VIDEO SHOWS: BELGIUM AND MACEDONIA TRAINING AHEAD OF WORLD CUP QUALIFIER IN GHENT/ PRESS CONFERENCE COMMENTS FROM BELGIUM, HEAD COACH, RUDI GARCIA, AND NORTH MACEDONIA HEAD COACH, BLAGOJA MILEVSKI RESENDING TO CORRECT SLATE SHOWS: GHENT, BELGIUM (OCTOBER 9, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF KAA GHENT'S PLANET GROUP ARENA 2. SCREEN READING (English) 'Welcome' WITH FLAGS OF BELGIUM AND NORTH MACEDONIA 3. STADIUM INTERIOR 4. FOOTBALLS ON PITCH 5. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS WALKING OUT ONTO THE PITCH 6. SIGN FOR EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS FOR THE WORLD CUP IN PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM 7. BELGIUM HEAD COACH, RUDI GARCIA, AND, CAPTAIN, KEVIN DE BRUYNE, ARRIVING 8. PRESS CONFERENCE ONGOING 9. (SOUNDBITE) (French) BELGIUM HEAD COACH, RUDI GARCIA, SAYING: "Macedonia will play the same as they did in the first leg. They are a counter-attacking team that plays long balls and tries to win the ball back further down the pitch in order to play in our half. Obviously, they have talented players too. We will have to neutralise their strengths. But above all, we will have to impose our own strengths on them. It's up to us to be better than we were in the first leg and to continue playing like we did against Wales and in the September fixtures." 10. FORWARDS, MICHY BATSHUAYI, AND, LOIS OPENDA, WARMING UP 11. GOALKEEPERS, THIBAUT COURTOIS, MATZ SELS AND MAARTEN VANDEVOORDT 12. VARIOUS OF WARM-UP DRILLS 13. (SOUNDBITE) (French) BELGIUM HEAD COACH, RUDI GARCIA, SAYING: "If it's like the first leg, it would be the right idea to take the lead again but we have to know how to protect that lead. We have to make sure we don't give them any chance to equalise because it was mainly our mistakes that allowed them back in the game. The goal is simple: to take top spot in the group by the end of the match tomorrow evening, two points ahead of Macedonia and with one game in hand. 14. GARCIA AND DE BRUYNE LEAVING PRESS CONFERENCE 15. PLAYERS WARMING UP 16. VARIOUS OF COURTOIS, SELS AND GOALKEEPER, SENNE LAMMENS, TRAINING TOGETHER 17. PLAYERS GATHERING IN 18. NORTH MACEDONIA ON THE PITCH FOR TRAINING SESSION 19. PLAYERS PASSING BALL AROUND IN GROUP 20. HEAD COACH, BLAGOJA MILEVSKI, TALKING TO TEAM IN HUDDLE 21. HUDDLE BREAKING 22. VARIOUS OF MILEVSKI SEATED DURING PRESS CONFERENCE 23. (SOUNDBITE) (Macedonian) NORTH MACEDONIA HEAD COACH, BLAGOJA MILEVSKI, SAYING (ROUGH TRANSLATION): "I have to be satisfied with results in the Nations League, with our competitiveness in the current group, almost securing a World Cup play-off spot for second time. I am pleased with what we showed on the pitch. Our energy and team spirit at this moment is the force pushing us forward and showing us what the path to take. Maximum respect for Belgian who are the best team in our group with an extraordinary roster. We are living our dream. I hope we can stay competitive in these qualifiers for as long as possible. We'll see how it ends up." 24. PRESS CONFERENCE ONGOING 25. MILEVSKI LEAVING PRESS CONFERENCE 26. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS JOGGING 27. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS RUNNING WARM-UP DRILL 28. GOALKEEPERS TRAINING 29. VARIOUS OF RONDO DRILLS 30. WARM-UP DRILL STORY: Belgium host North Macedonia in Ghent on Friday (October 10) with the opportunity to leapfrog their visitors and take top spot in their qualifying group for the 2026 World Cup. Rudi Garcia, who took over as head coach of the Red Devils at the start of 2025, oversaw a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in Skopje to kick off the qualifying campaign back in June. Having taken the lead through Maxim De Cuyper early on, Belgium let slip their advantage with just four minutes left of regulation time. Since then, the 61-year-old Frenchman has guided Belgium to three successive victories beginning with a 4-3 win over Wales in Brussels courtesy of a late winner from captain Kevin de Bruyne. That victory was followed up by lopsided wins against Lichtenstein and Kazakhstan in September by a combined scoreline of 12-0. Speaking to a press conference on Thursday (October 9), Garcia urged his side to learn from their mistakes in Skopje. "It would be the right idea to take the lead again but we have to know how to protect that lead," he explained. "We have to make sure we don't give them any chance to equalise because it was mainly our mistakes that allowed them back in the game," added Garcia, who is best known for his spells at Lille, Roma, Marseille and Lyon before embarking on his first foray into international management with Belgium. As it stands, Belgium sit second in the standings on 10 points from four games, one behind North Macedonia, who have played five matches. Wales also have 10 points but from five outings. (Production: Zoran Mikletic, Conal Quinn)
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