Thomas Vermaelen started his Belgium national team career with the youth teams. The utility defender featured for his country at both the u-17 and u-19 levels. Thomas Vermaelen can play either as a left-back or as a central defender.
Thomas Vermaelen was named the Belgium skipper on October 8, 2009 just before the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Turkey and Estonia. He was not able to lead the Red Devils of Belgium to the World Cup tournament after they finished fourth in qualifiers.
Vermaelen scored his first goal for Belgium during a friendly matchagainst Hungary in November 2010. He tapped in an Eden Hazard cross from close range.
Belgium didn’t make the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament on South African soil, but they were able to qualify for the 2014 edition in Brazil. On May 13, 2014, Thomas Vermaelen was named in the Belgium squad for the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament.
In Brazil, Vermaelen was an unused substitute for the first group match which ended in a 2-1 win over Algeria. He was picked to start the second group match against Russia as he replaced former Ajax Amsterdam teammate Jan Vertonghen at the left-back area of the team. Vermaelen didn’t last more than 31 minutes due to injury.
Thomas Vermaelen and Belgium reached the quarterfinals at the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament on Brazilian soil before they were knocked out by Argentina who went all the way to the final. Germany won the tournament by beating Argentina 1-0 at the end of extra time.