After Garcia's refusal, Mark van Bommel gives his chance to Hugo Cuypers

We thought the train had left the station for Hugo Cuypers when Rudi Garcia didn't call him up for the 2026 World Cup, then when the striker left Chicago Fire for Monterrey. But Mark van Bommel hasn't lost sight of him, and decided to give him his chance, leading to his call-up to the Red Devils squad.

When Rudi Garcia announced his 26-man squad for the 2026 World Cup, many of us were hoping and confident of seeing Hugo Cuypers return. Belgium's top scorer of the year, Cuypers had a profile missing from the Red Devils because of the poor form of his competitors and Romelu Lukaku's injury return. He ultimately missed out on the squad by a little, and we then thought his time would never come.

Renewal under Mark van Bommel

That was without counting on Mark van Bommel, who brought him back into his second Red Devils squad. “It had been quite a few months that I was waiting for him and I admit that this call-up was a bit unexpected,” said the neo‑Red Devil to RTL Sports. “I feel a lot of pride and I’m very happy to be here,” he added.

Cuypers never gave up on the call-up, despite his move to the Mexican top division, a league perhaps even less in the spotlight than MLS. “I have absolutely never lost hope, on the contrary, it was always in a corner of my mind, without being an obsession,” he said, adding that he now has six goals in fourteen matches with Monterrey. At twenty‑nine, he is discovering the Red Devils, but has never lost hope.

Adaptation and future in the national team

No question of demanding anything, he emphasized that there have always been valid arguments in favor of the players brought back in his place. “I have patiently waited my turn,” he said. He learned of his call-up shortly before the rest of Belgium.

“The coach called me Thursday evening, asked how things were going in Mexico and we discussed my adaptation, my first months over there, as well as Chicago and my experience in Ghent,” recounts Hugo Cuypers. “Then, he gave me the good news,” he confirmed.

He now has to adapt to the core of the Red Devils, after shining under the Gent shirt with fifty‑one goals in ninety matches. “It’s very intense, but the adaptation is going well; we had a first meeting to prepare for Thursday’s match, and it’s easier for me to adapt in a group that speaks French and Dutch than in a group that speaks Spanish,” concluded the new Belgian international striker.