Belgium freshen squad with three new call-ups for World Cup qualifiers

BRUSSELS: Belgium coach Rudi Garcia continued his efforts to freshen up the squad with three newcomers named on Friday for World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein next week.

Versatile midfielder Charles Vanhoutte has been rewarded for his form in helping Union St Gilloise win the Belgian title last season and replaces the injured Amadou Onana, while Club Brugge fullback Joaquin Seys gets another chance after injury ruled him out of the first call-up in June.

The 20-year-old goalkeeper Mike Penders also gets a first summons. He is on loan from Chelsea to Racing Strasbourg.

Belgium are third in Group J with four points from two games behind North Macedonia (eight points) and Wales (seven, who have both played four matches, and face Liechtenstein in Vaduz next Thursday before hosting Kazakhstan in Brussels on September 7.

The Kazakhs have three points, while Lichtenstein are bottom without a point with both sides having played three matches.

Fulham defender Timothy Castagne is back after injury and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Michy Batshuayi has won a recall as an extra attacker to cover for the injured Romelu Lukaku, who is Belgium’s top scorer with 89 goals in 124 appearances.

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García suggested that Lukaku would likely be out for the next six internationals through to November.
“We’ll have to qualify for the World Cup without Lukaku,” he told a Friday press conference. “We have to show that we can score goals even without Romelu.”

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Mike Penders (Racing Strasbourg), Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest), Maarten Vandevoort (RB Leipzig)

Defenders: Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Zeno Debast (Sporting), Maxim De Cuyper (Brighton), Koni De Winter (AC Milan), Brandon Mechele (Club Brugge), Thomas Meunier (Lille), Arthur Theate (Eintracht Frankfurt), Joaquin Seys (Club Brugge),

Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge), Charles Vanhoutte (Union St Gilloise)

Forwards: Michy Batshuayi (Eintracht Frankfurt), Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Malick Fofana (Olympique Lyonnais), Lois Openda (RB Leipzig), Alexis Saelemaekers (AC Milan), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal), Diego Moreira (Racing Strasbourg)