Kevin De Bruyne branded 'spoiled brat' in bitter row with journalist after Euro 2024 exit

Kevin De Bruyne was branded a “spoiled brat” after apparently taking aim at a journalist in the aftermath of Belgium’s defeat to France at Euro 2024. De Bruyne’s team were sent packing after Randal Kolo Muani’s shot five minutes from time was diverted into the net by Jan Vertonghen.

Belgium were handed a tough last-16 clash against the 2018 World Cup champions after finishing second in their group, behind Romania.

And Domenico Tedesco’s side struggled to carve out any real chances during the showdown before they were knocked out in the cruellest manner.

De Bruyne spoke to the media after the match and was asked about his country’s “golden generation” failing to do the business.

The Manchester City midfielder hit back by saying: “And you say that France and England and Spain and Germany is not a golden generation?”

The press conference came to an abrupt end as De Bruyne thanked reporters and walked out. But as he was making his exit, De Bruyne shook his head and muttered the word “stupid”.

Footage of the incident was posted to X, with SportItalia correspondent Tancredi Palmeri sharing the video and penning: “Ahah De Bruyne just called me stupid.

“Hey Kevin, little memo for you. The golden generation you mentioned of France, England, Germany and Spain, they all reached a final! Usual footballer that wants only question telling him how good they are. Spoiled brat.”

De Bruyne, who saw an effort from the edge of the box saved by France goalkeeper Mike Maignan during the match, had earlier defended Belgium’s tactics against Didier Deschamps’s team as he told reporters: “We had a plan, we executed it well.

“With the quality of France, we knew we wouldn’t have possession. We had moments to be dangerous. It’s a shame to concede the goal like that, but that’s football.

“A mistake in our game plan? When you give France a lot of space, it’s very difficult to defend [Antoine] Griezmann, [Kylian] Mbappe or [Marcus] Thuram one-on-one. That’s why we decided to drop back a bit. We didn’t concede many chances. It was a good plan until five minutes from the end.”

Monday’s result means France will face a quarter-final showdown with Portugal at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg on Friday night, with the Euro 2016 champions overcoming Slovenia in their last-16 encounter, with that match being decided on penalties after ending goalless after 120 minutes. The quarter-final winners would then face either Spain or hosts Germany in the last four.