3 min readJul 11, 2026 02:40 PM IST
Belgium’s veteran goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has revealed that he wanted to stay on in the quarter-final despite his leg injury, and that the decision to replace him with Senne Lammens was made by coach Rudi Garcia. The move backfired as Lammens failed to pouch a long-range shot from Pau Cubarsi in the 88th minute, which led to Mikel Merino smashing home the rebound that handed Spain a 2-1 win.
“Obviously I wanted to continue, but the coach wanted someone 100 per cent, so that’s his decision. I wanted to try to play for five or 10 more minutes because in goal I was feeling good,” Courtois told reporters after the FIFA World Cup 2026 match in Inglewood.
The 34-year-old said he had felt an ache as he launched a long kick early in the second half. “I felt something here in my muscle. Then, I did some saves, I felt okay, so I thought, okay, we’ll continue. Then I kicked again long and I felt it a bit more.”
He added, “I was making the saves, and I was not disturbed to make those saves. I was only disturbed to kick long. So that’s a decision of the coach, and that’s not a problem.”
Nevertheless, Courtois backed Manchester United custodian Lammens after the costly error. “Senne, obviously, I gave him a big hug. I know, for goalkeepers, this is a shit feeling, and he’s a great goalkeeper, and he will only get stronger from this. He will have some holidays and then regroup in Manchester and have a great season.”
Meanwhile, Garcia rued the injury to Courtois, deeming it a key moment for Belgium. “Losing him during the game – that was a hard hit to take,” Garcia said. “When you start racking up the years you need to always be at 100% of capacity. Because if you are not… it can be problematic.”
“Thibaut was there to keep the ball out of the net, but unfortunately to beat a team of this calibre… the stars weren’t aligned.”
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As for his future with Belgium, Real Madrid star Courtois said he might take a break from international action and come back for the 2028 Euros’ qualifying games. “Regarding my future with the national team, we’ll see. I’d like to perhaps take a break from the Nations League, which isn’t that important, and maybe return for the Euro qualifying campaign.”
