Mark van Bommel appointed Belgium head coach after Rudi Garcia exit

Mark van Bommel has been appointed head coach of Belgium’s national football team, taking over from Rudi Garcia, whose contract ends on July 31. The move follows Belgium’s run to the World Cup quarterfinals.

Van Bommel arrives with experience in both Belgian and European football. He previously coached PSV Eindhoven, VfL Wolfsburg and Royal Antwerp FC, where his 2023 league-and-cup double included Antwerp’s first league title since 1957.

His coaching team will include Boudewijn Zenden, Maarten Martens and Reinier Robbemond. Van Bommel has framed the job around discipline, ambition and daily improvement, while Belgian federation sports director Vincent Mannaert backed the staff’s international experience.

For Belgium, the appointment signals a shift toward a coach who knows the country’s club scene but also carries a major playing pedigree from spells at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands side that reached the 2010 World Cup final.