Mark van Bommel's Belgium Squad: Serie A Influence and Tough Start
Mark van Bommel’s Belgium will walk straight into the fire. A new coach, a heavyweight group, and an opening night in Italy. There are easier ways to start a tenure than a Nations League pool with Italy, France and Turkiye. There are also safer ways to pick a first squad than this.
Van Bommel has not gone safe.
The former Milan midfielder, who wore the Rossoneri shirt in 2011-12, has named his first Belgium list for the Nations League, and the imprint of Serie A is clear. Six players from the Italian top flight make the cut, a deliberate nod to the league that once shaped him and now feeds his new project.
A brutal schedule, a clear statement
Belgium’s campaign begins away to Italy on September 25, Van Bommel’s debut on the touchline. Three days later, France come to visit on September 28. Turkiye follow on October 2, then another trip to France on October 5. The group closes with a visit to Turkiye on November 12 and a home clash against Italy on November 15.
No warm-up games. No soft landings. Just a series of matches that will reveal very quickly whether Belgium’s next cycle is built on rock or sand.
The squad list shows where Van Bommel wants to go.
Serie A spine for a new era
At the back, Milan defender Koni De Winter steps into the senior frame, a modern, ball-playing option who fits the coach’s insistence on brave build-up. Bologna’s Arthur Theate, freshly installed at his new club, adds left-footed balance and aggression.
In midfield, the headline is impossible to miss: Kevin De Bruyne, now at Napoli, sits at the heart of it all. The playmaker remains the reference point, and Van Bommel has no intention of easing away from that. Around him, Parma’s Mandela Keita offers legs and bite, the kind of profile that lets the stars breathe higher up.
Up front, Atalanta’s Charles De Ketelaere and Milan winger Diego Moreira bring Serie A flair to the attacking line, both still with something to prove at international level, both trusted here to do it on a big stage.
The message is obvious: if you can handle Serie A, you can handle this.
Old power, new blood
Not everything is new. Romelu Lukaku and Lois Openda may have left Italy only weeks ago, but their presence still anchors the forward line. Lukaku, now at Fenerbahce, remains the reference point up top, the man Belgium still turn to when the box gets crowded and the clock runs down. Openda, now at Lyon, stretches defences, drags centre-backs into places they hate.
Around them, Van Bommel blends experience and promise.
In goal, Jari De Busser (AZ Alkmaar), Senne Lammens (Manchester United), Mike Penders (Chelsea) and Maarten Vandervoordt (RB Leipzig) form a young, competitive group, with no single, untouchable No. 1 guaranteed.
The defensive unit leans heavily on versatility: Timothy Castagne (Fulham) and Maxime De Cuyper (Brighton) can operate on either flank; Zeno Debast (Sporting), Brandon Mechele (Club Brugge) and Nathan Ngoy (LOSC) give central options; Kyriani Sabbe, Joaquin Seys and Mechele strengthen the Club Brugge block; Theate and De Winter complete a back line built to shift shapes mid-game.
Midfield carries a familiar Belgian flavour. Romeo Lavia (Chelsea), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers), Youri Tielemans (Manchester United) and Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge) join De Bruyne and Keita, a blend of Premier League craft, Scottish grit and domestic control. It is a group that can keep the ball or rip through lines quickly, depending on the opponent and the moment.
Up front, beyond De Ketelaere, Moreira, Lukaku and Openda, Van Bommel calls on Malick Fofana (Sunderland), Matias Fernandez-Pardo (Newcastle United), Mika Godts (PSG), Dodi Lukebakio (Benfica) and Leandro Trossard (Bestikas). It is a spread of profiles: wide dribblers, inside forwards, penalty-box threats. Plenty of tools. No excuses.
Van Bommel’s imprint
This is not a caretaker list. It is a blueprint.
Club Brugge’s strong representation – Mechele, Sabbe, Seys, Vanaken – points to a domestic core that understands each other instinctively. The Premier League and top-five European clubs add edge and tempo. Serie A supplies steel and tactical maturity.
Van Bommel, who replaced Rudi Garcia in the summer, knows what this group is walking into. Italy away, France twice, Turkiye home and away – this is the kind of schedule that exposes soft spots and rewards conviction.
He has leaned into that challenge with a squad that looks built for high-level chess: flexible defenders, midfielders who can both press and play, forwards who can either run in behind or lock defences in their own box.
The Nations League will not wait for Belgium to grow into this identity. The question is simple: can Van Bommel’s mix of Serie A grit, Premier League polish and Belgian continuity survive – and thrive – against Europe’s elite from the very first whistle?
