Thibaut Courtois has told Belgium he still doesn’t want to be considered for selection while Domenico Tedesco is the head coach.
Courtois has 102 caps for his country but announced in August that he was no longer available after being left out of Tedesco’s squad for the European Championship earlier in the summer.
He had missed the majority of the 2023-24 campaign with a pair of knee injuries but proved his fitness ahead of the tournament by returning for Real Madrid’s Champions League final victory over Borussia Dortmund.
Belgian FA CEO, Peter Willems, travelled to Madrid last week to meet with Courtois to test the waters over a possible return to playing for the national team.
But the goalkeeper again reiterated he does not intend to put himself forward for selection while Tedesco is in charge.
The Athletic reported in June last year that Courtois had previously been unhappy at being overlooked for the captaincy after Kevin De Bruyne withdrew from international duty with an injury with Tedesco instead opting to hand the armband to Romelu Lukaku.
Euro 2024 was Belgium’s first major tournament without Courtois since 2012. He had previously played every match of the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cups, as well as the 2016 and 2020 Euros.
Koen Casteels, a former team-mate of Courtois at Genk, started all four of Belgium’s games in Germany before they exited after defeat to France in the round of 16.
Courtois has missed Real Madrid’s last four games with an adductor injury but is eyeing a return to fitness when Carlo Ancelotti’s side return to action following the international break away at Leganes on November 24.
(Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images)
