Thibaut Courtois Ends Exile, Set to Make Belgium Comeback

On Friday, Rudi Garcia revealed his 26-man squad for Belgium's upcoming Nations League play-off against Ukraine, which notably includes Thibaut Courtois from Real Madrid. This marks Courtois' return to the national team since June 2023, following a period of self-exile due to a disagreement with former coach Domenico Tedesco over the captaincy decision for a match against Austria. However, with the arrival of Garcia as the new head coach in January, Courtois expressed his eagerness to make a comeback, and now he has been given the opportunity to represent Belgium once again. Garcia mentioned during his press conference that he is looking to "start afresh" with the veteran goalkeeper, signaling a fresh start for Courtois in the national team setup.

Ahead of Courtois' return, Koen Casteels -- Belgium's No 1 in the Madrid man's absence -- announced last Sunday he was "no longer available for the national team".

"I find it a bit strange that Thibaut Courtois can decide for himself whether he can come back. And I find it very strange that the federation should flip-flop in this way and roll out the red carpet," said Casteels on a podcast.

"There are a lot of players who think the same as I do."

Belgian outlet Sudinfo also reported last week that not all the players seemed to be in favour of Courtois' return -- a situation likely to complicate Garcia's start to life in his new role.

"We'll have to discuss (this) with a select group, the leaders. We'll talk about it once and then some more. It's a new page that's opening up," said Garcia.

For his first squad since taking the reins, Garcia has called up 19-year-old Lyon forward Malick Fofana and 17-year-old Ajax starlet Jorthy Mokio, who could make their debuts.

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However, the squad still boasts plenty of experience with Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Youri Tielemans all present on the list of 26.

Belgium will take on Ukraine in a two-legged play-off on March 20 and 23, with their place in League A of the Nations League at stake.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid/ESP), Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest/ENG), Senne Lammens (Genk), Maarten Vandevoordt (RB Leipzig/GER)

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Defenders: Timothy Castagne (Fulham/ENG), Zeno Debast (Sporting Lisbon/POR), Maxim De Cuyper (Club Brugge), Koni De Winter (Genoa/ITA), Wout Faes (Leicester City/ENG), Thomas Meunier (Lille/FRA), Brandon Mechele (Club Brugge), Arthur Theate (Frankfurt/GER)

Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City/ENG), Bryan Heynen (Genk), Jorthy Mokio (Ajax/NED), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers/SCO), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa/ENG), Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge)

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Attackers: Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta/ITA), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City/ENG), Malick Fofana (Lyon/FRA), Romelu Lukaku (Napoli/ITA), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla/ESP), Lois Openda (RB Leipzig/GER), Alexis Saelemaekers (Roma/ITA), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal/ENG)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)