Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku replacement is star who snubbed World Cup rivals four times

‘Unicorn’ Matias Fernandez-Pardo has been backed to lead the line for Belgium in place of Romelu Lukaku at the World Cup.

Veteran striker Lukaku has been named in the squad, despite head coach Rudi Garcia admitting bluntly that the Napoli man is ‘out of shape’ – having played just 69 minutes all season, spread across seven substitute appearances.

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Lukaku did score in his first game since missing three months with a hamstring injury, coming off the bench to net late on in Belgium’s 2-0 friendly win in Croatia earlier this week, but the 33-year-old will inevitably have to be eased into the World Cup.

And European football expert Andy Brassell is excited about the prospect of Fernandez-Pardo being the ‘future’ of the Belgian national team, even though the Lille forward only made his senior international debut in that friendly against Croatia, also as a substitute – having turned down four youth call-ups by Spain, who he was also eligible to represent through his ancestry.

Speaking to talkSPORT.com, Brassell enthused about what Fernandez-Pardo could bring to the table this summer.

‘It’s taken a long time to work out what he is’

“I love Fernandez-Pardo,” he said.

“He’s kind of a unicorn. It’s taken a long time to work out exactly what he is – I think not just for us but for him as well.

“People looked at him and thought, ‘He’s a winger’, but he’s really flourishing as a centre-forward.

“I think people’s understanding of what a centre-forward can be and should be has changed a little bit. Sometimes we think that a centre-forward does have to be someone who’s six-foot plus, who can put themselves about.

“But I think it’s really notable that since Lille’s form has improved towards the end of the season, they were unbeaten in 13…”

Fernandez-Pardo helped Lille finish third in Ligue 1, securing qualification for next season’s Champions League.

The 21-year-old, who signed from Belgian club Gent in 2024, scored eight goals in the French top flight this term, five of them in his last 10 appearances as he replaced Olivier Giroud as Lille’s go-to frontman.

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The ‘future’ for Belgium?

“It all coincides with Fernandez-Pardo becoming the starting striker,” Brassell continued.

“Now obviously, Giroud is old enough [39] that he shouldn’t be playing every game of the season anyway.

“But obviously, in terms of strikers, they couldn’t be any [more] different players really in terms of the type of player that they are.

“Fernandez-Pardo has all of the winger’s skillset in that he’s very, very good in tight spaces. He’s a good dribbler; he’s good at beating players; he’s quick.

“But…they’ve allowed [recently departed Lille boss] Bruno Genesio, who’s an exceptional coach and an exceptional developer of young players…to use those traditional winger’s skills in a more central area.

“I think this is maybe the future for Belgium in terms of a striker…they go into the World Cup with Romelu Lukaku in the squad, but we know he’s not properly fit…

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“I don’t know if his role is a playing one or a non-playing one…I can’t think of many situations where that’s been said about a player, especially when you look at someone who’s the country’s top scorer of all time [with 90 goals], before a World Cup finals.”

It seems that this World Cup could mark a changing of the guard for Belgium, then, with Lukaku having been their spearhead at the last two World Cups, including 2018’s run to the semi-finals.

Belgium begin their tournament, Garcia’s first in charge, against Egypt in Group G on June 15 before taking on Iran and New Zealand.

The Red Devils have one more friendly to play between now and the start of the World Cup next Thursday (June 11): they entertain Tunisia in Brussels this Saturday.