Belgium’s coach, Marc Wilmots, says that Vincent Kompany has injured his groin again during training and will miss Thursday’s match against South Korea at the World Cup.

In between leading the Belgian defence during victories over Algeria and Russia, the central defender has had to skip several days of training to treat a left groin strain.

He trained for some 25 minutes at the World Cup stadium late on Wednesday but pulled out to avoid further damage, Wilmots said.

Given that Belgium are already through to the second round, Wilmots had in any case considered giving Kompany rest to complete his recovery. The second round is not until after the weekend.

Wilmots also has to do without another defender, Thomas Vermaelen, who is being treated for a hamstring injury.