Both De Bruyne and Lukaku are currently sidelined for Napoli with an eye and a hip injury respectively, but are set to feature in their fourth FIFA World Cup finals.

Lukaku is Belgium's joint-top scorer in the FIFA World Cup, with five – level with Marc Wilmots, while De Bruyne is its joint-top assister, level with Eden Hazard on four.

Belgium is making its 15th FIFA World Cup appearance; no European team has qualified for as many tournaments without winning the trophy.

Rudi Garcia, who is set to become the fourth non-Belgian to take charge of the team at a FIFA World Cup, did leave out some notable players.

Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia, who has continued to struggle with injuries this season, has been left out along with Lois Openda, who has scored just once in 24 Serie A games for Juventus in 2025-2026.

Youngsters Mika Godts and Arthur Vermeeren have also missed out on the squad; Godts has directly contributed to 29 goals (17 goals, 12 assists) in 31 Eredivisie games for Ajax this season.

Premier League stars Jeremy Doku, Leandro Trossard, Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana were all named in Garcia's 26-man squad.

Belgium FIFA World Cup squad:

Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Senne Lammens (Manchester United), Mike Penders (Strasbourg); Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Zeno Debast (Sporting CP), Maxim De Cuyper (Brighton & Hove Albion), Koni De Winter (AC Milan), Brandon Mechele (Club Brugge), Nathan Ngoy (Lille), Joaquin Seys (Club Brugge), Arthur Theate (Eintracht Frankfurt); Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli), Amadou Onana (Aston Villa), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge), Axel Witsel (Girona); Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City); Matias Fernandez Pardo (Lille), Romelu Lukaku (Napoli), Dodi Lukebakio (Benfica), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal), Diego Moreira (Strasbourg), Alexis Saelemaekers (AC Milan).