De Bruyne does not expect to retire from Belgium duty after World Cup

Kevin De Bruyne does not believe the upcoming World Cup will represent his Belgium swansong, suggesting he will continue to play for his country if he can stay fit.

De Bruyne is set to appear at a fourth edition of the World Cup this year, having previously represented the Red Devils at FIFA’s flagship tournament in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

Belgium reached the quarter-finals in 2014 and the semi-finals in 2018, but they crashed out in the group stage in 2022 and then underwhelmed again at Euro 2024, losing to France in the last 16.

Having been drawn into Group G for this year’s tournament, alongside Egypt, Iran and New Zealand, Rudi Garcia’s team will face two of the co-hosts in friendly matches in the coming days, taking on the United States on Saturday and Mexico on Tuesday.

De Bruyne is available for those fixtures after recovering from a thigh injury that sidelined him for almost five months, and the Napoli playmaker says his ability to stay fit will dictate his international future.

“I don’t think I’ll stop after the World Cup. As long as I feel good, I think I want to continue,” De Bruyne said.

“I have now been training fully with the team for four weeks. It was important to get fitter, to get more minutes. I’m happy with how things are going now.

“I don’t think I’ll play 90 minutes twice. You don’t have to, in friendly matches. There are still important duels to come. But it is important to gain match rhythm.”

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Belgium will be without De Bruyne’s club-mate Romelu Lukaku for their forthcoming games, however, with their all-time leading scorer having only played 64 minutes for Napoli all season due to a recurring hamstring issue.

With Lukaku desperately attempting to recover in time for the World Cup, De Bruyne suggested competing medical opinions had not helped him in his recovery.

“There is always a lot of noise around Napoli. If something happens, it is magnified,” De Bruyne said. “I don’t know the details of what exactly is happening.

“But the situation is not nice for Romelu. There was his injury, and it lasted a while. I hope Romelu returns as soon as possible.

“Romelu and I have followed different paths after our injuries. I did a full rehabilitation, and Romelu did half in Antwerp, half in Naples.

“When you have two different visions, it’s difficult to work together. There were differences. That’s not ideal if you want to get fit.”