Belgium coach Van Bommel offers no guarantees to Lukaku against Turkey

Belgium coach Mark van Bommel dismissed concerns over Romelu Lukaku’s limited game time in his first two matches in charge but said he could not guarantee the forward’s playing minutes against Turkey on Friday.

Lukaku appeared only for seven minutes of last week’s 2-0 win over Italy in the Nations League in Rome and remained on the bench against France on Monday, a match in which they suffered a last-gasp home defeat.

The 33-year-old has scored 93 goals in 133 appearances for Belgium and his limited role raised questions over his international future.

"It is absolutely not the case that Romelu cannot come on or start. Quite the opposite,” Van Bommel told a press conference on Thursday ahead of the match in Liege.

"It depends on what we think we need in a particular phase or situation. He has certain qualities, but I felt that in that match we were playing a little further away from goal, which meant we could use pace. The only disadvantage is that he hasn’t played much for Fenerbahce."

Lukaku endured a difficult spell at club level last season, with injury and a dispute with Napoli restricting him to a handful of substitute appearances in 2025-26.

Following his move to Fenerbahce, he has made seven substitute appearances and started one game.

“You have to take that into account," Van Bommel said.

"I also explained to him that I chose pace, not because he is doing badly, because he is training well. But it’s not the case that you play based on good training sessions, or vice versa. But you don’t need to read anything major into it.

“As a player, you always want to play. We have 24 outfield players, which is more than usual. Don’t worry about it. Romelu has experienced everything. He hasn’t always played at his clubs and has sometimes had to fight for his place. No worries,” the coach repeated.