Thibaut Courtois has officially equaled the record for most FIFA World Cup matches played by any Belgian in history. His 17th appearance, during Belgium’s group-stage encounter against Iran on June 21, 2026, tied him with Enzo Scifo’s record that had stood for decades.
How the record unfolded
Courtois entered the 2026 World Cup having already appeared in 16 tournament matches across two previous editions. He played seven matches at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where Belgium finished third, their best-ever result in the competition. He added three more appearances at the 2022 edition in Qatar, bringing his pre-2026 total to ten.
Scifo, the creative midfielder who was central to Belgian football in the 1980s and 1990s, had held the appearance record through four World Cup campaigns. The 2026 tournament represents Courtois’s third consecutive World Cup, which is itself an extension of a record Scifo previously held.
Courtois has 111 caps for Belgium as of mid-2026. He was named to Belgium’s squad for this tournament on May 15, 2026.
