Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah will be reunited as Belgium and Egypt meet at the World Cup.
The two stars played pivotal roles over the years in the absorbing Premier League title rivalry between Manchester City and Liverpool, and will go head to head once again in Seattle on Monday.
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“I played against Mo for 10 years,” De Bruyne said on the eve of the game. “Our kids also went to the same school. So, I saw him from time to time.
“And, he’s a really nice guy. So, it will be nice to see him. It will be nice to compete again like old times.”
Both De Bruyne and Salah will start for their respective nations on Monday in a key clash between teams with big points to prove who are expected to finish in the top two in Group G.
Charles De Ketelaere continues to lead the line ahead of Belgium’s all-time record scorer Romelu Lukaku, who remains short of full match fitness after a season wrecked by injury during which he made only five Serie A appearances.
Sporting’s Zeno Debast did make the Red Devils’ World Cup squad, but is not expected to be available until later in the competition due to a thigh injury.
Brandon Mechele and Nathan Ngoy start in central defence against Egypt, with the latter duo picked for the 5-0 warm-up rout of Tunisia in Brussels last week.
Timothy Castagne gets the nod over the more offensive-minded Maxim De Cuyper, as he did against Tunisia.
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois returned from his lengthy international exile last year, while Thomas Meunier is a regular at right-back still.
An all-Aston Villa midfield pivot of Amadou Onana and captain Youri Tielemans supports an attacking trio of Leandro Trossard, De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku, who quickly shook off a fitness scare last week.
Egypt have no known injury worries and will look to Mohamed Salah - now recovered from a hamstring injury sustained late on during his final season at Liverpool - and Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush to fire them to a maiden World Cup win at their fourth finals.
Mostafa Shobir starts ahead of veteran Mohamed El Shenawy in goal, with Mohamed Hany and Ahmed Fatouh lining up at full-back.
The versatile Hamdy Fathy and Yasser Ibrahim form the centre-back partnership, with Ramy Rabia, Hossam Abdelmaguid and Mohamed Abdelmonem all alternative options. Head coach Hossam Hassan could also opt for a back five.
Marwan Attia and Emam Ashour are in the midfield engine room, with Mohanad Lasheen also likely to start if Fathy is in defence.
Salah and Marmoush are nailed-on starters, with the likes of Trezeguet, Zizo and Mostafa Ziko all competing to join them further forward.
Belgium XI: Courtois; Mechele, Meunier, Castagne, Ngoy, De Bruyne, Tielemans, Onana, Trossard, Doku, De Ketelaere
Subs: Lammens, Penders, Theate, De Cuyper, Winter, Seys, Witzel, Moreira, Vanaken, Saelemaekers, Raskin, Lukaku, Lukebakio, Fernandez
Injured: Debast
Egypt XI: Shoubir, Ibrahim, Hany, Fatouh, Ashour, Zico, Fathy, Lashin, Attia, Salah, Marmoush
Subs: Elshenawy, Soliman, M. Alaa, Abdelmaguid, Rabia, Abdelmoneim, Hafez, T. Alaa, Donga, Saber, Trezeguet, Abdelkarim, Hassan, Adel, Zizo
Time and date: 8pm BST on Monday June 15, 2026
Venue: Seattle Stadium (Lumen Field)
How to watch: BBC
