Not just Onana. The Belgium loses another piece of Domenico Tedesco’s squad list and is Matz Sels: The Nottingham goalkeeper will be rested as he appears to be suffering from adductor pain. So it will be Ortwin De Wolf to replace him in Belgium’s starting lineup for the Nations League matches against Italy (10 October) and France (14 October).
The presence of the Mechelen goalkeeper, who started the season very well, is one surprise: the 27 year old – reports DH.be – had been included in Domenico Tedesco’s squad, but was not called up when the final squad was announced last Friday. He eventually took advantage of the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper’s withdrawal to make his debut for the senior team. An absolute first for De Wolf, who only made 4 appearances with the Under 21 national team between 2018 and 2019.
The updated list of those called up:
Goalkeepers: Koen Casteels, Ortwin De Wolf, Maarten Vandevoordt.
Defenders: Timothy Castagne, Zeno Debast, Maxim De Cuyper, Wout Faes, Arthur Theate, Koni De Winter, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Matte Smets.
Midfielders: Aster Vranckx, Orel Mangala, Youri Tielemans, Arne Engels.
Attackers: Johan Bakayoko, Jérémy Doku, Charles De Ketelaere, Dodi Lukebakio, Loïs Openda, Malick Fofana, Cyril Ngonge, Leandro Trossard.
Due to a problem with the adductor, Matz Sels is being replaced in the squad by Ortwin De Wolf. Speedy recovery, Matz! pic.twitter.com/es8pSkA46s
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) October 8, 2024