Thibaut Courtois makes bizarre request to Belgium as he insists he was fit to continue

Thibaut Courtois is keen for a year-long break from international duty following Belgium’s World Cup elimination against Spain.

But the Real Madrid goalkeeper has stressed he still wants to be under consideration to help his side achieve Euro 2028 qualification.

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The Red Devils were beaten 2-1 in their quarter-final tie on Friday night after Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino netted a late winner for the second knockout game in a row.

Merino pounced on an error made by goalkeeper Senne Lammens, following Courtois’ withdrawal due to injury.

The Real Madrid shot-stopper went down with a thigh issue just after the hour mark before eventually being substituted.

He exited the pitch in tears after 70 minutes, hobbling off to make way for Lammens, who went on to make a costly mistake.

Merino’s goal ended Belgian dreams and likely Courtois’ World Cup career too – but the 34-year-old doesn’t want to end his full international career just yet.

Courtois is now keen on taking a break from international duty, saying: “I want to rest for a year with no Belgium games, and then play the Euro 2028 qualifiers and the Euro 2028.

“I don’t know if Belgium will agree to this.”

If the Belgian FA don’t agree to the keeper’s wishes, then that could spell the end of his career representing his nation.

Courtois has the seventh most caps ever for Belgium with 115, making the most World Cup appearances for his country with 20.

‘I wanted to continue’

While stressing he wants to continue his Belgium career, he also has declared he wanted to carry on in the quarter-final despite his thigh injury.

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Speaking after the defeat to Spain on Friday, he admitted: “It was with a long kick at the beginning of the second half, I felt something near my muscle.

“I made some saves, I felt OK, so I continued, then, I kicked it long again and I felt it a bit more.

“So then, you know it’s something muscular, and you need to be careful.

“Obviously, I wanted to continue but the coach wanted someone 100 per cent.

“So OK, it’s his decision. I wanted to try to play maybe five, ten more minutes to see because I was feeling good.

“I was making 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 it’s not a problem.”

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Looking after a mate

Following his injury, Courtois did put his own devastation behind him, putting his arm around teammate Lammens.

And despite Manchester United goalkeeper’s error leading to Spain’s winner, Courtois has thrown his support behind him.

He remarked: “I gave him a big hug – there’s not much more I can do at this moment.

“He’s a great goalkeeper and he will only get stronger from this, he has a lot of personality.

“For me personally, obviously you are not happy when you have to leave a quarter-final of a World Cup.

“So we will rest for the next few weeks and then see what the injury is.”