Twenty-four hours after keeping Real Madrid ahead of Inter in the Champions League, Thibaut Courtois told Belgium his gloves would stay in his kit bag this autumn.
“I have made the choice not to play the entire Nations League campaign with the Red Devils,” the Real Madrid goalkeeper said on Wednesday, a day after his display at the Bernabéu.
The 34-year-old had asked new head coach Mark Van Bommel to meet him in Madrid to talk through his role. The reply he got was direct: no guaranteed starting spot when he came back.
“He replied that he cannot guarantee me a starting place then,” Courtois said. “If the goalkeeper playing in the Nations League performs well, Van Bommel might continue with him. However, I want to fight for my place. I want to prove that I can be the first-choice keeper again.”
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The break Courtois flagged in July
Courtois had signalled the need for a rest weeks before Van Bommel formally took over. In a July interview with beIN Sports, he called the former Antwerp manager a “top coach” but added a caveat about the autumn.
“After the World Cup, I definitely still want to continue, but it will depend on the conversation I have with him. I’d like to have some rest during the Nations League, and we’ll have to try to reach an agreement on that.”
Van Bommel replaced Rudi Garcia and took the Belgium job on August 15, after the country’s quarter-final exit at the 2026 World Cup.
Return targeted for March
Courtois has told Van Bommel he plans to make himself available again for the Euro 2028 qualifiers, which begin in March 2027.
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“No, I’m not going to play any Nations League matches, not even the Final Four, unless the coach needs me because there are too many injuries,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
What Belgium face without him
Belgium sit in League A Group 1 with Italy, France and Türkiye, and their six-match programme starts in Milan on September 25 and ends at home to Italy on November 15. The two meetings with France, in Brussels on September 28 and in Paris on October 5, are the tie of the group. Senne Lammens is among those competing to take the gloves for the next two months.
At the Bernabéu on Tuesday, Courtois had been central to a 2-1 win over Inter in Real Madrid’s Champions League opener. Goals from Kylian Mbappé and Fede Valverde put the hosts two up in the first half before Carlos Augusto pulled one back inside the last quarter of an hour. Courtois was called on repeatedly as Inter pressed for the equaliser, and Madrid held on.
His next Belgium appearance, if his plan holds, is six months away.
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