Belgium hire coach Mark van Bommel to replace Rudi Garcia

Mark van Bommel was named the new head coach of Belgium’s national team.

van Bommel will take over on August 15 and lead the team through the 2028 European Championship, joined by assistant coaches Boudewijn Zenden, Maarten Martens and Reinier Robbemond, per a Belgium statement released Friday.

The 49-year-old replaces Rudi Garcia, who departed the role this week at the end of his 18-month contract, having led Belgium to the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals, where they were knocked out by eventual winner Spain. The loss ended an unbeaten run of 18 matches stretching back to a 3-1 loss to Ukraine in March 2025.

A former Bayern Munich and Barcelona midfielder, Van Bommel has been out of a head coaching spot since 2023-24, his second season at the helm of Belgian club Royal Antwerp. In his debut campaign, he led the club to its first league title in 66 years.

van Bommel also had coaching stints at VfL Wolfsburg (2021) and PSV Eindhoven (2018-19). He also served in assistant coaching positions for Saudia Arabia (2015-17) and Australia (2018).

“Belgium has outstanding players and enormous potential. Together with my coaching staff, we want to build a team that is disciplined, ambitious and brave enough to compete with the very best,” Van Bommel said.

The Dutch native takes over a Belgium side currently ranked eighth in FIFA’s world rankings. He will be asked to end Belgium’s disappointing run of early exits at the next European Championships, where they have not progressed beyond the quarterfinals since the 1996 expansion. In the two most recent tournaments, the team has lost in the round of 16 and the quarterfinals.

“Success is never guaranteed, but hard work, honesty and commitment are,” Van Bommell said.” We will give everything to help this team improve every day and make the Belgian people proud. I am looking forward to meeting the players, the staff and the supporters, and beginning this new chapter together.”

–Field Level Media