Marked for Michy Alderweireld
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Dec 2026
Kevin Lukaku hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mouscron can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Dec 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Axel Mertens, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.28
A mark of 8.28 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Axel Mertens commits to Mouscron for another 5 years.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Youri Batshuayi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match19 Dec 2026
Axel Mertens among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Axel Mertens on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Mouscron and KV Mechelen.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Michy Alderweireld falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match19 Dec 2026
A 3‑3 draw with KV Mechelen leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Dec 2026
Zinho Witsel hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mouscron can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The match ball belongs to Youri Batshuayi, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Axel Mertens, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.21
A mark of 8.21 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market7 Dec 2026
The name of Axel Mertens has come up in conversations Mouscron were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Youri Batshuayi
16 goals and a season average of 7.45 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match5 Dec 2026
5‑6 to Racing Genk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Youri Batshuayi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Michy Alderweireld falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Axel Mertens, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.70
A mark of 7.70 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad30 Nov 2026
16 goals and a season average of 7.30. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mouscron this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michy Alderweireld is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match28 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Axel Mertens. 2‑1 against Lokeren, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Helmut Friedrich has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
7.92, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Mouscron had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match14 Nov 2026
3 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Helmut Friedrich will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Mouscron escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Match14 Nov 2026
Mouscron leaking at the back
10 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The match ball belongs to Helmut Friedrich, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match14 Nov 2026
7 matches without a win for Mouscron
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Mouscron are no longer polite ones.
Squad16 Nov 2026
13 goals and a season average of 7.40. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Helmut Friedrich was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.77. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michy Alderweireld is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mouscron this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Nov 2026
Zinho Witsel hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mouscron can pretend not to have heard.
Match7 Nov 2026
Mouscron leaking at the back
9 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match7 Nov 2026
6 matches without a win for Mouscron
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Mouscron are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Youri Batshuayi
12 goals and a season average of 7.37 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match7 Nov 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Mouscron and KAA Gent, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Michy Alderweireld falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Rafa Páez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mouscron this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Helmut Friedrich at his very best
Marked 8.26. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mouscron.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.42, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match31 Oct 2026
Mouscron are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match31 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Mouscron's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mouscron has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match31 Oct 2026
3‑5 to KV Kortrijk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match31 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Mouscron and KV Kortrijk, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad2 Nov 2026
11 goals and a season average of 7.34. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Kevin Lukaku falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Luis Ruiz in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mouscron this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Kevin Lukaku out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mouscron will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad19 Oct 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Match17 Oct 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Mouscron
6 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mouscron this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Oct 2026
Anderlecht left with the points after a 4‑5 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michy Alderweireld is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Kevin Lukaku out for 29 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mouscron will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Yannick Tielemans at 21 — 7.84
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Yannick Tielemans did not need any: 7.84, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mouscron this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
He is 21, he is averaging 7.02, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michy Alderweireld is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match3 Oct 2026
Mouscron leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.32, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match3 Oct 2026
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.02, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market24 Aug 2026
Mouscron say no — this time
The offer from Club Brugge for Youri Meunier was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mouscron, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mouscron this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.95, and 2 involvements.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match22 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Mouscron and Racing Genk, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Axel Mertens takes the afternoon — 8.31
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Axel Mertens provided it, and the 8.31 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market17 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Youri Meunier again, and this time the name on the line is Club Brugge. Mouscron are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Youri Batshuayi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match15 Aug 2026
Axel Mertens scored, and precious little else went right: 3‑4 to Lokeren, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Match15 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Mouscron and Lokeren, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Lukaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michy Alderweireld, and the manager let it.