De Bruyne and Lukaku to miss out on Belgium squad for October international break

Belgium captain Kevin de Bruyne and key striker Romelu Lukaku have withdrawn from the squad for the Belgian national team's matches against France and Italy, but it is a break and the two players are not retiring from the national team, Belgian dailies 'Le Soir' and 'Sudpresse' reported.
Lukaku, 31, had already missed the last call-up in early September as he was moving from Chelsea to Napoli. Coach Domenico Tedesco said at the time that he was counting on Belgium's all-time leading scorer for the future.
Belgium then beat Israel 3-1 and lost 2-0 to France in the Nations League, the same competition in which Belgium now face Italy on 10th October in Rome and France on 14th October in Brussels.
De Bruyne, who is 33 and did play in those matches, was very angry after the France game about the poor performance of Tedesco's side and went so far as to say that some of his team-mates had not done their job on the pitch.
The local press feared at the time that De Bruyne would decide to leave the national team, as have other team-mates from the golden generation of Belgian football such as Eden Hazard (33), Jan Vertonghen (37) and Thibault Courtois (32), although the latter would in principle be willing to return if the coach changes.
However, De Bruyne's absence is mainly due to injury a fortnight ago in the Champions League and both the midfielder and striker have spoken to Tedesco in recent weeks and the federation are convinced that both will remain in the national team at least until the next World Cup in 2026, according to local press.