Manchester United<\/a> starlet Senne Lammens will get his opportunity one day, but not at this tournament. <\/p>\nRB: Thomas Meunier<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
At 34, Thomas Meunier is well past his best \u2013 however, he is still a regular member of Belgium\u2019s starting XI. There is competition, in the form of Timothy Castagne, but Meunier has generally enjoyed better form than the Fulham man this season.<\/p>\n
Meunier has played in 19 Ligue 1 games for LOSC Lille this season, scoring a single goal and notching up two assists. He has 76 Belgium caps to his name \u2013 his experience could be invaluable at the World Cup.<\/p>\n
CB: Arthur Theate<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
Arthur Theate is the archetypal modern centre-back. He is no slouch defensively, but his main strengths come from his ability to play the ball out from the back. <\/p>\n
With that being said, Theate has struggled somewhat this season \u2013 he has been part of a particularly leaky Eintracht Frankfurt backline, conceding 51 goals in 27 games. Nevertheless, as Belgium\u2019s flagship defender, you can expect him to start at the World Cup. <\/p>\n
CB: Koni De Winter<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
Koni De Winter only has five Belgium caps to his name \u2013 additionally, he didn\u2019t have a great start to life for the Red Devils, being involved in their ignominious 1-1 draw away at Kazakhstan. <\/p>\n
Nevertheless, at just 23 years of age, De Winter has plenty of developing to do. There aren\u2019t many other quality options at centre-back for Belgium \u2013 as such, it would make sense if Garcia wished to bed him in at the World Cup.<\/p>\n
LB: Maxim De Cuyper<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
Maxim De Cuyper has largely been a rotational option for Brighton this season, but has generally managed to stand out when picked. <\/p>\n
With two goals to his name in the Premier League this season, De Cuyper\u2019s attacking acumen is evident \u2013 he is also very fast, making him difficult for wingers to dribble beyond. <\/p>\n
CM: Amadou Onana<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
Hard-working, physically dominant and technically sound, Amadou Onana is an absolute monolith of a central midfielder. His form often comes and goes, but the former Everton man is a shoe-in for this XI.<\/p>\n
He has had a few injury issues this season, but is currently fit to play \u2013 hopefully, he can stay that way in time for the World Cup.<\/p>\n
CM: Youri Tielemans<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
Youri Tielemans has led a highly overlooked campaign at Aston Villa this season \u2013 he has played a vital role in their attempt to secure Champions League football next season.<\/p>\n
An excellent playmaker with a wide range of passing, Tielemans can be called upon to hold Belgium\u2019s midfield together \u2013 theoretically, he and Onana will be an excellent midfield partnership at the World Cup, as they both cover each other\u2019s weaknesses.<\/p>\n
RW: Alexis Saelemaekers<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
Alexis Saelemaekers will make it into Belgium\u2019s squad for a few reasons. He has led a decent season at AC Milan, scoring two goals and notching up four assists, but his main selling point is his pliability. <\/p>\n
Saelemaekers is more than comfortable playing on the right wing, but he can also function as a left-winger, a wide midfielder or as a wing-back. <\/p>\n
AM: Kevin De Bruyne<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
Kevin De Bruyne\u2019s inclusion in Belgium\u2019s starting XI hinges on one factor \u2013 his fitness. If De Bruyne is healthy is enough to start, then he will be the first name on Garcia\u2019s teamsheet.<\/p>\n
De Bruyne has spent much of the season out of action with a hamstring injury, but is slowly being worked back into contention. As things stand, the Manchester City icon has scored four goals in 11 games this season. <\/p>\n
LW: Jeremy Doku<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
The current season hasn\u2019t been Jeremy Doku\u2019s best, but it would be surprising to see him left out of Belgium\u2019s starting XI at the 2026 World Cup. <\/p>\n
An incredibly tricky winger who loves to run at players and take them on, Doku is a real throwback. He\u2019s very strong on the ball, too \u2013 it\u2019s very difficult to defend against him. <\/p>\n
ST: Leandro Trossard<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
We all know what you\u2019re thinking \u2013 why isn\u2019t Romelu Lukaku occupying this role? It\u2019s simple \u2013 he hasn\u2019t played for Belgium for almost a year and has only scored a single league goal for Napoli this season.<\/p>\n
In his stead, Arsenal\u2019s Leandro Trossard has stepped in as an auxillary striker. We\u2019d expect Lukaku to feature at some point in the tournament, but his lack of minutes \u2013 international or otherwise \u2013 cannot be overlooked. <\/p>\n
\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let\u2019s face facts \u2013 Belgium are not the team they used to be. Ten years ago, they were one of the most feared nations in world football, but now, they are threatening to be amongst the World Cup\u2019s also-rans in 2026. Today, we\u2019ll take a look at how Belgium might line up for their first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}