De Bruyne & Lukaku in Belgium squad after just 6 minutes played together at Napoli

Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku have been named in Belgium’s World Cup squad for the fourth consecutive tournament, despite their much-anticipated reunion at Napoli amounting to just six minutes of shared pitch time, one of the most underwhelming club partnerships in recent football history given the individuals involved.

According to Corriere dello Sport, the pair have been friends and international teammates for 16 years, first appearing together for Belgium on August 11, 2010 in a friendly defeat to Finland, when Lukaku was 17 and De Bruyne 19. They have since shared the pitch in 82 Belgium matches, combining for 18 goals, De Bruyne providing 13 assists for Lukaku and Lukaku returning five for De Bruyne.

The dream of finally sharing a club shirt appeared to have been realised last summer when Napoli added De Bruyne to their ranks, completing what Chelsea could not manage in 2013.

Instead, injuries to both men, Lukaku to his right quadriceps, De Bruyne to his left biceps femoris, both suffered between August and October, reduced their shared Napoli experience to a single cameo.

De Bruyne came on in the 79th minute against Torino on March 6, Lukaku followed in the 84th, six minutes of football together in a Napoli shirt. That is all there was.

Lukaku heads to the World Cup having played just 64 minutes of football this season, having also endured the death of his father and a reported falling-out with coach Antonio Conte.

De Bruyne arrives after a second operation on the same muscle in just over two years. Between them they have 68 years of age and enough shared football history to fill a career.

In the twilight years of their careers, this American summer may represent their final World Cup together, and perhaps the stage where they finally deliver the moments their Napoli partnership never could.