Real Madrid legend Thibaut Courtois is the great hope of his club and his country, because so often over the years, he has rescued a defeat and turned it into a victory. Madridistas cannot forget his two insane Champions League Final appearances, and after being written off by the club's fans in his first season, he quickly made Iker Casillas all but a fleeting memory with his jaw dropping saves and clutch performances between the sticks.
Madridistas cannot afford to lose Courtois for any games in the 2026/27 season, as good of a backup as Andriy Lunin is, because Real have everything to play for under Jose Mourinho after failing to win any trophies in the last two seasons.
Unfortunately, Real Madrid now have a very real reason to worry about Tibo's health. The Belgian superstar went down in the middle of the second half holding his left upper thigh on the outside, just before the hydration break. Courtois tried to keep on playing, but he could not, suffering the apparent injury after making a tricky save to stop Spain superstar Lamine Yamal.
Tibo goes down hurt
Thibaut Courtois had to make way for Manchester United's Senne Lammens, and, lo and behold, without Tibo, Belgium lost, with Lammens spilling a tame Pau Cubarsi effort for Mikel Merino, once again, to play the hero and stab the 2-1 winner home for Spain.
Real Madrid fans will feel awful for Courtois and Belgium losing in that way, and as good as Lammens was for Man United last season, he clearly is not even a quarter as good as Courtois, who has been the world's best goalkeeper these last six years - and it really isn't even close.
That is the player Real Madrid cannot afford to lose. Whereas Madrid have other great attackers who can make up for another if injured, Andriy Lunin proved last season that Courtois is simply a different class - and there is also the leadership and consistency aspect that cannot be replaced either.
Madridistas will stay glued to their phones for any updates regarding Courtois, but the other thing to worry about is that, as a 34 year old, Courtois has to be even more careful with recovering and avoiding aggravation or further injury. In any case, this was a devastating way for Belgium's and his Worl Cup to end, but unlike Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne, he should, hopefully, have one more tournament left.
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