Kevin De Bruyne blanks interviewer in awkward moment after Belgium's Euro 2024 humiliation

Kevin De Bruyne walked off when asked to answer a question in English following Belgium’s shock Euro 2024 defeat to Slovakia on Monday. The Manchester City midfielder was unable to drag his nation back into the contest after falling behind early on.

Jeremy Doku’s clumsy pass put Belgium on the back foot as Ivan Schranz stole in to put the underdogs ahead. Belgium rallied, particularly in the second half when Romelu Lukaku had two goals disallowed, but they ultimately fell short in Frankfurt.

Conducting his media duties after the game, a disappointed De Bruyne freely answered questions in Flemish and French. “We made a good start to the game with two or three chances,” he said.

“Afterwards we made a mistake and had some difficulties with the pressure, but I think we got better in the second half. We linked up well. Of course we are under some pressure now, but we will see.”

When asked by a reporter whether he could take a question in English, De Bruyne immediately turned around, raised his eyebrows and walked off. Tension is understandably high in the Belgium camp following their unlikely Euro 2024 defeat.

The Red Devils may have been quietly confident heading into the tournament, having never previously lost a game under manager Domenico Tedesco, who was appointed 16 months ago.

In fact, the last team to beat Belgium prior to Slovakia was Morocco at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. De Bruyne and co will be under the cosh in their two remaining Group E matches, against Romania and Ukraine.

Making Monday’s result that bit more painful for Belgium was VAR’s decision on Lukaku’s second disallowed goal. Play was ultimately pulled back for a contentious handball against Lois Openda.

But manager Tedesco refused to blame the officials for his team’s result. “It’s tough for me to speak now,” he said. “If we would have won, I could probably share my opinion a little more. But we lost and I want to be a good or at least a fair loser; we shouldn’t be talking about VAR.

“We trust these guys, we trust the VAR and the referees and if they blow and say it’s handball we have to trust and accept it and that’s that.”