Tedesco calls up 26 players for Serbia and Azerbaijan

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Previously, there were always 24 names in the national coach’s selections, but because this time it is a short campaign of only one week including two international matches, and because there are still question marks behind some of the names, Tedesco selected 26 Red Devils this time. No surprises. Zinho Vanheusden is called up again because there are still some doubts about Jan Vertonghen, Aster Vranckx and Alexis Saelemaekers are back. Charles De Ketelaere was not called up due to an injury.

The Red Devils qualified for their sixth major tournament in a row thanks to the 2-3 win in Vienna against Austria in October. In recent years they have participated in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the 2016 European Championship in France, the 2018 World Cup in Russia, EURO 2020 and the World Cup at the end of last year in Qatar.

The Devils start next week with a practice match against Serbia (November 15). This will be followed by the final European Championship qualifying match against Azerbaijan (November 19). With a win against the Azeris, the Devils are assured of a group win in qualifying pool F. This means they will most likely also be the seed during the draw for the final round of the European Championship, on Saturday, December 2 in Hamburg. Only Hungary can keep the Red Devils out of the top five best group winners, but the Belgians have a much more positive goal difference.