2023–24 Belgian Pro League

The 2023–24 Belgian Pro League (officially known as the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons) is the 121st season of top-tier football in Belgium.

Format change

After 3 seasons, Belgian Pro League returns to the "old" format featuring the number of teams reduced from 18 to 16 and with similar playoffs as it was pre-COVID-19. After the regular season the top six teams qualify for the Champions' Play-offs (commonly called "Play-offs I"), teams from 7th to 12th place will qualify for the Europe Play-offs (commonly called "Play-offs II"), but most importantly the number of teams relegating increases from one to either two or three, as the bottom four teams (13th through 16th) will play relegation playoffs after completion of which the two last teams will be relegated directly, with the team finishing 14th overall to play the 3rd-place finisher of the Challenger Pro League for the final spot in the 2024–25 Belgian Pro League.

Teams

Due to the league format change which reduced the number of teams back from 18 to 16, the bottom three teams had been relegated to the Challenger Pro League: Oostende (after ten seasons), Seraing (after two seasons) and Zulte Waregem (after 18 seasons). They were replaced by RWD Molenbeek, the winner of the 2022–23 Challenger Pro League. Officially, this club will play their first-ever season in the top flight, but the club sees itself as the successor of the former RWD Molenbeek, one-time Belgian champion, which last played at the highest level in 2002. Another distinct successor team with similar name RWDM Brussels also played four seasons at the highest level from 2004 to 2008.

Stadiums and locations

Number of teams by provinces

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Regular season

League table

Results

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after the completion of each round, with postponed matches and points deductions only included when occurring. Teams that have played fewer matches are shown with their position underlined

* Three matches of matchday 5 were postponed because of clubs playing European qualifying matches, namely Antwerp-Gent, RWDM-Union SG, and Club Brugge-Genk. These six clubs were behind one match from matchday 5 until matchday 9 as the matches were in the end played between matchdays 8 and 9.
* The match between RWD Molenbeek and Eupen of matchday 21 was stopped due to supporter violence, with 5 minutes left to play. It will be continued behind closed door between matchdays 21 and 22 and the result hence only appears in the below table one matchday later.

Play-offs

Champions' Play-offs

The Champions' Play-offs will decide the overall league champion. The top six teams of the Regular season qualify and play a round-robin tournament, with each team starting with half the points obtained during the regular season. The starting points are rounded up, in case of ties in standings at the end of the Champions' Play-offs, any half points gained are deducted first.

The points of Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Cercle Brugge and Genk were rounded up, and thus in the event of a tie on points, Union SG and Antwerp will always be ranked ahead of those four teams.

The teams finishing in the top three positions after conclusion of the Champions' Play-offs qualify for European football, with the team in position four facing the winner of the Europe Play-offs for the final ticket.

Europe Play-offs

The Europe Play-offs will be played by the teams in positions 7 through 12 at the conclusion of the Regular season. Teams play a round-robin tournament, with each team starting with half the points obtained during the regular season. The starting points are rounded up, in case of ties in standings at the end of the Europe Play-offs, any half points gained are deducted first.

The points of Gent, Mechelen and OH Leuven were rounded up, and thus in the event of a tie on points, Sint-Truiden, Standard Liège and Westerlo will always be ranked ahead of those three teams.

The winner of the Europe Play-offs faces the team finishing fourth in the Champions' Play-offs to decide which team qualifies for European football.

European competition play-off

Single match between the fourth place finisher of the Champions' Play-offs and the winner of the Europe Play-offs, with home advantage to the team from the Champions' Play-offs. The winner qualifies for European football.

Note that in some cases another team besides the fourth team of the Champions' Play-offs could be facing the winner of the Europe Play-offs, due to the fact that the winner of the regular season is always entitled to European football and thus always is guaranteed to play at least the qualifying round of the UEFA Europe Conference League; and due to the team winning the 2023–24 Belgian Cup vacating its place in the Play-off round of the UEFA Europa League in case also qualifying for the (qualifying rounds of the) UEFA Champions League through finishing first or second.

Relegation Play-offs

The bottom four teams after the regular season play the Relegation Play-offs, a round-robin tournament in which they start with the full points obtained during the regular season. The teams finishing in third and fourth at the conclusion of the Relegation Play-offs will be relegated to the 2024–25 Challenger Pro League, the team finishing in second place has to play the winner of the Promotion Play-offs, with the winner of that match playing in the 2024–25 Belgian Pro League.

Season statistics

Despite teams not playing the same amount of matches due to the play-offs, goals during the play-offs do count in determining the top scorer.

Top goalscorers

Top assists

Clean sheets

Discipline

Player

*Most yellow cards: 10
** Hannes van der Bruggen (Cercle Brugge)
*Most red cards: 2
** Christopher Bonsu Baah (Genk)

Club

*Most yellow cards: 69
**Leuven
*Fewest yellow cards: 36
**Gent
*Most red cards: 6
**Gent
*Fewest red cards: 1
**Antwerp
**Union SG
**Sint-Truiden

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belgian First Division A 2023-24
2023-24
2023–24 in European association football leagues
1
Belgium