Chelsea’s Eden Hazard will remain Belgium captain despite the return of Vincent Kompany to full fitness, Roberto Martinez has confirmed.
The Belgian head coach named Hazard as the Red Devils’ skipper in September with Manchester City captain Kompany having spent much of the past two seasons battling a string of knee injuries.
However the 31-year-old rediscovered his best form in the closing weeks of this season and started City’s final eight games of the season.
That return to fitness saw him named in the Belgian squad ahead of a first possible international appearance since October 2015 but if he does feature under Martinez it will not be as captain.
“Eden Hazard started the qualifying campaign [as captain] and will carry on with his duties,” Martinez said. “I expect this group to have five or six captains and I expect Vincent to be one of those.”
As ever Martinez’s Belgian squad contains a sizeable Premier League contingent, including Hazard’s club-mates Thibaut Courtois and Michy Batshuayi as well as Tottenham duo Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.
Mousa Dembele misses out with a foot injury.
BELGIAN SQUAD IN FULL
Goalkeepers: Koen Casteels (VFL Wolfsburg), Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Matz Sels (Newcastle)
Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic), Laurent Ciman (Montreal Impact), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Thomas Vermaelen (Roma), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham)
Midfielders: Leander Dendoncker (Anderlecht), Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid), Nacer Chadli (West Bromwich Albion), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Thomas Foket (KAA Gent), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Monchengladbach), Radja Nainggolan (Roma), Youri Tielemans (Monaco), Axel Witsel (Tianjin Quanjian)
Strikers: Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea), Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Romelu Lukaku (Everton), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Kevin Mirallas (Everton), Divock Origi (Liverpool)
