Belgium's World Cup 2022 Crisis: De Bruyne vs Courtois, Hazard vs Trossard

Belgium's World Cup 2022 Crisis: De Bruyne vs Courtois, Hazard vs Trossard

Martin Moses
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:18 PM
In this article:
FIFA World Cup logo
FIFA World Cup
International
Eden Hazard logo
E.Hazard
-FBelgium logo
Kevin De Bruyne logo
K. D. Bruyne
Manchester City logoMBelgium logo
Romelu Lukaku logo
R. Lukaku
AS Roma logoFBelgium logo
  • A new report claims Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois haven't spoken in years
  • This is linked to the affair the goalkeeper had with KDB's former girlfriend
  • Hazard, Batshuayi, Lukaku and Trossard said to be at loggerheads

New details are continuing to emerge over Belgium's uninspiring start at the 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign, as Roberto Martinez is struggling to maintain the squad.

Martinez has admitted that there are some issues within the squad, as the Red Devils will bow out if they lose to Croatia.

Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Eden Hazard, Leandro Trossard, Romelu Lukaku, Michy Batshuayi
Serious cracks have been reported in the Belgian national team. Photo by Michael Regan.
Source: Getty Images

His big stars have clashed in the dressing room and have made controversial remarks to the media.

One of the new findings indicates that the Manchester City and Real Madrid stars do not speak due to private reasons.

Exciting feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy!

The Courtois affair

RTL reports that the two stars haven't spoken in years. Fans online have claimed that the 'private reasons' mentioned involve De Bruyne's ex-girlfriend, Caroline Lijnen.

In 2014, Lijnen revealed she had cheated on KDB with his Belgium teammate Courtois. She claimed it was payback of sorts, after De Bruyne had admitted he had cheated on her with her best friend.

The two (Lijnen and De Bruyne) were in a relationship for three years before breaking it off due to the affair. KDB was devastated by the news at that time, but Daily Mail reported he and Courtois had patched up their issues.

However, the new report by RTL that the two haven't spoken in years, has reignited memories of the Courtois affair.

Hazard and Lukaku

The report also states that captain Eden Hazard and Leandro Trossard are not on talking terms, the same as strikers Romelu Lukaku and Michy Batshuayi, but like the De Bruyne-Cortouis case, no reason has been given.

KDB moved on and married Michelle Lacroix, while Courtois recently proposed to Mishel Gerzig.

De Bruyne, Hazard and Vertonghen clash

Sports Brief had earlier reported that Belgium's defeat to Morocco appears to have opened a can of worms, with big stars reported to have had a huge confrontation in the dressing room.

The 2018 semi-finalists fell to a shock 2-0 defeat to the African giants, leaving their chances of progression to the next stage in limbo. They will now have to beat Croatia in their final group game to progress.

Before the game against the Atlas Lions, De Bruyne gave controversial remarks where he opined the Belgian squad is too old to win the World Cup.

Authors
Martin Moses photo
Martin Moses
Martin Moses is a sports journalist with over five years of experience in media. He graduated from Multimedia University of Kenya (Bachelor of Journalism, 2017-2021)