Do we like them?

Do we like Thibaut Courtois?

Our score: 7 out of 10. Spoke up against anti-gay and racial slurs, no harm found, but the good-works file is thin and he has feuded with Belgium coaches.

Courtois is the Belgian goalkeeper who has been between the posts at Real Madrid for years, and he is still their man in 2026. He also captained the conversation around Belgium's World Cup run this year, which ended in a quarter-final loss to Spain. For the record, he has told reporters he is in the last year of his Madrid contract.

His national-team story is the messiest part. In June 2023 he left a Belgium camp amid a captaincy row, and coach Domenico Tedesco's account of why differed from his own, with Courtois pointing to a knee problem. By December 2023 he was telling Belgian broadcaster Sporza that leaving the camp had been a mistake, though he felt the coach hadn't done enough to fix things.

When he came back in March 2025, Belgian papers noted he gave explanations but no apology. That fits the pattern: he'll own a mistake, but only on his terms. It's stubborn rather than nasty, and it's a fight about football, not about people.

He's never shy about a stoush. Before El Clásico in October 2025 he answered Barcelona president Joan Laporta over refereeing, reportedly saying he had never seen referees favour Madrid and bringing up the Negreira payments case. Barcelona has denied wrongdoing in that case, so where you land depends on whether you read it as fair comment or as club tribalism.

In July he said he wanted to keep playing against Spain but that coach Rudi Garcia decides, and he said he hasn't ruled out returning to Belgium for Euro 2028 qualifying. That's measured for a man who has had public bust-ups with national coaches before. Sources differ on how deep any rift with Garcia runs.

So: nothing harmful, a clear voice against slurs of all kinds, and a grumpy streak with coaches. Not a saint, not a villain. A solid supporter's pick who could do with a bit more visible giving back.