Belgium at the 2026 Football World Championship: Roster, Predictions, and Statistics

Belgium's national team, it seems, will remain the "golden boys" team without any trophies. In 2014, Belgium started to attract more attention, in 2018 Courtois, Hazard, Lukaku, De Bruyne and others were seriously considered as one of the favorites for the trophy, and in 2022 everyone was convinced that the stars were ready to become world champions. However, Belgium's highest achievement remains the bronze medals of the 2018 World Cup, and the "golden" generation remains without gold.

Bookmakers no longer believe in Belgium even making it to the top-4 in the upcoming 2026 World Cup, assuming that the probability of such an outcome is just over 10%. Almost all the stars are 30+ years old, and the young ones – with the exception of Doku – are not so famous anymore. Let's analyze the composition of the Belgium national team (No. 9 in the FIFA world ranking) and offer a forecast for the performance of Rudi Garcia's team in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

In short:

• Belgium has only once reached the medals of the World Cup, becoming a bronze medalist in 2018. But since 2014, Belgium, according to bookmakers, is considered one of the ten main contenders for the championship.
• The Belgium national team includes De Bruyne, Courtois, Lukaku, and Doku, while Lavia and Openda are not included.
• Bookmakers rate Belgium's chances of winning the World Cup at 2.5%, chances of reaching the final at 5.5%.
• In the group stage of the World Cup, the Belgium national team will play against Egypt, Iran, and New Zealand.

Belgium's squad for the 2026 World Cup

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Senne Lammens (Manchester United), Mike Penders (Strasbourg).

Defenders: Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Zeno Debast (Sporting), Maxim De Cuyper (Brighton), Koni De Winter (Milan), Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seis (Brugge), Thomas Meunier, Natan N'Goy (both Lille), Arthur Theate (Eintracht), Axel Witsel (Girona).

Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli), Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers), Hans Vanaken (Brugge), Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta).

Forwards: Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Matias Fernandez (Lille), Romelu Lukaku (Napoli), Dodi Lukebakio (Benfica), Diego Moreira (Strasbourg), Alexis Saelemaekers (Milan), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal).

Head Coach: Rudi Garcia

Main Star

The status of the main stars of the Belgium national team is held by Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku. However, Scores24 suggests that a standout performance can be expected from Jeremy Doku. The Manchester City winger is the most expensive player in the national team (65 million euros). Doku has experience as a key player, scoring 5+3 in eight qualifying matches. Considering that the Belgian has secured his role as the leader of City's attack on the left after an injury, the team will focus on his flank. According to the bookmaker's odds, Doku is the favorite in the Belgian top scorer race at the World Cup.

Belgium's Main Problem

Surprisingly, it's age. Courtois (34 years old) will be in goal, with Meunier (34) and Castagne (30) in defense, Witsel (37) and De Bruyne (34) in midfield, and Lukaku (33) and Trossard (31) in attack.

Young Talent

If Romelu Lukaku doesn't get all the playing time, which he won't, then the ace in the Belgian attack will surely be 21-year-old Matias Fernandez. The Lille striker has not yet been called up to the national team, even though he had a decent season with the French club - 8+5 in 21 Ligue 1 games. The striker's transfer value has doubled in a year - with 30 million euros, he is among the top five most expensive players in the team.

Who Will Miss the 2026 World Cup

Unlike many other top teams, almost everyone who played regularly in Belgium this season and is now healthy has been called up. The only questions might be about the absence of Romeo Lavia and Lois Openda. However, the Chelsea midfielder only played six matches with 60+ minutes throughout the season, and the Juventus forward was not particularly needed by the Turin club (although they will buy him out) - the striker has nine matches with 60+ minutes for the Italians.

Belgium National Team Form

Qualification

Belgium was one of eight European teams to pass the group stage of qualification without defeat. However, Belgium's smooth progression to the 2026 World Cup cannot be called smooth either, as the team dropped points twice in matches against North Macedonia (0:0 and 1:1), as well as with Kazakhstan (1:1). First place in the group was secured by two victories over direct competitor Wales (4:3 and 4:2), from whom the Belgians conceded five goals in two matches.

Recent Results

After the end of the qualification in the autumn of 2026, the Belgian team played two friendly matches in March with the hosts of the World Cup. In Atlanta, Belgium convincingly defeated USA (5:2), and in Chicago, they drew with Mexico (1:1). The unbeaten streak of the Belgians now stands at 11 matches, with the last defeat dating back to March 2025.

Preparation for the World Cup

Before flying out to the 2026 World Cup, the Belgians will play two friendly matches: in Rijeka, Garcia's team will play against Croatia (June 2), and in Brussels – against Tunisia (June 6). The opponents are not easy, as the Belgians have only beaten the Croatians three times in nine matches (and all three victories – with a one-goal difference), and they have conceded in two out of three matches against the North African team.

World Cup 2026 Match Schedule

Belgium's Chances of Advancing from the Group

Bookmakers have little doubt about Belgium's progression to the World Cup playoffs, assuming that Garcia's team willwill come out with a 98% probability.

Bookmakers' odds for the Belgium team at the 2026 World Cup

Why Belgium may not win the World Cup

Ageist arguments about the age of Lukaku, De Bruyne and company can easily be parried: they all have played together for ten years and are ready for the final chord. But in fact – to withstand the pace of the tournament, where now for medals it is necessary to play not seven games, but eight, will be difficult. Courtois did not play for two months in the season due to injuries, Lukaku – three, De Bruyne – four. They may not have enough form and strength for a fast-paced tournament.

Scores24's forecast for the Belgium team

Bookmakers obviously evaluate the Belgium team not only by their own strength, but also by the state of other tournament teams, assuming that even reaching the quarterfinals will be a great success for the Belgians. Therefore, in the editorial office, we will try to avoid the market of long-term outcomes.

But instead, we offer you an interesting trend that affects the performance of the Belgium team at major tournaments - World Cups and European Championships. For seven matches in a row (at the Euro-2024 and World Cup-2022 games), only one team scores in matches involving the Belgium team – and only twice it was De Bruyne and company.

If we consider only World Cup games, then such a trend is relevant for 5 out of 6 group stage games. The bookmakers' odds for the option Both Teams To Score (No) in the starting games are good – 1.95* in the game against Egypt and 1.70* – in the game against Iran.

An additional option is "low". In 15 consecutive matches at the Euro and World Cup, viewers of games involving the Belgians saw no more than three goals per game. The odds for Total Under 3 goals in games withThe odds between Egypt and Iran vary from 1.53* to 1.55*.

*Odds are given as a guide, they may vary in different bookmakers and are current at the time of publication

More predictions for all the games of the 2026 World Cup will be available in the tournament section from June 9th.

If you are interested in detailed analysis of the top teams' chances at the 2026 World Cup, you can read other articles:

• France's national team at the 2026 World Cup: squad, prediction, and statistics
• Prediction for Brazil's performance at the 2026 World Cup
• What will Cristiano Ronaldo's sixth World Cup look like?