Courtois back in Belgium squad after near-two-year absence

Thibaut Courtois has been appointed in the first Belgian team of Rudi Garcia and ended his absence of almost two years in the Red Devil's Constitution.

Courtois ended the Belgian camp in June 2023 after a row with earlier coach Domenico Tedesco about the captain and then refused to represent his country.

The Real Madrid-Shot stopper said that he was open for a return when Tedesco was fired in January, and new boss Garcia did not waste any time by calling him back.

He could give up when Belgium encounters Ukraine in a two-legged promotional break-band in the Nations League next week.

The first stage takes place on the neutral land in Murcia next Thursday, where the return match takes place three days later in Genk.

On Friday asked if Courtois had been asked to apologize from his teammates before he returned, Garcia said: “We start with a clean slate.

“I will only see the players on Monday, but we will talk to the leaders again about what happened.

“But after that I will not stop to consider what happened years ago. Otherwise we will not make progress.”

Garcia also refused to confirm the identity of his captain, and only said Courtois, together with Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City and Napoli striker Romelu Lukaku, was a candidate.

A new chapter starts. pic.twitter.com/Gktagg9egs

– Belgian Red Devils (@belreddevils) March 14, 2025

Belgium Squad: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Senne Lammens (Antwerp), Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest), Maarten Vandevoordt (RB Leipzig); Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Zeno Debast (Sporting CP), De Cuyper (Club Brugge), Koni de Winter (Genoa), Wout Faes (Leicester City), Brandon Mechele (Club Brugge), Thomas Meunier (Lille), Arthur Theate (Ertront Frankfurt); Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Bryan Heynen (Genk), Jorthy Mokio (Ajax), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge); Charles de Ketelaere (Atalanta), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Malick Fofana (Lyon), Romelu Lukaku (Napoli), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla), Lois Openda (RB Leipzig), Alexis Saelemaekers (Roma).