Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez announced Monday the final squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup including Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany and Real Sociedad midfielder Adnan Januzaj, who replaced Roma's Radja Nainggolan.
The coach excluded goalkeeper Matz Sels, defenders Christian Kabasele and Jordan Lukaku as well as forward Christian Benteke, reported Efe.
Martinez will have to exclude a player from this list, and is keeping Los Angeles FC defender Laurent Ciman as a wild card in case either Kompany or Barcelona's Thomas Vermaelen cannot appear in the World Cup in Russia due to injury.
According to FIFA rules, it is possible to replace a player up to 24 hours before the national team's first match in the tournament, with Belgium first kicking off against Panama on June 18.
Belgian media outlets reported that Januzaj is the big surprise of the list after convincing Martinez with his playing style, and will become the first Belgian soccer player to appear in two consecutive World Cups without having played a single minute in the qualifiers.
Belgium is set to compete in Group G along with Panama, Tunisia (June 23) and England (June 28).
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Belgium's 24-player list is:
Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool) and Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg)
Defenders: Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen (both Tottenham Hotspur), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona) and Dedryck Boyata (Celtic Glasgow), Thomas Meunier (Paris Saint-Germain)
Midfielders: Yannick Carrasco (Dalian Yifang), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Leander Dendoncker (Anderlecht), Youri Tielemans (AS Monaco), Axel Witsel (Tianjin Quanjian), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham Hotspur), Nacer Chadli (West Bromwich Albion), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Monchengladbach) and Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad)
Forwards: Eden Hazard, Michy Batshuayi (both Chelsea), Dries Mertens (Napoli) and Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United).
--IANS
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