Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has threatened to quit the Belgium national team following their 2-0 defeat by France in the Nations League on Tuesday night.
De Bruyne captained the team against France but they failed to put up an impressive performance. The Manchester City midfielder could not hide his frustration and appeared to criticise his teammates’ work rate.
He also appeared to criticise the defensive tactics of manager Domenico Tedesco in fiery comments after the game, and reportedly told technical director Frank Vercauteren on the sideline: “I quit, I quit.”
After the match, the 33-year-old De Bruyne revealed that he was frank with his teammates at half-time and said Belgium’s performance “has to be better in every way”.
“If the standard we want to reach is the best, but we’re no longer good enough to get to that level, then you have to give everything,” De Bruyne told Belgian TV station VTM. “If you don’t even do that, it’s over.”
De Bruyne noted that Belgium had “too many at the back” which prevented any connection between the forward players.
“I can accept that we’re not as good as in 2018,” De Bruyne said. “I was the first to see that, but other things are unacceptable. I’m not going to say what.”
Despite his outburst, Tedesco said De Bruyne “has a mentality of a winner” and didn’t criticise his captain for being outspoken.
“He is emotional and disappointed,” Tedesco said. “That’s why sometimes you can sometimes say this.”
Belgium have dropped to No 6 in the rankings, remaining high up mainly because of their impressive record in qualifying for major tournaments.
However, they have failed to keep up with the momentum. A poor Nations League campaign could cost them a place among the top-seeded teams when the draw is made for qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
