Everything You Need to Know About Belgium Before the 2026 World Cup

Everything You Need to Know About Belgium Before the 2026 World Cup

There’s no question that Belgium have missed the best opportunity that they will have to win a World Cup for quite some time. It is remarkable that even with the talents of prime Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Dries Mertens, Thibaut Courtois and a raft of others, the best they have to show for their efforts is a mere bronze medal.

Though some of these players still make the squad even today, it's clear that Belgium are not the supremely talented unit they once were. However, Rudi Garcia’s men will still harvest ambitions of reaching at the very least the last eight, and although their squad is not what it once was, there is still a healthy sprinkling of quality across the field, with a label of dark horses not out of the question.

𝑰𝑺 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑩𝑬𝑳𝑮𝑰𝑼𝑴’𝑺 𝑾𝑶𝑹𝑳𝑫 𝑪𝑼𝑷 𝑺𝑶𝑵𝑮? 🇧🇪👀🎶

World Cup song loading? 😭🎤

Diegzyyy, Saelemaekers and Onana vibing 😮‍💨🔥

The chemistry looking serious already 😂🎶

Belgium fans… we hearing this one or what? 👀🇧🇪#belgium #worldcup #onana #football pic.twitter.com/GiQHITRWK4

— Fanxietyfc (@fanxietyfc) June 1, 2026

The curse they must break if they are to hit their targets is their inability to beat the bigger teams. It is the one hurdle that has ended all of their major tournament dreams over the last decade, and even this year, they have tasted defeat to reigning champions France as well as an Italy side that shockingly missed out on qualification for the tournament.

Who is Heading to North America?

Unsurprisingly topping their qualifying group with five wins, three draws and no defeats, it quickly became clear throughout their qualification campaign that Garcia was pivoting towards a new generation of stars, with the average age of the squad a more than reasonable 27.1, compared to 27.7 at the 2022 World Cup.

The squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers

Thibaut Courtois Senne Lammens Mike Penders

Defenders

Thomas Meunier Timothy Castagne Zeno Debast Arthur Theate Brandon Mechele Koni De Winter Nathan Ngoy Maxim De Cuyper Joaqui Seys

Midfielders

Axel Witsel Youri Tielemans Nicolas Raskin Amadou Onana Alexis Saelemaekers Kevin De Bruyne Hans Vanaken

Attackers

Charles De Ketelaere Diego Moreira Dodi Lukebakio Leandro Trossard Jeremy Doku Romelu Lukaku Matias Fernandez-Pardo

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐂𝐔𝐏? 🇧🇪

Belgium's World Cup squad is here 🏆 pic.twitter.com/N0ljaSrByQ

— 433 (@433) May 15, 2026

Key Player to Watch

Kevin De Bruyne

Almost certainly we will see the legendary redhead grace the World Cup stage, De Bruyne still maintains a pivotal role in the Belgian midfield despite losing a step of pace. His passing instincts as sharp as ever, the former Man City playmaker has adopted a more goalscoring focus to his game for the national side, netting six times in as many qualification games.

One of the greatest Belgian players of all time, nothing about De Bruyne’s game is a secret – however, just because you know he can pick out a pass from anywhere, it doesn’t mean you are able to stop it, and we’re sure that various Tunisian, Egyptian and Iranian defenders will find out first-hand just how hard he is to play against.

A player more than worthy of winning a World Cup, it appears as if De Bruyne and the Jules Rimet trophy are not to be. However, still playing at a top level in Italy with Napoli and avoiding any fitness issues in the second half of the season, the brilliant Belgian will certainly have a major say in how Belgium do this summer, and regardless of result, will go out on his own terms.

Unknown Quantity

Nicolas Raskin

Only breaking into the Belgian starting lineup this year, Rangers man Nicolas Raskin has pinged on the radar of very few unless you follow Scottish football. A standout in an underwhelming Rangers side this season, the defensive midfielder notched a personal best 7 goals and 9 assists as his side finished third in the Scottish Premiership.

At 25 years old, Raskin is by no means an up-and-coming youngster, but rather a player who has earned his spot in the side through years of hard work and patience. Now selected by Rudi Garcia, it seems that patience has paid off, although few know what to expect.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but Nicolas Raskin is a top-class player, ready for the best leagues in the world.

Today against Celtic in that second half… wow. What have my eyes seen? Magical player.

Exceptional vision. Brilliant game understanding. Pinpoint-accurate… pic.twitter.com/7UThkFNRj1

— emir (@EKscouting) January 3, 2026

Well, you can expect to see an excellent passing range, intelligent defensive positioning, and some rather instinctive attacking movement for someone who likes to operate in his own half of the field, but how this translates from the Scottish top flight to the biggest stage in world football remains to be seen. Keep your eyes peeled for Raskin if you catch a Belgium game.

How to Watch Belgium’s Group Stage Games

Mon 15 June, 20:00 (BST): Belgium vs Egypt, BBC and BBC iPlayer, Lumen Field, USA

Sun 21 June, 20:00 (BST): Belgium vs Iran, ITV and ITVX, SoFi Stadium, USA.

Sat 27 June, 04:00 (BST): New Zealand vs Belgium, BBC and BBC iPlayer, BC Place Vancouver, Canada.

Belgium’s Possible Route to Final

Belgium have been immensely fortunate with who they have been drawn with in Group G – Egypt, Iran and New Zealand are ranked 29th, 21st and 85th, respectively, and shouldn’t pose any issues whatsoever for the Europeans.

Going through as winners of the group, they are booked to face a third-place team from one of groups A, E, H, I or J, with South Africa, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia and Austria just some potential opponents. Coming through that fixture, their next most likely opponents in the round of 16 would be the winners of group D, most likely to be Turkey or the USA.

So far, so friendly, but reaching the quarter-finals is where the difficulty level begins to ramp up exponentially – Spain, Croatia and Colombia are potential last-eight opponents, while the semi-finals could throw up challenges as varied as Germany, France, the Netherlands and Morocco.

As for the final, that is anyone's guess. However, it seems that for Belgium, there is a clear easy route to the final, and all the Red Devils need is for the right team to have a bad day to really open up their side of the draw. However, they must seal first place in the group in order to book this potential pathway.