Thibaut Courtois and De Bruyne Affair Shadowed Belgium's Rise
Thibaut Courtois and Kevin De Bruyne entered Belgium’s 2026 FIFA World Cup still central to the team, even after a personal dispute dating to 2013 had long circulated around them. The off-field episode, involving Caroline Lijnen, first became public in 2014 and kept two of Belgium’s biggest names linked by more than football.
Caroline Lijnen and 2013
Kevin De Bruyne and Caroline Lijnen began dating in 2010 and stayed together for three years before the relationship broke after the summer of 2012, when he told her that he had an affair with her old best friend. Lijnen later said she was ready to give him another chance, but the relationship was never the same afterwards.
In 2013, she traveled to Madrid while Courtois was playing for Atlético Madrid on loan from Chelsea. During that visit, Lijnen and Courtois became involved, and she said he offered her what she had not received during her three-year relationship with De Bruyne. She also said, “Kevin had deceived me and I thought, ‘Why shouldn’t I do that too?’”
De Bruyne and Courtois
The dispute reached public view in 2014 after De Bruyne discussed it in his autobiography, Keep It Simple. That put two key Belgium players at the center of a private episode at a time when the national team was beginning to emerge as one of Europe’s strongest sides.
Former Belgium manager Marc Wilmots then asked De Bruyne whether he wanted Courtois removed from the squad because of the personal conflict. De Bruyne chose not to have him removed and put the team first, leaving Belgium to move forward with both players still inside the same setup.
Belgium at the 2026 World Cup
The relationship never disappeared from the backdrop of Belgium football, but the two remained central figures as the team headed into the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Courtois is with Real Madrid, De Bruyne now plays for SSC Napoli, and both were still carrying major weight for Belgium when the old story resurfaced.
Courtois later softened the picture in 2025, describing De Bruyne on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast as “a guy with a lot of talent, but also very hardworking.” For Belgium, that leaves the same two names tied to the team’s rise and to a controversy that never fully left the conversation around them.
