Lukaku included in Belgium’s World Cup squad despite injury-plagued season

The country’s top goalscorer has not started for Napoli this season and made just seven substitute appearances.Belgium have included striker Romelu ‌Lukaku in their squad for the World Cup, even though he has played ⁠only an hour ⁠of competitive football this season.Lukaku, who turned 33 on Wednesday, has not started for Napoli this season, making seven substitute appearances and netting a goal at ⁠Verona in February, and has been in Belgium for the last two months rehabilitating after a hamstring injury.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4David Beckham becomes first British billionaire sportsmanlist 2 of 4Benched Mbappe says he’s fourth-choice forward at Real Madrid under Arbeloalist 3 of 4FIFA warned ‘gruelling heat’ could impact a quarter of World Cup gameslist 4 of 4Israeli minister blasts Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal for Palestinian flag waveend of listBut his role as the country’s leading scorer has seen coach Rudi ⁠Garcia gamble on his fitness for the tournament starting next month, where Belgium are in Group G along with Egypt, Iran and New Zealand.Lukaku has scored 89 times for Belgium but won the last of his 124 caps in the 4-3 home win over Wales in the World Cup qualification last ‌June.As cover, Garcia included promising attacker Matias Fernandez-Pardo after he committed his international future to the country earlier this week.The 21-year-old, who was born in Brussels to Italian and Spanish parents, played for Belgium at the junior level before choosing to play for Spain in 2024. But, subsequently, he did not honour a call-up to their under-20 side. He has had a strong season at Lille and was chosen in place of Lois Openda, ⁠who has not played regularly for Juventus this season.Sporting defender Zeno ⁠Debast was also included despite being hurt in training for the Portuguese club and amid reports he might not recover in time. Debast has been a regular since Garcia took over as coach.The timely return from injury ⁠of Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is a bonus for the squad, but speculation that Garcia would pick four goalkeepers in his 26-man selection ⁠proved incorrect.