Belgium appoint Garcia as coach with Hazard named assistant

Belgium has appointed former Roma and Napoli boss Rudi Garcia as a new head coach, with Eden Hazard as his assistant.

The Royal Belgian Football Association announced last week that it had made the decision to say goodbye to Domenico Tedesco, in which the Italian remained in the role for less than two years.

The Belgium of Tedesco had a hard time at the European Championships of 2024 and came through group E with only four points, before France had to undergo a gentle exit in the last sixteen.

Garcia has now been appointed as his successor in what his first trip to international management will mean, with a four -month period at Napoli in 2023.

Garcia previously led Lille to the Ligue 1 title in 2011 and finished second in the Europa League with Marseille in 2017/18, and also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League with Lyon in 2020.

The Frenchman, who also led Al-Nassr but left in April 2023 in the midst of rumors about a break with attacker Cristiano Ronaldo, said: “We are ambitious and want to win every game. I think this is an environment with a lot of positivity.”

Rudi Garcia, the new head coach of the Red Devils. pic.twitter.com/RSBXOGVCSPSP

– Belgian Red Devils (@belreddevils) January 24, 2025

Garcia is assisted by former Red Devil captain Hazard, who played among him at Lille and played 126 games for his country between 2008 and 2022.

“I talk a lot to Eden Hazard. He will also be part of the adventure to the World Cup. He will help us a bit,” said Garcia.

“He can be important because he was part of the team. It can be interesting to have one of the best Belgian players behind me.”

One of Garcia's first tasks will be to convince Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to return to the team after he refused to play because he was overlooked by Tedesco in 2023 as a leader.

“We still have good keepers, but in my opinion Thibaut is the best keeper in the world,” Garcia told reporters.

“It would be good to be able to count on him. The signals are positive.”

Belgium will face Ukraine in March in the relegation play-offs of the Nations League, after it finished third in group A2, behind France and Italy.

Then they start their World Cup qualifying campaign in June for 2026 against Northern Macedonia, with Wales, Liechtenstein and Kazakhstan as their other opponents in Group J.