All Whites vs Belgium | Sat 27th June | 3:00pm (NZT) | BC Place, Vancouver

323 replies · 11,568 views
about 2 months ago · edited about 2 months ago · History
Belgian squad to be named soon.
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about 2 months ago · edited about 2 months ago · History
Ben Old with a St Etienne team mate in the Belgian squad. Stassin apparently on the radar of Brentford among others.

Wood's Forest team mate Mat Sels also in there.

https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/2026/05/18/belgium-include-big-names-in-fifa-mens-world-cup-squad-to-face-all-whites/


Belgium have named a 26-player squad for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, with veterans Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois all selected for a fourth tournament.

Coach Rudi Garcia has retained much of Belgium’s experienced core, while also introducing several younger players, including Lille attacker Mathias Fernandez-Pardo and Saint-Etienne striker Lucas Stassin.

Lukaku (33) has scored 89 times in 124 games for his country, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (34) has 107 caps.

Notable omissions include RB Leipzig forward Lois Openda, former Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi and Ajax winger Mika Godts.

Garcia acknowledged concerns around Lukaku’s fitness after an injury-hit season with Napoli but defended his inclusion.


“Romelu has recovered, but he’s out of shape, and I’m not sure he’ll be able to start the matches,” Garcia said.

“But he’s our best striker, Belgium’s all-time leading scorer.”

Belgium have arranged warm-up matches against Croatia (June 3, NZT) in Rijeka, Croatia, and against Tunisia (June 7, NZT) in Brussels, Belgium.
 
Goalkeepers
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, Spain)
Mats Sels (Nottingham Forest, England)
Senne Lammens (Royal Antwerp, Belgium)

Defenders
Arthur Theate (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany)
Brandon Mechele (Club Brugge, Belgium)
Nathan Ngoy (Luton Town, England)
Koni De Winter (Genoa, Italy)
Zeno Debast (Sporting CP, Portugal)
Maxime De Cuyper (Club Brugge, Belgium)
Joaquin Seys (Club Brugge, Belgium)
Thomas Meunier (Trabzonspor, Turkiye)
Timothy Castagne (Fulham, England)

Midfielders
Nicolas Raskin (Rangers, Scotland)
Axel Witsel (Atletico Madrid, Spain)
Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge, Belgium)
Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli, Italy)
Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa, England)
Amadou Onana (Aston Villa, England)

Forwards
Jeremy Doku (Manchester City, England)
Alexis Saelemaekers (AC Milan, Italy)
Mathias Fernandez-Pardo (Lille, France)
Lucas Stassin (Saint-Etienne, France)
Romelu Lukaku (Napoli, Italy)
Leandro Trossard (Arsenal, England)
Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta, Italy)
Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla, Spain) 
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about 2 months ago
I see a big, big problem in the above squad......no cultural architects lol
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Endorsed by
AntzJamesBomartinb
about 1 month ago · edited about 1 month ago · History
Saffa wrote:
I see a big, big problem in the above squad......no cultural architects lol
😂 
Quite good. I thought peak tactical innovation had been reached when my second 11 coach played me at left right out, but the non-playing cultural architect beats that entirely! 

Also that club for Lammens is…?


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about 1 month ago
coochiee wrote:
Ben Old with a St Etienne team mate in the Belgian squad. Stassin apparently on the radar of Brentford among others.

Wood's Forest team mate Mat Sels also in there.

https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/2026/05/18/belgium-include-big-names-in-fifa-mens-world-cup-squad-to-face-all-whites/


Belgium have named a 26-player squad for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, with veterans Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois all selected for a fourth tournament.

Coach Rudi Garcia has retained much of Belgium’s experienced core, while also introducing several younger players, including Lille attacker Mathias Fernandez-Pardo and Saint-Etienne striker Lucas Stassin.

Lukaku (33) has scored 89 times in 124 games for his country, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (34) has 107 caps.

Notable omissions include RB Leipzig forward Lois Openda, former Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi and Ajax winger Mika Godts.

 
Garcia acknowledged concerns around Lukaku’s fitness after an injury-hit season with Napoli but defended his inclusion.



“Romelu has recovered, but he’s out of shape, and I’m not sure he’ll be able to start the matches,” Garcia said.


“But he’s our best striker, Belgium’s all-time leading scorer.”


Belgium have arranged warm-up matches against Croatia (June 3, NZT) in Rijeka, Croatia, and against Tunisia (June 7, NZT) in Brussels, Belgium.
 
Goalkeepers
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, Spain)
Mats Sels (Nottingham Forest, England)
Senne Lammens (Royal Antwerp, Belgium)


Defenders
Arthur Theate (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany)
Brandon Mechele (Club Brugge, Belgium)
Nathan Ngoy (Luton Town, England)
Koni De Winter (Genoa, Italy)
Zeno Debast (Sporting CP, Portugal)
Maxime De Cuyper (Club Brugge, Belgium)
Joaquin Seys (Club Brugge, Belgium)
Thomas Meunier (Trabzonspor, Turkiye)
Timothy Castagne (Fulham, England)


Midfielders
Nicolas Raskin (Rangers, Scotland)
Axel Witsel (Atletico Madrid, Spain)
Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge, Belgium)
Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli, Italy)
Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa, England)
Amadou Onana (Aston Villa, England)


Forwards
Jeremy Doku (Manchester City, England)
Alexis Saelemaekers (AC Milan, Italy)
Mathias Fernandez-Pardo (Lille, France)
Lucas Stassin (Saint-Etienne, France)
Romelu Lukaku (Napoli, Italy)
Leandro Trossard (Arsenal, England)
Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta, Italy)
Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla, Spain) 
Hmmm, not sure where FoF got this squad from! Sels was left out for Mike Penders instead, and Stassin isn't included either. The actual squad below:

Goalkeepers
Thibaut Courtois
Senne Lammens
Mike Penders

Defenders
Timothy Castagne
Zeno Debast
Maxim De Cuyper
Koni De Winter
Brandon Mechele
Thomas Meunier
Nathan Ngoy
Joaquin Seys
Arthur Theate

Midfielders
Kevin De Bruyne
Amadou Onana
Nicolas Raskin
Youri Tielemans
Hans Vanaken
Axel Witsel

Forwards
Charles De Ketelaere
Jeremy Doku
Matias Fernandez-Pardo
Romelu Lukaku
Dodi Lukebakio
Diego Moreira
Alexis Saelemaekers
Leandro Trossard
Annual finals disappointment enthusiast.

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about 1 month ago
Belgium win 2-0 in Croatia in a warmup.
Lukaku and Tielemans the goals. Can't find any decent highlights anywhere.
image.png 2.89 MB
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about 1 month ago
Belgium looked quite good in this game. Doko is  dynamite down the flank. Got an assist by skinning his marker like a traffic cone.
Romolu Lukaka scored a cracking goal after a 50 metre run. Now got 90 goals for Belgium. He looks in cracking form after an injury filled season.
I hope Belgium has qualified top of the group by the time they play us. They may rest some of these guys
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Endorsed by
PK
about 1 month ago
Belgium 5-0 over Tunisia this morning. Peaking too early I say :)
I know, I know, its serious!

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Endorsed by
FUmartinb
27 days ago
It makes it easier for us to play Belgium last, after Iran and Egypt.  
Either we have won at least one game by then, or we have not.  Two draws will not save us.



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Endorsed by
PK
15 days ago
I would like us to try a different option for this game, since we were found out by Egypt.  


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Endorsed by
FUPK
15 days ago
Yes, we need to make changes. Bindon for boxall. Thomas to start. Paulsen in goal and too make changes earlier in the game when the players tire. 
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Endorsed by
Buffon IIFUPK
15 days ago · edited 15 days ago · History
Agree with making the subs earlier.  There was nothing to gain from keeping the same team on once Egypt equalised.  We started the second game in the same shape as we did first half, and did not react when we could see that the wily Egyptian coach must have read his team a riot act. We could see the change in their approach and and energy. A tired team will not perform well, and that was us from 6o min onwards.  
We have quality players on the bench that did not get a chance to do their best on the day against Egypt (or Iran for that matter).   Hopefully they could do that against Belgium, who also will rely on what they saw today to prepare for a game against us.


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Endorsed by
FUmartinb
15 days ago
I want to see some Bayliss at some stage during this match



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Endorsed by
hepatitisJamesBoMainland FCPK
15 days ago
I think Bayliss could have come on for Singh, but I am sure Bazza has his own ideas.



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Endorsed by
PK
15 days ago
I feel like Bindon needs to start. He's just too classy to only get 20-30 mins. But where?

From memory the Surman-Bindon CB combo hasn't gone that well for the AWs.

And Payne had two high quality corners, including the one Surman scored from. Plus some other very useful crosses. I'd almost say he played better than Libby, who was pretty ineffective again.

But then Egypt scored twice from headers in the area Payne patrols. Bindon is really really good in the air.
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Endorsed by
FUMainland FCPK
15 days ago
I forgot that Bayliss also existed. Thats how bad Baze has been. 

Lets rely on a guy thats accomplished nothing but get injured since 2019.

I question Kosta but Singh might be more questionable.
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15 days ago
Its almost impossible to imagine that Belgium wont come into this game all guns firing. They will have their backs to the walk knowing that if they dont get a result they risk going out of the WC.
This will be a very tough match because they have very very good players. I think everyone picked this to be our toughest match. Despite their form nothing has changed IMO
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Endorsed by
Mainland FCPK
14 days ago
I hoped to get out of rhe group, but didnt expect to.

Nothing has changed... but I have got to watch NZ play some pretty good footy at times.
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Endorsed by
BraveheartcoochieeFUOi Oi Edgecumbe+1
14 days ago
I think the songs lyrics is “your defence is terrified”

The thought of Doku up against our right flank is terrifying.

Auckland will rise once more

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Endorsed by
valeo
14 days ago
MetalLegNZ wrote:
I hoped to get out of rhe group, but didnt expect to.

Nothing has changed... but I have got to watch NZ play some pretty good footy at times.
The frustrating thing for me is that they genuinely played themselves into a place where that was a possibility, raised our hopes and then failed to use our depth. But I’m repeating myself. 

The 3-1 score line feels unfair and wrong. Especially with Egypt’s antics and the ref. It was the kind of score line I worried about, that we’d hit a wall. This is something we’ve also done in preparation, along with failing to use our bench well. 

World Cup aggregate: 5-3
Including warm ups: 10-4

Apart from the Chile game it’s been a long time since we won one. 

Their keeper saves at 53, we concede at 58 and we’re out of it for about 20 minutes. Until we get Randall, Thomas, Bindon and de Vries. 

And for some reason we took off McCowatt who had had our best chance of the half and seemed to be the player with the best mentality on the park for us at that point. Eck. 

Singh needs to work hard and tidy up his game. Look at Eli and Callum. Both very tidy footballers. If he did that he’d go some way to achieving what we imagined was his potential…


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Endorsed by
PKSouthernix
14 days ago
AucklandPhoenix wrote:
I think the songs lyrics is “your defence is terrified”

The thought of Doku up against our right flank is terrifying.
Bindon has to play, he will be fresher

a.haak

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Endorsed by
PK
14 days ago
We have come so far to actually play here, I do not want us to go out on a self-congratulatory note from NZF that we made the nation proud by being there.  
If we do what we have always done (ie in the first two games) we will not get any better outcome against the Red Devils.  We absolutely must lift the standard for this last game, and this includes the coach. The second half of the Egypt game surely taught him that.




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Endorsed by
Buffon IIhepatitisPK
14 days ago
Good for Doku, bad for us https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cly01kjqdnpo, his baby came early, he got to be at the birth, and will be back to play us
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Endorsed by
PK
14 days ago
We really have no luck

a.haak

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14 days ago
Baze is conservative in all he has done so far. His after match talks are bland, I’m not getting much insight from them. 

I’m not sure he will make changes to the starting lineup. And will respond after the fact rather than initiate during a game. 

Can someone advise what it takes to get to the next round, if we draw will that do it as a mathematical possibility ?


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Endorsed by
PK
14 days ago · edited 14 days ago · History
4 of the 12 teams paced 3rd are already on 3 points. That is with two pools still to play their 2nd game.

For the AWs to finish 3rd in their pool with only 2 points (2 draws) they need Egypt to beat Iran (already on 2 points) by at least 3 goals??

Basically the AWs have to beat the Belgians, two draws won't be enough to progress. 


History was what the All Whites were after at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

But with two of their three group G matches done and dusted, they are still chasing their first win and still chasing a place in the knockout stage.
Having come up empty against Iran and Egypt, they now need to beat world No 10 Belgium to achieve those goals and keep their campaign going past the group stage.

That match is set for 8pm Friday (3pm Saturday New Zealand time) at BC Place in Vancouver –
the venue where they lost 3-1 to Egypt in their second match on Sunday evening.

Egypt face Iran at Lumen Field in Seattle at the same time on Friday and the result in the other group G match will factor into the permutations.

If the All Whites win and Egypt win or draw, they will advance in second place and play their first World Cup knockout match in Dallas on July 3 (July 4 NZ time), against either Australia or Paraguay, the runners-up from group D.

If they win and Iran win, the All Whites will finish third in group G with four points and a goal difference no worse than -1.

Their progression will then depend on whether they are one of the eight best third-placed teams, with the records of eight of the other 11 contenders set to be known by the time their match kicks off.

If they do make it, they will play their round of 32 match either on June 30 in New Jersey, against the winner of group I, likely France or Norway, or July 2 in Vancouver, against the winner of group D, either Canada or Switzerland.
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14 days ago
hepatitis wrote:
Can someone advise what it takes to get to the next round, if we draw will that do it as a mathematical possibility ?
 
Win.

A draw won't be enough.

Three for me, and two for them.

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Endorsed by
hepatitisMainland FCPK
14 days ago
Iran held Belgium to 0-0. We are just as good as Iran so why not a result for us against Belgium?
But the issue here is tactics and strategy. Can we set up to keep Belgium from scoring? On the evidence so far no. We have already shipped 5 goals with some very lose defending.
We have often looked great going forward but sometimes you also need to be pragmatic.
We have had the lead three times and never won. Against Egypt we subbed on two attackers when we were leading and two defenders when we were down 1-3
Hindsight is a great thing but many coaches would gave subbed on Bindon for Singh and gone to a back five early in the second half. That would have vastly improved our chances of a result. Its not about parking the bus but being pragmatic.
Baze has said we will play our game against Belgium. But Im not sure he has the tools in his locker to manage a game of this stature.
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Endorsed by
PKwh
14 days ago · edited 14 days ago · History
The Iran keeper had a huge match against Belgium.

But yeah we are a chance, and they lose a day travelling up to Vancouver on a short 5 day turnaround between games. Though the Belgians are probably prepared for the long ball Woodsy chest downs.

https://twitter.com/OptaJason/status/2068966964119363907

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Endorsed by
MartoPK
14 days ago
reubee wrote:
Good for Doku, bad for us https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cly01kjqdnpo, his baby came early, he got to be at the birth, and will be back to play us
Well IMO Doku will come out a man possessed given the media beat up for going back to England for the birth of his child (he hasn't done anything wrong IMO).

He'll strive to hit a couple of goals against us to stick it to the media too.
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13 days ago
Mainland FC wrote:
We have come so far to actually play here, I do not want us to go out on a self-congratulatory note from NZF that we made the nation proud by being there.  
If we do what we have always done (ie in the first two games) we will not get any better outcome against the Red Devils.  We absolutely must lift the standard for this last game, and this includes the coach. The second half of the Egypt game surely taught him that.


 
Must defend better. In all ways imaginable including substitutions or even change of shape in match. & goalkeeper. Also should think this way after the World Cup, if the All Whites are to improve Soccer Ashes results and get a 2nd ever South American win. 
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Endorsed by
FUMainland FC
13 days ago
Seen some cracking goal keeping this tournament from some of the minnow teams.

Hope AP gets the nod this game and shows the world what he can do!!

Auckland will rise once more

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Endorsed by
Banzai!...AIEEE!!!Buffon IIFUMainland FC+2
13 days ago
From what I got from the Egypt games was their coach constantly calling encouragement, tactics etc to his team whilst Bazeley just stood there shell shocked, showing he did not have a plan "B". A Possum steering at the spotlight before the hunter squeezes the trigger.

Every game is the same, go all out to score early and then sit back and suck up the pressure. 

Belgium are a different kettle of fish. and if Bazeley cannot change his tactics accordingly, this could end up a torrid result. he gave the team a day or two off. Meanwhile, Belgium has been continuing their practising. 
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

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Endorsed by
FU
12 days ago · edited 12 days ago · History
Probably not on the box but as soon as the full time whistle blew, Baz ran over to the three match officials and appeared to give them the hair dryer treatment at the end of the Egypt game.
Supporter of the world's best football teams: Waikato..., Kingz FC, NZ Knights, The Nix, The Argyle & of course the All Whites

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12 days ago · edited 12 days ago · History
Can people stop having a go at Baz... I didn't like his appointment, it was unambitions IMO and I struggled to see how he could be the best fit for the role, but let's look at some facts.

Unlike Hay and Hudson etc, Baz's selections have been a lot more understandable and justifiable. The players in general getting picked have deserved to be. Smith is an outlier for the WC, but at least there is a reason behind it. Outside that, I think most of us would agree he has got it right.

Back four... for years people on this forum complained about our negative back five, balls to the wall, hit long to Wood and hope tactics. We are now set up to try and hold possession, and actually do so quite well. We have had some lovely passages of football this tournament, and hints in earlier friendlies etc.

We are competative. People need to remember where we are on the world map footballing wise. We are a minnow, pure and simple, but we are playing good football and showing we are deserving of a place at the big dance. We haven't been humped 6-0 like other teams, or sat back on 20% possession and played super negative dross.

All this we could have made subs earlier, would in reality turn to, we should have made subs later had they come on earlier and we conceeded straight away etc. Arguing about what if's are pointless. Wood has played back to back 90 mins, how often does that happen? No one is calling for him to be subbed early, why?

New Zealand has done well under Baz. Better results, better brand of football overall. 

Is he a charismatic guy, no. But has he done a decent job, most definately.
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Endorsed by
AntzBrockieTheGOATcoochieeWibblebutt
12 days ago
Marto wrote:
Probably not on the box but as soon as the full time whistle blew, Baz ran over to the three match officials and appeared to give them the hair dryer treatment at the end of the Egypt game.
Like Singh berating the guy at the start of the second half, this feels like poor referee management. It’s too late at this point. Singh creates a more adversarial relationship in that approach. 

With Baze, if you are going to go all in Mike Hesson, do it to get the VAR to review a player getting trampled prior to the goal. Anything else is for the press or to delude yourself. 

End of the game you smile, shake their hands and say thank you. 


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Endorsed by
Oi Oi Edgecumbe
12 days ago
Anyway Belgium! Waffles, Huysegems! 

Do we dare to dream? Or did we fire our best shots and miss anyway? 

Can we at least preserve some dignity we lost? 


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Endorsed by
Antz