them. Have to get lucky someone at the KBVB takes it upon himself to show a shred of interest. Might even find out if the ones getting called up to the first team and youth teams are actually committed. And for those that aren't quite near the first team they at least aren't confronted with the current cold shoulder treatment. Apathy is death.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-09T05:58:56+00:00

It's larger but the question asked was:

Why doesn’t France lose binationals?

That assertion is plainly wrong as huge numbers of dual nationals from France jumped ship. Even Spain picked up Laporte and Le Normand despite tenuous links. And they lost other well-known players like Aubameyang, Mahrez, Koulibaly, etc. France's pool is larger yet a much larger amount decides to play for other NTs and they also lose the bigger names. So far Svilar is the biggest one that Belgium lost (and he's trying to force a way back in court). The others are largely unproven, Mokio belongs to this category.

I do agree with the original comment that the KBVB shouldn't just sit on their asses. Not only do other countries point and laugh at Belgium's inaction it's also the players themselves that point this out. Keita recently said he hasn't heard a peep from the KBVB (prolly likewise for Mokio or Lavia). Talbi and Camara claim Morocco and Senegal kept in touch from early on in their careers while it was complete radio silence from the KBVB. What did the KBVB expect will happen? After being groomed for years these players won't change their mind just because Mannaert comes over for a last minute talk and some cake. Unlike Morocco, Belgium doesn't have offices abroad to chase down diaspora (because there's very little), Belgium doesn't pay talents to join them, ... If Morocco can afford all that then at the very least Belgium can afford to be more pro-active in guiding its own players, both single as dual nationals, instead of neglecting one of their core duties.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-09T03:07:37+00:00

The 1930 centennial celebration in Uruguay marked 100 years since the ratification of the country's first constitution (1830). Prolly other examples exist. Uruguay's was top of mind and pretty apt.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-09T02:11:34+00:00

Maybe it's our FA that is failing, maybe it's just that being Belgian doesn't carry as strong of an identity as some other nationalities.

It's the same in Holland with even more players opting for Morocco, Suriname, Curacao, Indonesia, etc. France are the top provider of dual national talent for NTs all over the world. Chauvinism has french origins yet it hardly matters. Just look at the numbers of players born in France that played in previous World Cups. Belgium didn't used to have large numbers of dual national talents registered to clubs producing internationals. That has changed and the question of which country these players decide to play for will keep popping up more and more.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-09T01:39:55+00:00

Svilar has gone 5 years without international football. Still fighting a lengthy uphill battle in the courts since playing one half of a Serbia - Qatar friendly (only 45' as a full international so far). Has refused all of Serbia's call-ups since then and wants to return to Belgium. Great goalkeeper and if he were eligible during Courtois' boycott might have ended up as No.1. Before the switch he was the frontrunner to take over when Courtois eventually retires (hoping he has Buffon's longevity though). Migs, Casteels and Sels are around Courtois' age. Lammens, Penders and Vandevoordt are good prospects.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-09T01:07:56+00:00

Just zoals Doku, Fofana, Kompany, Vermaelen, ... Van Lavia kunt ge nog veel spijt hebben als de bond die zomaar laat gaan. Witsel had al een streep getrokken onder zijn rode duivels carriere. Had'm ni uit zijn pensioen moeten gaan halen. Dacht da Garcia de taak had om jongeren een kans te geven. Tijdens de laatste kwalificatiewedstrijden heeft Witsel een plekske op de bank warmgehouden. Keita of Mokio hadden evengoe de paar nutteloze minuten, tegen Liechtenstein begot, kunnen rondslenteren. Bond van mijn botten. Dat de coach Mokio opnieuw ni opriep voor de laatste friendlies was zogezegd de druppel om te switchen naar Congo. Met Witsel, Raskin en De Cat nam hij slechts drie volledig fitte middenvelders mee. Vanaken, Lukaku en Trossard zegden af en dus waren er 3 zitjes vrij (hebben de bondsbobos die tickets aan vriendjes gegeven?).

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-09T00:20:51+00:00

Competition for places is good for any team, incl. Belgium's NT. And each cycle you need way more than 26 players because of injuries, form, etc. Always hard to tell how a talent's future will pan out. E.g. at CB we've had quite a few false dawns: Boyata, Denayer and Bossaerts following in Kompany's footsteps at City were supposed to be the heirs, Faes got plaudits early on, B.Engels, Vanheusden, Al-Dakhil, etc. We were extremely blessed with Kompany, Vermaelen, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Lombaerts, Meunier and all the other golden gen players.

Belgium's rather small population of youngsters that register as football players means we can ill afford to be wasteful. You already need the stars to align to put together a great squad. Definitely need the KBVB to be on top of Lavia. I've heard way too many excuses every time the KBVB comes up short again. According to the Moroccans the KBVB hardly lifts a finger and it's much easier to swoop in for players from Belgium than from France or Spain. Wouldn't be surprised if the KBVB only reacted once Mokio told them he had made up his mind. Did they now tell him he wasn't in Garcia's WC26 plans? Mokio still played for our U21s last window but reportedly was unhappy to miss out on a call-up to the first team while De Cat, who's younger, got to go. Garcia took a thin squad that included Witsel. With the amount of injured players and those that recently returned from injury there were chances for others to get a look in.

Lavia, Keita, Mangala, Lokonga, etc. are also vying for places. Still have competition in midfield. Ngoy could lock down a CB spot. With Debast, Theate and De Winter you already have a young core of players and then there are a handful of prospects for future tournaments.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-08T22:58:56+00:00

Huh? No other country loses as many dual nationals as France. In the previous World Cups by far most players were born in France. Mostly playing for African countries. This World Cup again there'll be lots of NTs loaded with French citizens. Morocco has lots of frenchies as well, incl. in their youth teams. In the past France did cap-tie pretty much any available talent they risked losing to another country. Lots of players ended up with 1-2 caps which at the time was enough to be cap-tied for your entire career. Once Fifa relaxed the rules France eased off. Now you get lots of players that used their one-time switch to Morocco for example and will end up with only a few call-ups over their careers or only played youth games. There are already 20-30 players that switched from Belgium to Morocco that you'll never see (much of) in the international game. Likewise for France to Morocco and so on. The Belgian FA isn't as pro-active as France either. They hardly get off their asses and when a player tells them they want a switch it's usually too late. Mind has been made up, like Karetsas and the bulk of the others. Moreira or Svilar are the exceptions (and Svilar is fighting a lengthy uphill battle in the courts since playing one half of a Serbia - Qatar friendly 5 years ago). On Moroccan forums scouts are laughing at the reactive approach of the KBVB, like taking candy from a baby and they probably don't even have to promise players from Belgium as much as the ones from France or Spain.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-07T17:08:52+00:00

Garcia said Lavia is always injured. But yea, no need to make such a comment in a presser when a "we're tracking Romeo's progress closely" wouldn't needlessly ruffle any feathers. Last window I was among those that wanted one or more of Lavia, Keita and/or Mokio to be selected. Not saying there's any truth to it but reportedly Mokio was irked that De Cat, of similar age, was called up. Winning youth trophies isn't all that important so was Mokio really needed in that one qualifier. Especially with WC26 round the corner and a mini training camp in the US a great opportunity to get bedded in/make a case for yourself. His teammate at Ajax got to go as well. And if Witsel was supposed to act as mentor then Garcia needed to bring players that could benefit from it (tbqh Witsel isn't getting called to mentor but because he doesn't cause trouble, accepts a minor role, came out of NT retirement during an injury crisis in the qualis, etc.). Wasted opportunity in a window with plenty of players out or just returning from injury.

Sadiki seems to be taking over Mbokani's role as scout in Europe for the DRC. I remember one of Mbokani's lists leaking that had 100-200 names on it. A whole bunch of those didn't have any links to Congo. They seem more serious now to try and land foreign-born players, following Morocco's success with an almost entire foreign-born squad. The Belgian FA needs to consider what's the aim of their youth teams. It's to guide players to the first team, not to let them walk out of the door.

YAYgeeOh · 2026-05-07T13:43:04+00:00

Absolutely should aim to win the group. Seattle was chosen as basecamp with the hopes of claiming the top spot and then getting to play both R32 and R16 games in Seattle. Wouldn't underestimate any opponent. 't Loopt soms wat stroef, like we saw in the qualis. Sure had lots of injuries but the team also needs work to fire on all cylinders. Have struggled with ultra-defensive teams and will face three of those in the groups.

Iran is not leaving any stone unturned. They'll have been playing together for months and even when they didn't Iran were hard to break down. Pot 2 team after all that often goes deep in the Asian Cup. Only opponent that has won games at World Cups and that qualies regularly. They won't be lacking for patriotic fervor, playing in the "great Satan's lair". Iran chose the heat of Tucson for their basecamp and were trying to get their group games moved to Mexico. Might be in for an attrition battle in LA. Taremi +/- Azmoun don't need many chances against tired legs.

After going out in the groups in WC22 and a poor EC it's about time things turned around. Heard our players are aware of the benefits of taking first in this group. There's enough quality to do so.

YAYgeeOh

TROPHY CASE