Mark van Bommel appointed Belgium head coach until Euro 2028, brings Zenden and Martens as assistants

Swift appointment after Garcia exit

The Belgian football federation moved quickly after the World Cup quarterfinal loss to Spain, deciding not to renew Rudi Garcia's contract. Within just over a week, Mark van Bommel was unveiled as the new head coach of the Rode Duivels. The 49-year-old Dutchman signed a deal running through the 2028 European Championship, to be hosted by the United Kingdom and Ireland. He brings a three-man assistant team: former Netherlands international Boudewijn Zenden, ex-AZ Alkmaar manager and nine-cap Belgian Maarten Martens, and Reinier Robbemond, who has worked with Van Bommel at every previous head coach role.

It is a great honour to become Belgium's national coach. Belgium has outstanding players and enormous potential. Together with my technical staff we want to build a team that is disciplined, ambitious and brave enough to compete with the very best.

Why Van Bommel? The Antwerp factor

Van Bommel's reputation in Belgium rests heavily on his time at Royal Antwerp. Appointed in the summer of 2022, he delivered the club's first league title since 1957 and a domestic double in his debut season, adding the Super Cup. That success, built with sporting director Marc Overmars (who was consulted by the Belgian FA during the hiring process), made him a near-mythical figure in Antwerp. John Stegeman, his assistant at Antwerp and now Willem II head coach, said Van Bommel had long expressed a desire to become a national team coach and that his detailed preparation set him apart.

Mark offers a lot of structure, he has a clear game plan for every match. It usually works because it is enormously detailed, sometimes he would replay footage 20 times for a good preparation. And he knows how to radiate calm. He is positive towards his players, even when things are not going well.

Kevin Hofland, a former teammate and later his assistant at VfL Wolfsburg, described Van Bommel as a "people person" who excels at managing the egos of top players, a skill the Belgian federation specifically sought after Garcia's tenure was marked by tactical ambiguity and unrest.

A squad in transition

Van Bommel inherits a Belgium side in flux. The golden generation that finished third at the 2018 World Cup is fading: Jan Vertonghen, Eden Hazard and Dries Mertens have already retired from international football, while Thibaut Courtois (34), Kevin De Bruyne (35) and Romelu Lukaku (33) are nearing the end. Lukaku played sparingly for Napoli last season. Results have dipped sharply; after Euro 2024, Belgium won only one Nations League match against France, Italy and Israel, and Garcia's team narrowly avoided relegation from the top division. The most pressing issue is the unresolved stand-off with Courtois, who has been absent from the national team. Former Belgium defender Philippe Albert told Le Soir that Van Bommel has the character to resolve it.

Van Bommel has the intelligence and the character to solve these kinds of problems. But the most urgent is of course Thibaut Courtois. The issue around the goalkeeper must be resolved. And in our favour, if possible, because we need Courtois, as the World Cup showed.

French-language media react

In Wallonia, the appointment of a Dutch-speaking coach who does not yet speak French drew some criticism, but the tone in leading outlets was largely welcoming. Le Vif praised Van Bommel's playing career and his leadership qualities, calling him "a formidable and feared opponent, a fighter, an infantry general" as a player, and as a coach someone who "radiates a kind of wisdom and self-confidence." The magazine noted his linguistic talent (he speaks Dutch, English, German, Spanish and Italian) and reported that he intends to learn French, a gesture appreciated in the south of the country. Le Soir, through Albert, acknowledged the risk of hiring a coach without national team experience but argued his club pedigree and strong personality make him the right fit.

Yes, Van Bommel is a Dutchman. So what? Let us welcome him before we condemn him. He speaks Dutch, English, German, Spanish, Italian... but not yet French. He is gifted with languages and reportedly he is going to learn our language. But in the end, isn't the most important thing that he speaks the language of football that leads to success?

Van Bommel's coaching path

Van Bommel began his head coaching career with PSV's under-19s in 2017 and was promoted to the first team a year later. He averaged 1.95 points per game over 75 matches but was sacked in December 2019 after a dip in results. A short, unsuccessful spell at VfL Wolfsburg followed before Overmars brought him to Antwerp in 2022. After the historic double, his contract was terminated by mutual consent in 2024. He spent two years out of the game, turning down offers from distant leagues to support his son Ruben's recovery from a cruciate ligament injury. Now he steps into the biggest job of his coaching career.