At the knockout stage of the United States, Canada and Mexico FIFA World Cup, Belgium beat Senegal 3-2 to seal a spot in the Round of 16. During the hydration break in the second half, Belgium captain Youri Tielemans got into a heated argument with Leandro Trossard, before Romelu Lukaku stepped in to calm them down. The incident instantly brought back memories of Belgium’s long-running history of internal squad conflicts.
2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup
Belgium crashed out of the group stage at the Qatar World Cup. Belgian media reported that Eden Hazard clashed fiercely with Kevin De Bruyne and Jan Vertonghen, with Romelu Lukaku intervening to defuse the row.Belgium’s head coach and backroom staff held an emergency meeting on Monday local time, as tensions and divisions lingered across multiple groups within the squad.
The same outlet also revealed that Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois had not spoken to each other for years due to a personal feud — stemming from De Bruyne’s partner having an affair with Courtois. Michy Batshuayi and Romelu Lukaku shared a frosty relationship, while Eden Hazard and Leandro Trossard also refused to communicate with one another.
2023 UEFA European Championship Qualifiers
On June 18, 2023, Belgium drew 1-1 with Austria in a European Championship qualifier. The fixture marked Thibaut Courtois’ 100th cap for Belgium. With Eden Hazard retired from international duty and Kevin De Bruyne absent, Courtois hoped to wear the captain’s armband. However, Romelu Lukaku was named captain for the match instead. Head coach Domenico Tedesco confirmed Lukaku would skipper this game, with Courtois set to take the armband against Estonia.
Media reports stated Courtois was bitterly disappointed to miss out on the captaincy and deeply dissatisfied with Tedesco’s rotating captain system. He voiced his frustrations in the dressing room, delivering harsh criticism towards several teammates.
Courtois opted to pull out of the following fixture. Tedesco clarified he was not suffering any injury, and had left the squad as he felt insulted by the decision.Courtois later released a public statement, claiming his rift with head coach Domenico Tedesco was irreconcilable, and that he would never return to the national side under Tedesco’s management.
2026 United States, Canada and Mexico FIFA World Cup
Fast forward to the current Round of 16 tie between Belgium and Senegal. With Belgium trailing 2-0 in the 70th minute, captain Youri Tielemans erupted in an argument with Leandro Trossard — once again, Romelu Lukaku stepped between them to mediate.
In a dramatic twist of fate, 20 minutes later in the 89th minute, Leandro Trossard set up Youri Tielemans to score the equaliser and rescue Belgium. The two players embraced to bury their feud, and their match-winning combination has since been dubbed the “rift connection”.
The Infamous “Cheating Scandal Connection”
At the 2018 Russia FIFA World Cup, Belgium came from two goals down to beat Japan 3-2 in a dramatic comeback knockout tie. The match-winning late counter-attack was initiated by the two central figures of the infamous Courtois–De Bruyne cheating scandal: Thibaut Courtois launched the move with a quick throw to Kevin De Bruyne, the sequence then flowed through Thomas Meunier, Romelu Lukaku, before Nacer Chadli fired home the iconic last-gasp winner, creating the legendary “14 Seconds of Rostov” moment.
