By Sean Walsh
Belgium have omitted Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois from their provisional 25-player squad for Euro 2024.
Courtois has spent much of the 2023/24 season recovering from an ACL tear, while he also spent further time on the sidelines having suffered a meniscus injury shortly before his initial return to action.
The 32-year-old made four appearances down the final stretch of Madrid's successful La Liga campaign, while he could also play in Saturday's Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund.
However, Courtois will have the summer off after being overlooked for Belgium's Euro 2024 campaign.
Red Devils manager Domenico Tedesco has decided to select Wolfsburg's Koen Casteels, Luton Town's Thomas Kaminski and Nottingham Forest's Matz Sels instead. This trio have a combined 17 caps at senior level, while Courtois boasts 102 alone - only Jan Vertonghen, Axel Witsel, Toby Alderweireld, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Dries Mertens have played more for Belgium.
This will be the first major tournament Courtois has missed since Belgium's return to prominence, featuring at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, as well as the Euros in 2016 and 2020.
Belgium's provisional Euro 2024 squad
Goalkeepers
- Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg)
- Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest)
- Thomas Kaminski (Luton Town)
Defenders
- Jan Vertonghen (Anderlecht)
- Axel Witsel (Atletico Madrid)
- Thomas Meunier (Trabzonspor)
- Timothy Castagne (Fulham)
- Arthur Theate (Rennes)
- Wout Faes (Leicester City)
- Zeno Debast (Anderlecht)
- Maxim De Cuyper (Club Brugge)
Midfielders
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
- Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa)
- Orel Mangala (Lyon/Nottingham Forest)
- Amadou Onana (Everton)
- Aster Vranckx (Wolfsburg)
- Arthur Vermeeren (Atletico Madrid)
Forwards
- Romelu Lukaku (Roma/Chelsea)
- Yannick Carrasco (Al-Shabab)
- Leandro Trossard (Arsenal)
- Jeremy Doku (Manchester City)
- Lois Openda (RB Leipzig)
- Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla)
- Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta/Milan)
- Johan Bakayoko (PSV Eindhoven)
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This article was originally published on 90min.com as Belgium make shock decision over Thibaut Courtois ahead of Euro 2024.
