Victim of a cruciate ligament injury, Thibaut Courtois has confirmed that he will not participate in the next Euro 2024 with Belgium. A big blow for the Red Devils, who are one of the favorites for the competition.
Euro 2024 in Germany loses a new player. After Erling Haaland (eliminated), Sandro Tonali (suspended) and Gavi (seriously injured), David Alaba was struck down last Sunday by a knee injury. His Real Madrid teammate Thibaut Courtois has also made his withdrawal official for the next European Nations Championship. The Belgian goalkeeper of the Merengues suffered a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last August and will not be ready next June.
His entourage had however denied information from the Madrid press, but the 31-year-old goalkeeper confirmed his future unavailability during an interview with Sporza: “ due to the injury, there will be no Euros for me no matter what. I have to recover 100% first and it’s better not to set a date for that. If I’m lucky I can play a match again in May, but I’ll never be 100% for a big tournament “.
Thibaut Courtois is not yet in possession of the EK in Duitsland. Dat vertelt de 102-voudige Rode Duivel aan Sporza in an exclusive interview.https://t.co/POPAkwfVuV pic.twitter.com/RmHJP3YaQ6
— sporza (@sporza) December 19, 2023
Uncompromising in the qualifiers (six wins, two draws), Domenico Tedesco’s players start as clear favorites in Group E, with matches against Slovakia, Romania then the winner of play-off B (Bosnia-Uraine against Israel-Iceland). It is Koen Casteels, the Wolfsburg goalkeeper, who is now the Belgian number 1, with Strasbourg’s Matz Sels as backup.
