TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Belgian national team had to lose a striker during the group stage in World Cup 2022. He is Romelu Lukaku is unlikely to play until at least the final Group F game against Croatia.

The player who defends Inter Milan has not taken part in the first training session of the team nicknamed the Red Devils since arriving in Qatar last Friday. He would continue to recover from a hamstring injury.

Romelu Lukaku is the main striker of Roberto Martinez’s team. With the Belgian national team, he became all-time top scorer with 68 goals in 102 appearances. Before leaving for the World Cup, Lukaku was already struggling with injuries while defending Inter Milan.

Lukaku’s partner Axel Witsel hopes the striker can play against Canada in the first match. “However, I can’t tell you when he will be back,” said the Atletico Madrid midfielder.

“The most important thing is how he feels. I was in his place at the last European Championship when I came back from injury and I’m sure Romelu will be back soon,” he said. -he declares.

Lukaku endured a difficult 18 months, returning to Inter Milan on loan after a disastrous season with Chelsea. However, the 29-year-old has only featured twice for Inter since August after picking up the injury for the first time in the 3-1 loss to Lazio.

He returned to action last month, scoring in a 4-0 win over Viktoria Plzen. This result allowed Inter Milan to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League. Unfortunately, he injured his hamstrings again a few days later.

Martinez will have to decide who will replace Lukaku up front for the match against Canada. Fenerbahce striker Michy Batshuayi started Belgium’s warm-up game against Egypt on Friday. However, Batshuayi was replaced by Lens striker Lois Openda.

Belgium will also face Morocco before meeting 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia early next month. Martinez’s team has long been dubbed the “Golden Generation” by fans. With several major players approaching the age of 30, Qatar’s 2022 World Cup looks to be the last chance Belgian national team prove this designation.

“For a group of players in this team it will be the last, that’s why we really want to give everything we have,” Witsel said. “We have more experience (compared to 2018) but time will tell in this competition.

“We had an amazing run in (the World Cup) 2018 because we were individually and collectively in great shape, and we want to replicate that here,” Witsel said.

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