Belgian midfielder Amadou Onana says he is keen to drop back into defense if necessary at the 2026 World Cup after successfully experimenting with a change in tactical formation during Tuesday’s away win over Croatia.
Onana, who usually plays in midfield for his country, was moved to centre-back ahead of the start of the friendly in Rijeka, which Belgium won 2-0 in a morale-boosting performance.
It was a surprising switch from their traditional 4-3-3 formation, but one that was planned to see if it could be an option at the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
“I felt good in that position,” Onana said at a press conference on Wednesday. «The collaboration with Arthur (Theate) and Nathan (Ngoy) went quite well. They also performed their roles very effectively. This was certainly not bad for a first full dress rehearsal.
«I have played there a few times before. The team comes first. I am a midfielder, that is my favorite position, but if they need me at the back, I will do that. Even if the coach needs me as a striker, I will play there,» Onana told reporters.
«I feel most comfortable in midfield and I believe that in that position I can one day be one of the very best players in the world. However, the World Cup is the priority now and if I have to play defensively I will do so without complaining. I felt good there yesterday too.»
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The experiment went well for coach Rudi Garcia.
“This gives us more variety in our game, especially because we have a lot of players who are versatile enough to operate in this system,” he said.
«Of course there are still things that can be improved. But at least we now know that we can use this system to start a match or switch to it during a match and that we can also get results with it.»
«Because he is more of a midfielder by nature, this gives us the opportunity to move him. We saw (against Croatia) that he has all the qualities needed to carry out this task successfully.»
Published on June 3, 2026
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