Romelu Lukaku won’t suit up for Belgium until at least their World Cup opener against Croatia in Group F, a team source told AFP on Sunday, November 20, 2022.
The forward, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury, missed the Red Devils’ first official practise since they arrived in Qatar on Friday.
Lukaku, the all-time leading scorer for Belgium with 68 goals in 102 appearances, was selected for the World Cup team despite the fact that coach Roberto Martinez acknowledged he was not at full strength.
The 29-year-old has had a challenging past 18 months after returning to Inter Milan on loan following a disastrous campaign with Chelsea.
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However, since suffering the injury in a 3-1 loss at Lazio in August, he has only appeared twice for Inter.
He made an impressive comeback last month, scoring in a 4-0 victory over Viktoria Plzen to guarantee Inter’s passage to the round of 16, but he then injured his hamstring once more a few days later.
Belgium’s World Cup campaign gets underway against Canada on Wednesday. They then play Morocco and Croatia before facing the winners of the 2018 World Cup at the beginning of the following month.
Martinez must choose an up front replacement for Lukaku. Michy Batshuayi of Fenerbahce began Belgium’s lone pre-tournament friendly encounter, a 2-1 loss to Egypt on Friday.
Lois Openda, a forward for Lens, took Batshuayi’s position and scored a goal to tie the score in Kuwait City in the 76th minute.
