Romelu Lukaku has been included to Roberto Martinez’s 26-man World Cup roster, but there are still concerns over his readiness for the competition.
The striker’s season has been hampered by injuries while he is currently on loan from Chelsea to Inter Milan. Due to his ongoing hamstring ailment and a thigh issue from earlier in the season, Lukaku has only appeared twice since August for the Serie A team.
Martinez had previously said he would only take Lukaku if he could play in at least one group game, adding after the announcement: “He is not completely fit medically, that is clear, but the last three days has been very positive. We will give Romelu every second to be fit.
“At this stage, we feel he will be able to take part in at least one of those three (Group F) games. But we will keep assessing and have up until November 22 to make a decision.
“His situation is similar to [Axel] Witsel’s in the run-up to the previous European Championship. Or Vincent Kompany’s in 2018 [ahead of the World Cup]. It is not an exceptional situation for us. We want him to play as big a role as he can give.”
Eden Hazard has also been added, despite spending the majority of the season on the bench for Real Madrid and not participating in La Liga since his coach Carlo Ancelotti lost interest in him in September.
Nevertheless, Martinez has put aside worries about his match fitness and form because he is a talismanic figure for Belgium.
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“I am looking for Eden to come as captain of the squad and show what an incredible player we have. He is enjoying his football, I can see that, the only concern is the match fitness,” the head coach said on Thursday.
          Full Belgium Squad For The World Cup
Goalkeepers:Â Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Simon Mignolet (Club Brugge), Koen Casteels (VfL Wolfsburg).
Defenders:Â Jan Vertonghen (Anderlecht), Toby Alderweireld (Royal Antwerp), Wout Faes (Leicester), Arthur Theate (Rennes), Zeno Debast (Anderlecht), Thomas Meunier (Borussia Dortmund), Timothy Castagne (Leicester).
Midfielders:Â Kevin De Bruyne (Man City), Youri Tielemans (Leicester), Amadou Onana (Everton), Axel Witsel (Atletico Madrid), Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge), Leander Dendoncker (Aston Villa), Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Dortmund).
Forwards:Â Eden Hazard (Real Madrid), Charles De Ketelaere (AC Milan), Leandro Trossard (Brighton), Dries Mertens (Galatasaray), Jeremy Doku (Rennes), Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan), Michy Batshuayi (Fenerbahce), Lois Openda (Lens).
