Kevin De Bruyne has accomplished plenty in his decorated career. Yet, the star Belgian midfielder does not plan to take his fourth World Cup appearance for granted.
Two days ahead of Belgium’s World Cup opener against Egypt, the 35-year-old De Bruyne stressed much has changed since his days as a Premier League sensation for Manchester City. Nearly two decades removed from representing his home country for the first time and 119 appearances later, the two-time Premier League player of the season considers himself grateful to do so.
“It’s an honor for me to still be here after playing for the national team for about 16 years. So, that means I’ve done something good,” De Bruyne said with a laugh during the English portion of Saturday’s press conference. “Hopefully I can play a good tournament and do something well for Belgium.”
The 2025-26 season, his first with Serie A club Napoli, was a challenging one for De Bruyne after 10 years at City, during which he scored 108 goals in 285 games to help the English club to six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and a Champions League trophy. In October, De Bruyne had a severe lesion to his thigh muscle and did not return until March 6.
Since March, De Bruyne has appeared in 10 Serie A matches, as well as four friendlies for Belgium. In the most recent, on June 6, he scored during a 5-0 victory against Tunisia.
Before Belgium’s practice at the training facility of Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders, De Bruyne declared himself ready for the tournament.
“I have done everything I could to get fit,” De Bruyne said in French, “and I feel that way too.”
Even with a clean bill of health, De Bruyne knows he has fewer chances to play for the Belgium national team. The Drongen, Belgium, native admitted as much, noting he doesn’t have another 10 years remaining in his career, and that he wants to enjoy all aspects of this tournament.
De Bruyne’s perspective is significantly different from previous stints with the Belgium national team, and his City tenure.
“You are only focused on winning and the next match,” De Bruyne said, “but after you have won, it is suddenly over.”
De Bruyne doesn’t plan to ease back on his intensity with teammates. But, with other star players like winger Jeremy Doku on the roster, De Bruyne recognizes the onus for winning does not fall solely on him, or seasoned veterans like striker Romelu Lukaku or goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The 24-year-old Doku, a teammate with De Bruyne at City for two seasons, has impressed the veteran.
“Defending Jérémy for 90 minutes is impossible,” De Bruyne said. “He has also become more efficient over the past year. He has found more moments where he can choose his situations. To play a top tournament, we need a good Doku.
“In any case, he is already making my life easier.”
What qualifies as a “top tournament” for this Belgian side, though, is highly subjective. With holdovers from the “Golden Generation” teams like De Bruyne, Lukaku and Courtois, Belgium is still to be taken seriously as a threat to go all the way in the tournament, especially considering its relatively favorable draw in Group G with Egypt, New Zealand and Iran.
Still, after a historic third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Belgium did not advance past the group stage in 2022 in Qatar. If Belgium is to recapture the momentum of that 2018 performance, having De Bruyne in top form would go a long way.
De Bruyne will have a chance to turn back the clock quickly when he and Belgium square off against former Liverpool star Mohamed Salah and Egypt in their World Cup opener on Monday.
“I played against Mo for 10 years,” De Bruyne said. “Our kids also went to the same school. So, I saw him from time to time. And, he’s a really nice guy. So, it will be nice to see him. It will be nice to compete again like old times.”
Debast Cleared For World Cup
Center back Zeno Debast, who was absent from the portions of both Wednesday’s and Thursday’s training sessions that were open to the media, remains part of the Belgian squad for the World Cup. In a statement released by the team in French, it was determined in consultation with both the technical and medical staffs that Debast will remain part of the roster.
The 22-year-old Debast injured his leg last month while training with Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon and is not expected to be available until later in the tournament. Debast has 26 matches for Belgium and was on the 2022 World Cup roster in Qatar.
Reporting by the Associated Press.
