Garcia leaves Belgium national team

Paris, AFP – Frenchman Rudi Garcia will step down as coach of the Belgian national team, a position he has held since February 2025, during which he led them to the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup in North America, at the end of this month.

According to a statement from the federation, Garcia said, “After consultations with the Belgian Football Association, we have decided not to continue this excellent journey that has spanned the past 18 months.”

Under Garcia’s leadership (62), who succeeded German-Italian Domenico Tedesco in the role, the Belgian national team reached the World Cup quarter-finals, where they lost to Spain, who went on to claim the title by defeating 2022 Qatar champions Argentina.

Since taking charge in January 2025, at the helm of a national team reeling from two consecutive early exits (elimination in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup and in the round of 16 at Euro 2024), the French coach has breathed new life into the “Red Devils.” They entered the 2026 World Cup campaign on the back of 13 consecutive unbeaten matches, extending that streak to 18 in finals competitions, before falling 2-1 to Spain in the quarter-finals.

The former coach of Lille, Marseille, and Lyon in France, as well as Napoli and Roma in Italy and Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, first bolstered his legitimacy by achieving two key objectives: keeping Belgium in the first group of the UEFA Nations League and qualifying for the World Cup in the United States.

Alongside these statistical achievements, Garcia successfully managed the transition between the golden generation led by Eden Hazard and the new wave of talented players spearheaded by Jeremy Doku.