Belgium Men's National Football Team
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The Belgium national football team has represented
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
in men's international
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
and is governed in Europe by
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian team's supervising body, the
Royal Belgian Football Association The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA; ; ; ) is the governing body of football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. Since October 2021, th ...
. Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938, from 1980 to 2002 and again from 2014 onwards, have alternated with mostly unsuccessful qualification rounds. Most of Belgium's home matches are played at the
King Baudouin Stadium The King Baudouin Stadium ( ; ) is a sports ground in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the north-western district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in view of the 1935 Brussels International Exposition ...
in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
. Belgium's national team have participated in three quadrennial major football competitions. It appeared in fourteen
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
s and six
UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...
s, and featured at three Olympic football tournaments, including the
1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...
which they won. Other notable performances are victories over four reigning world champions—West Germany, Brazil, Argentina and France—between 1954 and 2002. Belgium has long-standing football rivalries with its Dutch and French counterparts, having played both teams nearly every year from 1905 to 1967. The squad has been known as the Red Devils since 1906; its fan club is named "1895". Belgium finished in third place as hosts at
UEFA Euro 1972 The 1972 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Belgium. This was the fourth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 14 and 18 June 1972. Only four ...
. After that, they experienced two
golden generation In sport, a Golden Generation, or Golden Team is an exceptionally gifted group of players of similar age, whose achievements reach or are expected to reach a level of success beyond that which their team had previously achieved. The term was firs ...
s. In the first period, which lasted from the 1980s to the early 1990s, the team finished as runners-up at
UEFA Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams ...
and fourth in the
1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...
. In the second, under the guidance of
Marc Wilmots Marc Robert Wilmots (born 22 February 1969) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is the sporting director of Standard Liège. During his club career as an attacking midfielder, he won trophies with KV Mechelen, Stand ...
and later
Roberto MartĂ­nez Roberto MartĂ­nez Montoliu (; born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team. MartĂ­nez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Re ...
in the 2010s, Belgium topped the
FIFA World Ranking The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, first introduced in December 1992. The men's teams of the member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their gam ...
for the first time in November 2015 and finished third at the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
. To date, Belgium is the only national team in the world to top the FIFA ranking without having won a World Cup or a continental trophy.


History


Early history

Belgium was one of the first mainland European countries to play association football, with the earliest recorded example of its practice in Belgium dating back to 1863. On 11 October 1900,
Beerschot AC Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...
honorary president Jorge DĂ­az announced that
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
would host a series of challenge matches between Europe's best football teams. After some organisational problems, on 28 April 1901, Beerschot's pitch hosted its first tournament, in which a Belgian selection and a Dutch team made up of players from third-level sides led by ex-footballer
Cees van Hasselt Cornelis Wilhelmus van Hasselt (5 October 1872 – 16 January 1951) was a Dutch Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, who coached the Netherlands national team from its Belgium national football team result ...
contested the Coupe Vanden Abeele. Naturally, the hosts had little trouble claiming the cup, defeating the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
by 8–0. Belgium then beat the Netherlands in all three follow-up matches; FIFA does not recognize these results because Belgium fielded some English players, such as
Herbert Potts Herbert Alfred Potts (30 January 1878 – before 1939) was an English footballer who played for Belgian clubs Antwerp and Beerschot AC between 1898 and 1905. Club career Herbert Potts and his older brother Walter were strikers for Antwerp FC at ...
, who scored 12 of "Belgium's" 17 goals. On 1 May 1904, the Belgians played their first official match, against
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
at the
Stade du Vivier d'Oie The Stade du Vivier d'Oie (), meaning "Goose Pond Stadium", is a stadium in the municipality of Uccle in Brussels, Belgium. The stadium lies in the ''Quartier Vivier d'Oie'' (Dutch: ''Diesdellewijk''), at the margin of the Sonian Forest. In the ...
in Uccle; their draw left the Évence Coppée Trophy unclaimed. Twenty days later, the football boards of both countries were among the seven FIFA founders. At that time, the Belgian squad was chosen by a committee chaired by
Édouard de Laveleye Baron Édouard-Émile-Albert de Laveleye (Ghent, 22 October 1854 – Brussels, 23 November 1938) was a Belgian mining engineer, financier and writer. Laveleye was the first chairman of the Belgian Football Association (1895–1924), and also the ...
, who usually drew from the country's six or seven major clubs. Belgium would play twice a year against the Netherlands beginning from 1905 onwards, generally once in Antwerp and once in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
. From these beginnings until 1925, Belgian-Dutch cup trophies would be awarded in the "
Low Countries derby The Low Countries derby (, ), is the name given in football to any match between Belgium and the Netherlands. The countries have a long-standing tradition of rivalry in football, having played over 129 official derbies so far. Only Austria–Hung ...
". In 1906, the national team received the nickname ''Red Devils'' because of their red jerseys, and four years later, Scottish ex-footballer William Maxwell replaced the UBSSA committee as their manager. From 1912, UBSSA governed football only and was renamed UBSFA. During the Great War, the national team only played unrecognized friendlies, with matches in and against France.


Olympic gold and World Cup struggles

At the
1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...
, in their first official Olympics appearance, the ''Red Devils'' won the gold medal on home soil after a controversial final in which their Czechoslovak opponents left the pitch. In the three 1920s Summer Olympic, they achieved fair results (four wins in seven matches), and played their first intercontinental match, against
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. However, over the following decade, Belgium lost all of their matches at the first three FIFA World Cup final tournaments. According to historian Richard Henshaw, " e growth of ootballin Scandinavia, Central Europe, and South America left Belgium far behind". Although
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
hindered international football events in the 1940s, the Belgian team remained active with unofficial matches against squads of other allied nations. Belgium qualified for only one of eight major tournaments during the 1950s and the 1960s: the 1954 World Cup. The day before the tournament began, the RBFA was among the three UEFA founders. Dutch journalists considered the draw of the 1954 Belgian team in their opener against
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
to be the most surprising result of that match day, even more than
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
's victory over the Italian "football stars". However, Belgium were eliminated after a loss to
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in the second (and last) group match. Two bright spots in these decades were wins against World Cup holders:
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
in 1954, and
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
in 1963. Between these, Belgium defeated Hungary's
Golden Team The Golden Team (, ) refers to the Hungary national football team of the 1950s. It is associated with several notable matches, including the quarter-final (" Battle of Berne") against Brazil, semi-final (against Uruguay) and final of the 1954 F ...
in 1956. The combination of failure in competitive matches, and success in exhibition matches, gave the Belgians the mock title of "world champions of the friendlies". The team's performance improved during the early 1970s, under manager
Raymond Goethals Raymond Goethals (, ; 7 October 1921 – 6 December 2004) was a Belgian football coach who led Marseille to victory in the UEFA Champions League final in 1993, becoming the first coach to win a European trophy with a French club. Sometimes nick ...
. Fully dressed in white, as the White Devils, Belgium achieved their first victories at the World Cup in
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
and the Euros in
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
, their debut. En route to Euro 1972, they eliminated reigning European champions Italy by winning the two-legged quarter-final on aggregate. At the end stage, they finished third by winning the consolation match against Hungary. In 1973, the denial of a match-winning goal in their last
1974 FIFA World Cup qualification 99 teams entered the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for 16 places in the final tournament. West Germany, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition. T ...
match for UEFA Group 3 cost Belgium their appearance at the final, causing Belgium to become the only nation ever to miss a World Cup final round despite not allowing a goal during the qualifiers. The next two attempts to reach a major final (
Euro 1976 The 1976 UEFA European Football Championship tournament was held in Yugoslavia. This was the fifth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA and the first and only tournament that was held in a Socialist State, soci ...
and the
1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...
) were also fruitless.


Golden age

Beginning with a second-place finish at Euro 1980, the 1980s and the early 1990s are generally considered as Belgium's first golden age. Coached by
Guy Thys Guy Jean-Leonard Thys (6 December 1922 – 1 August 2003) was a Belgian football manager, mostly known for being the most successful manager in the history of the Belgium national football team as he managed to lead the national side to the ...
, they achieved their spot in the 1980 final with an unbeaten record in the group phase; in the final, they narrowly lost the title to West Germany 1–2. Starting with the
1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 in th ...
, and ending with the
2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
, the national team qualified for six consecutive World Cups. During this period, managers Guy Thys,
Paul Van Himst Paul Guillaume van Himst (born 2 October 1943) is a Belgian former association football, football player and a Coach (sport), football manager who played as a forward (association football), forward, most notably for R.S.C. Anderlecht. Regarded ...
and
Robert Waseige Robert Waseige (26 August 1939 – 17 July 2019) was a Belgian football manager and player. Career While managing R.F.C. de Liège he helped them win the 1989–90 Belgian Cup. He became the coach of Belgium before Euro 2000 and led Belgium to ...
each guided Belgium past the first round. In addition to receiving individual FIFA recognitions, the team reached the semi-finals of the
1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...
after eliminating the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
in the
knockout stage A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
.
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
went through to the final after a 2–0 victory, in which their star player
Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...
scored both goals. After reaching the Euro 1980 final, they were unsuccessful at subsequent European Championships, with early exits from their appearances in
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
and
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
. During the late 1990s, they played three friendly tournament in Morocco, Cyprus and Japan, sharing the 1999 Kirin Cup with Peru in the latter. Before the 2002 World Cup, Belgium defeated reigning world and European champions France. During that World Cup, Belgium defeated
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and tied with co-host
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
to reach the
round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
. There they were eliminated by eventual world champions
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. Brazil coach
Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as FelipĂŁo ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player who currently serves as the technical director of GrĂŞmio. Considered to be one of the greatest and most su ...
would later state that their match against Belgium was the most difficult of the tournament. After the 2002 World Cup, the team weakened with the loss of more veterans and coach Waseige. They missed out five successive major tournaments from
UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...
until
UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...
, and went through an equal number of head coaches. A 2005 win over reigning European champions
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
meant nothing but a small comfort. In between, a promising new generation was maturing at the 2007 European U-21 Championship; Belgium's squad qualified for the following year's
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, where the Young Red Devils squad finished fourth. Seventeen of them appeared in the senior national team, albeit without making an immediate impact. Belgium finished in second (and last) place at the
Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan national football team, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (Internatio ...
in May 2009, and lost against 125th-ranked Armenian team in September 2009. After
Georges Leekens Georges Leekens (born 18 May 1949) is a Belgian football manager and former player. During his managerial career, he was in charge of four national teams: the Belgian, Tunisian, Algerian and Hungarian national football teams. He also manage ...
' second stint as national manager, his assistant
Marc Wilmots Marc Robert Wilmots (born 22 February 1969) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is the sporting director of Standard Liège. During his club career as an attacking midfielder, he won trophies with KV Mechelen, Stand ...
became the caretaker in May 2012.


Second golden age

After two matches as interim coach, Wilmots agreed to replace Leekens as manager. Following his appointment, the team's results improved, such that some foreign media regarded it as another Belgian golden generation. The young Belgian squad qualified as unbeaten group winners for the
2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
, and earned Belgium's second-ever place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a four-match winning streak. Belgium qualified for
UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...
with a match to spare in October 2015, and took No. 1 in the FIFA World Ranking for the first time in November 2015, to stay first for five months. At the Euros, Belgium were eliminated in the quarter-finals by
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. This prompted the RBFA to dismiss Wilmots. In
2018 World Cup qualifying The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...
, they were seeded first in their group, and made the
final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
under Spanish manager
Roberto MartĂ­nez Roberto MartĂ­nez Montoliu (; born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team. MartĂ­nez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Re ...
, becoming the first European team besides hosts
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
to do so. At the World Cup, Belgium won all their
group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
matches, against
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
,
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, progressing to the knockout stage as group winners. In the
round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
they trailed 2–0 against
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, but eventually won 3–2 with a 94th minute winner by
Nacer Chadli Nacer Chadli (; born 2 August 1989) is a Belgian professional association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger for Belgian Division 1 club Standard Liège, Standard de Liège 16. Chadli began his career in th ...
. The Red Devils defeated Brazil 2–1 in the
quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
, and would be eliminated in the
semi-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...
by eventual champions France. They eventually won the third place play-off against England. On 16 November 2019, for the first time in its history the team topped the
World Football Elo Ratings The World Football Elo Ratings are a ranking system for men's national association football teams that is published by the website eloratings.net. It is based on the Elo rating system but includes modifications to take various football-specific v ...
, after a 1–4 away win over Russia during the Euro 2020 qualifiers. Being considered one of the biggest contenders for the
European trophy European Trophy (previously named ''Nordic Trophy'' between 2006 and 2009) was an annually held ice hockey tournament, traditionally composed of teams from the higher-level ice hockey leagues in countries across Europe. With 32 participating team ...
, the tournament was a complete disappointment for Belgium. Being drawn in Group B alongside Russia,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
and
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, Belgium easily conquered the group with three wins. In the
knockout phase A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
, Belgium faced reigning champions
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
in the round of 16 with a strike from
Thorgan Hazard Thorgan Ganael Francis Hazard (born 29 March 1993) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and Winger (association football), winger for Belgian Pro League club R.S.C. Anderlecht, Anderlecht ...
to give Belgium a 1–0 win. In the quarter-finals, Belgium faced Italy, failing to take revenge for their 2016 loss, suffering a 1–2 defeat, with the goal being scored by
Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. Lukaku began h ...
, ending Belgium's campaign on a sad note. At the
2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
in
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
, Belgium were drawn into
Group F Group F may refer to: * A set of international motor racing regulations used in touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant dif ...
alongside
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
,
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. Despite starting their campaign well with a 1–0 victory over Canada, they suffered a shock 2–0 defeat to Morocco, and following a 0–0 draw with Croatia in their final group game, Belgium were knocked out of the tournament at the group stage for the first time since
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
. Following their elimination from the tournament, MartĂ­nez announced that he would be standing down as head coach after six years in charge of the national team. In February 2023, it was announced that
Domenico Tedesco Domenico Tedesco (; born 12 September 1985) is an Italian-German football manager who was most recently the head coach of the Belgium national team. In 2017, he took over as manager of Schalke 04 and guided them to a second place finish in the ...
has been appointed as the new head coach of the Belgian national team, replacing Roberto Martinez on a contract lasting until the end of
Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by U ...
. At the finals, Belgium were eliminated in the
round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
, losing 1–0 to France.


Team image


Kits

In home matches, the team's outfield players traditionally wear the colours of the
Belgian flag The national flag of the Kingdom of Belgium is a tricolour consisting of three equal vertical bands displaying the national colours: black, yellow, and red. The colours were taken from the coat of arms of the Duchy of Brabant, and the vertical de ...
: black, yellow and red. Red dominates the strip and is often the sole jersey colour. The away colours are usually white, black or both; in 2014, the squad introduced a third, yellow kit. Their shirts are often trimmed with ''tricolores'' at the margins. Since 1981, the RBFA emblem has been the national team's badge; the previous badge was a yellow lion on a black shield, similar to the escutcheon of the national coat of arms. On 8 November 2019, the
Royal Belgian Football Association The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA; ; ; ) is the governing body of football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. Since October 2021, th ...
revealed a new logo, which preserved the main elements of the previous one: the royal crown, the
wreath A wreath () is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or various materials that is constructed to form a ring shape. In English-speaking countries, wreaths are used typically as household ornaments, most commonly as an Advent and C ...
and the Belgian tricolor. For their first unofficial match in 1901, the Belgian team wore white jerseys with tricoloured bands on the upper arms. Around their third unofficial match in 1902, the choice was made for a "shirt with national colours ... hat would indicate,with a stripe, the number of times every player has participated in an encounter". Since 1904, Belgium's classic all-red jersey design has been altered twice. In 1904–05, the squad briefly wore satin shirts with three horizontal bands in red, yellow and black; according to sports journalist
Victor Boin Victor Boin (28 February 1886 – 31 March 1974) was a Belgian freestyle swimmer, water polo player, and épée fencer who competed at the 1908, 1912 and 1920 Summer Olympics. Olympics Boin was part of the Belgian water polo teams that finish ...
, the shirts set "the ugliness record". During the 1970s, manager Raymond Goethals chose an all-white combination to improve the team's visibility during evening matches. Six clothing manufacturers have supplied the official team strip.
Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...
is the producer since 2014, and closed a sponsorship deal with the RBFA until 2026; it was also the supplier from 1974 to 1980, and from 1982 to 1991. Former kit manufacturers are
Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...
(early 1970s),
Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
(1981–1982),
Diadora Diadora is an Italian sportswear and footwear manufacturing company based in Caerano di San Marco (Veneto), subsidiary of Geox, founded in 1948. Diadora produces football boots and athletic shoes, as well as a range of apparel that includes ...
(1992–1999),
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...
(1999–2010) and Burrda (2010–2014).


Media coverage

The first live coverage of a Belgian sporting event occurred on 3 May 1931, when journalist Gust De Muynck commentated on the football match between Belgium and the Netherlands on radio. Later, football broadcasts were also televised. As 60 per cent of Belgians speak
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
and 40 per cent speak
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
, commentaries for the national team matches are provided in both languages. The matches are not broadcast in
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
—Belgium's third official language. During Belgium's tournament appearances in the 1980s and the early 1990s, Rik De Saedeleer crowned himself the nation's most famous football commentator with his emotional and humorous reports. Initially the matches were transmitted mainly on public television channels: the former BRTN (now VRT) in Dutch, and the
RTBF The ("Belgian Radio-television of the French Community"), shortened to RTBF (branded as rtbf.be), is a public broadcasting, public service broadcaster for the French Community of Belgium, French-speaking Community of Belgium. Its counterpart i ...
in French. Since 1994, commercial channels such as vtm and its sister channel Kanaal 2, and
VIER Play4 is a Belgian- Flemish commercial television channel. It is part of Play Media and production company Woestijnvis. As of 2010, the channel has a market share of more than 7%. The channel was formerly known as VIER from 17 September 2012 ...
in
Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
, have purchased broadcasting rights. The Euro 2016 round of 16 match against Hungary was the most-watched programme in Belgian television history, with an audience of over 4 million viewers out of 11.3 million Belgians. In April 2014, the VRT started transmitting a nine-piece, behind-the-scenes documentary about the national team filmed during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, titled ''Iedereen Duivel'' (''Everybody Devil''). Cable broadband provider
Telenet Telenet was an American commercial packet-switched network which went into service in 1975. It was the first FCC-licensed public data network in the United States. Various commercial and government interests paid monthly fees for dedicated lin ...
broadcast an eight-part documentary about individual players titled ''Rode Helden'' (''Red Heroes'').


Side activities

Multiple events were organised for the fans during the squad's peak popularity in the 2010s. During the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, a string of interactive events called the ''Devil Challenges'' were organised. The premise was that small groups of international players would do a favour in return for each of the five comprehensive chores their supporters completed ("colour Belgium red", "gather 500,000
decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a Power, root-power, and field quantities, power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whos ...
s", etc.), all of which were accomplished. In June 2013, the Belgian national team's first ever Fan Day attracted over 20,000 supporters; a second was held after the 2014 World Cup. On the days of Belgium's 2014 World Cup group matches, large dance events titled ''Dance with the Devils'' took place in three Belgian cities. This activity was repeated during Belgium's Euro 2016 group matches. Occasionally, the Belgian team directly supported charity. Between 1914 and 1941 they played at least five unofficial matches of which the returns were for charitable purposes: two against France, and three against the Netherlands. In 1986, when the Belgian delegation reached the World Cup semi-finals, the squad started a project titled Casa Hogar, an idea of delegation leader Michel D'Hooghe. Casa Hogar is a home for street children in the Mexican industrial city of
Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...
, to which the footballers donated part of their tournament bonuses. In August 2013, the national team supported four social projects through the charity fund Football+ Foundation, by playing an A-match with a plus sign on the shoulders of their jerseys and auctioning the shirts. In the 21st century, several national team players acted up against discrimination. In 2002, the national squad held its first anti-
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
campaign in which they posed with slogans. A home Euro 2012 qualifier was given the theme of respect for
diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...
in 2010; this UEFA-supported action was part of the European
FARE A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used. Fare structure is the system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various p ...
Action Week. Ex-Red Devil
Dimitri Mbuyu Dimitri Mbuyu (born 31 October 1964) is a retired Belgian footballer of Congolese origin. He played as an attacker. He was the first black player to be selected for Belgium, appearing in one international, a 1–0 loss to Portugal on 4 Februar ...
—the first black Belgium player (in 1987)—was engaged as godfather, and other foreign, current, and former footballers who played in the Belgian top division participated. In 2018, four national team players spoke up against homophobic violence, in a video clip made by organisation Kick It Out.


Nickname, logo and mascot

After a 1905 match, a Dutch reporter wrote that three Belgian footballers "work das devils". A year later
Léopold FC Royal Léopold FC is a Belgian football club from the city of Brussels. It was founded in as ''Léopold Football Club'' and over the years, numerous name changes in its history and mergers have happened with neighboring clubs who also struggled t ...
manager Pierre Walckiers nicknamed the players Red Devils, inspired by their jersey colour, and the achievement of three successive victories in 1906. Because of their white home shirts in the 1970s, they were temporarily known as the White Devils. Since 2012, the team logo is a red trident (or three-pronged pitchfork), an item that is often associated with the devil. Apart from that, the national squad has also had four official anthropomorphous mascots. The first was a lion in team kit named Diabolix, a reference to the central symbol in the Belgian coat of arms that appeared on the team jerseys from 1905 to 1980. In accordance with their epithet, the next mascots were a red super-devil and two fan-made modern devils; the one introduced in 2018 was named "Red". A trident logo, referring to a devil, is also used frequently.


Supporters

Fans of the Belgian national team display the country's tricolour national flag, usually with an emphasis on the red element. In 2012, local supporter clubs merged into one large Belgian federation named "1895" after the foundation year of the RBFA. One year later, 1895 had 24,000 members. The nationwide interest in the national team has also been reflected by the occasional presence of Belgian monarchs at their matches since 1914. One of the greatest moments for the Belgian team and their 12th man was in 1986 when the Belgian delegation at the World Cup received a warm "welcome home". When the World Cup semi-finalists appeared on the balcony of
Brussels Town Hall The Town Hall (, ; , ) of the City of Brussels is a landmark building and the seat of that municipality of Brussels, Belgium. It is located on the south side of the Grand-Place, Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square), opposite the Goth ...
, the adjoining Grand Place square was filled with an ecstatic crowd that cheered as though their squad had won a major tournament. The team's deterioration after the 2002 World Cup led to their absence from the end stages of the next five major tournaments, and strained their popularity. Between 2004 and 2010, local journalists called the Belgian footballing nation "mortally ill". Of the fans that kept supporting their squad in bad times, Ludo Rollenberg was one of the most loyal. He attended the team's matches worldwide since 1990, missing only the 1999 Japanese
Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan national football team, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (Internatio ...
and two other matches by 2006, and was the only supporter to attend their matches in Armenia in 2009. Just before the kick-off of a 2014 World Cup home qualifier, Belgium's footballers saw a
tifo ''Tifo'' () is the phenomenon whereby ''tifosi'' of a sports team make a visual display of any choreographed flag, sign or banner in the stands of a stadium, mostly as part of an association football match. ''Tifo'' are most commonly seen in ...
banner, sized depicting a devil in the national colours. The presence of many Belgian players in top leagues abroad, such as the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
, and promising results under Marc Wilmots, increased fans' enthusiasm and belief in a successful World Cup campaign. Because of this popularity, two Belgian monuments were decorated in national colours for the 2014 FIFA World Cup; the
Manneken Pis (; ) is a landmark bronze fountain sculpture in central Brussels, Belgium, depicting a puer mingens; a Nudity, naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. Though its existence is attested as early as the mid-15th century, ''Manneke ...
statue received a child-sized version of the new Belgian uniform, and facets of the
Atomium The Atomium ( , , ) is a landmark modernist building in Brussels, Belgium, originally constructed as the centrepiece of the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo 58). Designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and the architects André and Jean Pol ...
's upper sphere were covered in black, yellow and red vinyl.


Rivalries

Belgium's main football rivals are its neighbors
the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, with which it shares close cultural and political relations.


Netherlands

The matchup between the Belgian and Dutch team is known as the Low Countries
derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
, they have played each other in 126 official matches. Belgium won the first four—unofficial—matches against the Netherlands, but lost their first FIFA-recognised contest. The two national teams played each other biannually between 1905 and 1964, except during the World Wars. They have met 18 times in major tournaments, and have played at least 35 friendly cup matches: in Belgium for the ''Coupe Vanden Abeele'', and in the Netherlands for the ''Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad-Beker''. The overall balance favours the Netherlands, with 55 wins against 41 Belgian victories. The Low Countries' squads co-operated in fundraising initiatives between 1925 and 1941; they played five unofficial matches for charity, FIFA and the Belgian Olympic Committee.


France

The clash between Belgium and France is nicknamed ''le Match Sympathique'' in French ("the Friendly Match"); they have contested 74 official matches . The first match between Belgium and France, the ''Évence Coppée'' Trophy played in 1904, was the first official match for both teams and the first official football match between independent countries on the European continent. Until 1967, the sides met almost annually. As of September 2020, Belgium have the better record, with 30 wins to France's 25, and France has played most often against Belgium in international football.


Stadium

Numerous former and current venues in 11 urban areas have hosted Belgium's home matches. Most of these matches have been played in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau, on the site of the present-day
King Baudouin Stadium The King Baudouin Stadium ( ; ) is a sports ground in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the north-western district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in view of the 1935 Brussels International Exposition ...
—a multipurpose facility with a seating capacity of 50,122. Its field also hosts the team's final trainings before domestic matches. Since 2007, most physical preparation takes place at the National Football Centre in
Tubize Tubize (; ) is a municipality and city of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On January 1, 2006 Tubize had a total population of 22,335. The total area is 32.66 km2 which gives a population density of 684 inhabita ...
, or at
Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...
's training ground in the Neerpede quarter. Apart from Belgian home friendlies, at the international level Belgium's national stadium has also hosted six European Championship matches. In 1930, for the country's centennial, the venue was inaugurated as the Jubilee Stadium with an unofficial match between Belgium and the Netherlands. At that time, the stadium had a capacity of 75,000. In 1946, it was renamed Heysel Stadium after its city quarter. This new name became associated with the tragedy preceding the 1985 European Cup final between
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
and
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
; 39 spectators died after riots in the then antiquated building. Three years after the disaster, plans were unveiled for a renovation; in 1995, after two years of work, the modernised stadium was named after the late
King Baudouin Baudouin (; 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the last Belgian king to be sovereign of the Congo, before it became independent in 1960 and became the Democratic Republi ...
. In May 2013, the Brussels-Capital Region announced that the King Baudouin Stadium would be replaced by
Eurostadium Eurostadium was a proposed stadium in Grimbergen, Belgium, just north of Brussels. It would have had a capacity of 62,613. In June 2015, the building deadline was set for 2019. It would have hosted matches for UEFA Euro 2020, and would have becom ...
, elsewhere on the Heysel Plateau; in 2018, however, the plans for the new stadium were cancelled definitively.


Results and fixtures

, the complete official match record of the Belgian national team comprises 852 matches: 376 wins, 179 draws and 297 losses. During these matches, the team scored 1,525 times and conceded 1,323 goals. Belgium's highest winning margin is nine goals, which has been achieved on four occasions: against
Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
in 1994 (9–0), twice against
San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...
in 2001 (10–1) and 2019 (9–0), and against
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
in 2017 (9–0). Their longest winning streak is 12 wins, and their highest unbeaten record is 23 consecutive official matches. The following is a list of match results in the last twelve months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.


2024


2025


Coaching staff

Source:


Coaching history

Since 1904, the RBFA, 26 permanent managers and two caretaker managers have officially been in charge of the national team; this includes one national footballer selector. , a crew of over 30 RBFA employees guides the player group, including French head coach
Rudi Garcia Rudi José Garcia (; ; born 20 February 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Belgium national team. Garcia began his professional career with Lille, and went on to have stints ...
, and assistant coaches
Andreas Hinkel Andreas Hinkel (born 26 March 1982) is a German Association football, football coach and a former player. Hinkel played as a right-back and earned 21 Cap (sport), caps for the Germany national football team, Germany national team. He was known fo ...
and Luke Benstead. Under
Marc Wilmots Marc Robert Wilmots (born 22 February 1969) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is the sporting director of Standard Liège. During his club career as an attacking midfielder, he won trophies with KV Mechelen, Stand ...
, Belgium reached the top FIFA ranking spot in 2015, which earned him the title of Best Coach of the Year at the 2015
Globe Soccer Awards The Globe Soccer Awards are awards which acknowledge achievements in football. The event is organized by Globe Soccer and involves participation from international football organizations such as UEFA, UAE Pro League, ECA (European Clubs Associ ...
. Guy Thys received ''World Soccer'' magazine's Manager of the Year in 1986 after results at the World Cup and Euros. Under Spanish coach
Roberto MartĂ­nez Roberto MartĂ­nez Montoliu (; born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team. MartĂ­nez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Re ...
, the team reached a best-ever third place finish at the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
. Rather than developing innovative team formations or styles of play, Belgium's managers applied conventional tactics. At the three World Cups in the 1930s, the Red Devils were aligned in a contemporary 2–3–5 "pyramid". In 1954, Doug Livingstone's squad played in a 3–2–5 "WM" arrangement during World Cup matches. Throughout most of their tournament matches in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the team played in a 4–4–2 formation. Since Raymond Goethals' stint in the 1970s, a key strength of the Belgian squad has been their systematic use of the
offside trap Offside is one of the laws in association football, codified in Law 11 of the Laws of the Game. The law states that a player is in an offside position if any of their body parts, except the hands and arms, are in the opponents' half of the ...
, a defensive tactic that was already intensively applied in the 1960s by Anderlecht coach
Pierre Sinibaldi Pierre Sinibaldi (29 February 1924 – 24 January 2012) was a French football player, who played as a striker. His career as manager spanned a quarter of a century. In the 1960s and again in the early 1970s, he coached R.S.C. Anderlecht with wh ...
. According to football journalist Wim De Bock, "master tactician" Goethals represented the "conservative, defensive football of the Belgian national team"; he added that in the 1970s, the contrast between the Belgian playing style and the Netherlands'
Total Football Total Football () is a tactical system in association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. A player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus retaining the ...
"could not be bigger". At the 1998 World Cup, Georges Leekens chose a 4–3–3 arrangement for Belgium's second and third group matches. Robert Waseige said that "above all, is4–4–2 system asholy", in the sense that he left good attackers on the bench to keep his favourite formation. Wilmots opted for the 4–3–3 line-up again, with the intention of showing dominant football against any country.


Players


Current squad

On 19 May 2025, the following 26 players were named in the squad for the
2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's Association football, soccer championship contested by the List of men's n ...
qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...
matches against
North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
and
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
on 6 and 9 June 2025, respectively. On 1 June 2025,
Thibaut Courtois Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois (; ; born 11 May 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Belgium national team. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is known ...
dropped out due to injury, with debutant Nordin Jackers called up to take his place in the squad. ''Information correct , after the match against
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
.''


Recent call-ups

The following footballers were part of a national selection in the past twelve months, but not part of the most recent squad. * PRE Preliminary squad / standby * RET Retired from the national team * INJ Player injuries * ILL Player illness * U21 Moved to U21 squad * WD Player withdrew from squad due to non-injury issue


Notable

In the team's first decade, striker
Robert De Veen Robert Deveen, officially Louis Robert Deveen,Civil status register, birth register of the city of Bruges, 1886, record nr. 356 (25 March 1886 in Bruges – 8 December 1939 in Bruges) was a Belgian football player and manager. He was born in Bru ...
scored 26 goals in 23 international appearances. Richard Henshaw described
Alphonse Six Alphonse Léopold Bauduin Six (1 January 1890 – 19 August 1914) was a Belgian football player. Early life Six was born in Bruges and is mainly remembered for his goal-scoring capacities. Career In his period with Cercle Brugge he score ...
as "Belgium's greatest player in the prewar period ... howas often called the most skillful forward outside Great Britain". The key player of the victorious 1920 Olympic squad was Robert CoppĂ©e, who scored a
hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
against Spain's
Ricardo Zamora Ricardo Zamora Martínez (; 21 January 1901 – 8 September 1978) was a Spanish footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper for, among others, RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. As an international he played for Spain. As a man ...
, and the penalty in the final. Other Belgian strikers in the interwar period were former top scorer
Bernard Voorhoof Bernard Voorhoof (10 May 1910 – 18 February 1974) was a Belgian footballer, who held the title of the Belgium national team's top scorer for 34 years, netting 30 goals in 61 matches. In 1972, he was joined by Paul Van Himst, who took 81 match ...
and "Belgium's football grandmaster"
Raymond Braine Raymond Ernest Michel Braine (28 April 1907 – 24 December 1978) was a Belgian football striker. He was also the first Belgian professional player, when he obtained a transfer to Sparta Prague in 1930. Braine played in 54 matches for the Bel ...
, considered "one of the greatest players of the era". Other players in the 1940s and 1950s included
centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
Louis Carré and attackers
Jef Mermans Josephus Antoon Louisa "Jef" Mermans (16 February 1922 in Merksem – 20 January 1996 in Essen, Belgium, Wildert), nicknamed "The Bomber", was a Association football, football Striker (association football), striker from Belgium, who played much ...
, Pol Anoul and Rik Coppens; at the 1954 World Cup, Anoul shone with three goals, and newspaper ''
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...
'' named Coppens the event's best centre forward. The 1960s and the early 1970s were the glory days of forward and four-time
Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe (, , German: ''Goldener Schuh'') is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian Pro League for the past year. The trophy is sponsored by the B ...
Paul Van Himst, later elected Belgian UEFA Golden Player of 1954–2003 and Belgium's Player of the Century by
IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...
. At the
1965 Ballon d'Or Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
, Van Himst ranked fourth, achieving Belgium's highest ever position at the European football election. Decades after Coppens and Van Himst had retired from playing football, a journalist on a Flemish television show asked them "Who rom both of youwas the best, actually?". Coppens replied: "I will ask Paul that ... If Paul says it was me, then he's right". In 1966, striker
Raoul Lambert Raoul Lambert (born 20 October 1944) is a Belgian retired footballer who played as a striker. He finished top scorer of the Belgian First Division with 17 goals in 1972 while playing for Club Brugge. He also scored 18 goals in 33 matches with t ...
and defending midfielder
Wilfried Van Moer Wilfried van Moer (1 March 1945 – 24 August 2021) was a Belgian association football, footballer who won the Belgian Golden Shoe three times, first in 1966 while at R. Antwerp F.C., Antwerp then in 1969 and in 1970 while at Standard Liège. ...
joined the national team; while the UEFA praised Lambert for his skills at Euro 1972, Van Moer won three Golden Shoes and equalled Van Himst's fourth rank at the 1980 Ballon d'Or. Belgium has seen two talented waves since 1980, from which several players in defensive positions gained international fame. In the 1980s and the early 1990s, goalkeepers
Jean-Marie Pfaff Jean-Marie Pfaff (born 4 December 1953) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and spent most of his professional career with Beveren and Bayern Munich. Pfaff was capped 64 times playing for Belgium, and parti ...
and
Michel Preud'homme Michel Georges Jean Ghislain Preud'homme (born 24 January 1959) is a Belgian retired association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Currently, he is vic ...
were elected best
custodian Custodian may refer to: Occupations * Fullback (rugby league), in rugby, also called a sweeper * Janitor, a person who cleans and maintains buildings * Legal guardian or conservator, who may be called a custodian in some jurisdictions Religion ...
s at the FIFA World Cup, while FIFA recognised midfielders
Jan Ceulemans Jan Anna Gumaar Ceulemans (; born 28 February 1957) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, Ceulemans was known for his stamina, aerial ability, technique and was also recognized as one of th ...
and
Enzo Scifo Vincenzo "Enzo" Daniele Scifo (; born 19 February 1966) is a retired Belgian football midfielder. He has also managed the Belgium national under-21 football team and several Belgian club sides. He played for clubs in Belgium, France and Italy, w ...
as the propelling forces of Belgium's 1986 World Cup squad. In 2002, after all players of this generation had retired, Marc Wilmots became Belgium's top scorer at the World Cup with five goals. During the 10 years from 2002 to 2012 in which Belgium failed to qualify for a major tournament, another
golden generation In sport, a Golden Generation, or Golden Team is an exceptionally gifted group of players of similar age, whose achievements reach or are expected to reach a level of success beyond that which their team had previously achieved. The term was firs ...
emerged, many of whom gained both prime individual and team awards in top European clubs and competitions. These include defender
Vincent Kompany Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He is currently the head coach of ...
, midfielder
Kevin De Bruyne Kevin De Bruyne (; born 28 June 1991) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and captains the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. After spending mos ...
, one of the best attacking midfielders in the world and his generation; and winger
Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (association football), winger or attacking midfielder for Lille OSC, Lille, Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, Real ...
, who has been praised as one of Chelsea's greatest-ever players and one of his era's best footballers in the world. Hazard is ranked second after
Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. Lukaku began h ...
on Belgium's all-time scoring leaderboard. Honourable mentions of this golden generation are
Thibaut Courtois Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois (; ; born 11 May 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Belgium national team. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is known ...
,
Jan Vertonghen Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen (; born 24 April 1987) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Mainly a centre-back, he also played as a left-back. Vertonghen began his senior career at Dutch club Ajax in 2006, and total ...
,
Dries Mertens Dries "Ciro" Mertens (; born 6 May 1987) is a free agent Belgian professional Association football, footballer who last played as a Forward (association football), forward or Winger (association football), winger for SĂĽper Lig club Galatasaray ...
, and
Toby Alderweireld Tobias Albertine Maurits Alderweireld (; born 2 March 1989) is a Belgian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, centre-back. Alderweireld began his professional career at D ...
. These players helped Belgium finish at the third place at the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
, the team's best result at the tournament, and reach No. 1 on FIFA's rankings twice, since 2015.


Individual statistics


Most capped players

, the RBFA lists 735 players who appeared on the men's senior national team. With 157
cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...
s according to the RBFA, Jan Vertonghen has the most appearances for Belgium. Eden Hazard started the most matches as captain (59). Hector Goetinck had the longest career as an international footballer, at 17 years, 6 months and 10 days. . ''The records are collected based on data fro
FIFA
an
RSSSF
Statistics include three matches that are unrecognised by FIFA.'' :''Players in bold are still active with Belgium.''


Top goalscorers

Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. Lukaku began h ...
is the highest-scoring Belgium player with 89 goals. Those who scored the most goals in one match are
Robert De Veen Robert Deveen, officially Louis Robert Deveen,Civil status register, birth register of the city of Bruges, 1886, record nr. 356 (25 March 1886 in Bruges – 8 December 1939 in Bruges) was a Belgian football player and manager. He was born in Bru ...
, Bert De Cleyn and
Josip Weber Josip Weber, nicknamed Joske, (born Josip Veber; 16 November 1964 – 8 November 2017) was a professional footballer who played as a forward. He represented Croatia and Belgium at international level. Club career Weber began his senior career ...
with five; Lukaku holds the record for the most hat-tricks with four. Belgium's fastest goal after the initial kick-off was scored by
Christian Benteke Christian Benteke Liolo (born 3 December 1990) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club D.C. United. Benteke began his career at Standard Liège, playing a part in their 2008–09 Belgian Firs ...
, 8.1 seconds into a match against
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
on 10 October 2016. . ''The records are collected based on data fro
FIFA
an
RSSSF
Statistics include three matches that are unrecognised by FIFA.'' :''Players in bold are still active with Belgium.''


Competitive record


FIFA World Cup

Belgium failed to progress past the first round in their first five World Cup participations. After two scoreless defeats at the inaugural World Cup in 1930, the team scored in their first round knockout matches in the 1934 and 1938 editions. In 1954, they drew with England 4–4 after extra time, and in 1970, they won their first World Cup match, against
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
(3–0). From 1982 until 2002, Belgium qualified for six successive World Cups, advancing past the first round five times. In the 1982 FIFA World Cup opener, Belgium beat defending champions Argentina 1–0. Their tournament ended in the second group stage, after a
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
hat-trick by
Zbigniew Boniek Zbigniew Kazimierz Boniek (; born 3 March 1956) is a Polish former association football, footballer and manager as well as a current UEFA vice-president. A former midfielder, who was also capable of playing mostly as a right winger and Forward ( ...
and a 0–1 loss against the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. At Mexico 1986, the Belgian team achieved their then best-ever World Cup run at the time. In the knockout phase as
underdogs An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...
they beat the Soviet Union after
extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
4–3; the unnoticed offside position of Jan Ceulemans, during the initial ninety minutes, allowed him to equalise the match at 2–2 and enter extra time. They also beat
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, in a
penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
after a 1–1 draw, but lost to eventual champions Argentina in the semi-finals 2–0, and France in the third-place match 4–2. In 1990, Belgium dominated periods of their round of 16 match against England; Enzo Scifo and Jan Ceulemans hit the
woodwork Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by ...
. David Platt's volley in the final minute of extra time, described as "nearly blind" by Richard Witzig, avoided an apparently goalless draw and led to the sudden elimination of the Belgians. In 1994, a 3–2 defeat to defending champions
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
saw Belgium go out in the second round again. Afterwards, the entire Belgian delegation criticised referee
Kurt Röthlisberger Kurt Röthlisberger (born 21 May 1951 in Suhr) is a retired football referee from Switzerland. He is known for supervising five matches in the FIFA World Cup: three matches in 1990, and two in 1994. Career In the 1994 World Cup, he refereed the ...
for not awarding a penalty for a foul on Belgian
Josip Weber Josip Weber, nicknamed Joske, (born Josip Veber; 16 November 1964 – 8 November 2017) was a professional footballer who played as a forward. He represented Croatia and Belgium at international level. Club career Weber began his senior career ...
. Three draws in the group stage of the 1998 World Cup were insufficient for Belgium to reach the knockout stage. With two draws, the 2002 tournament started poorly for Belgium, but they won the decisive group match against Russia 3–2. In the second round, they faced eventual champions Brazil; Belgium lost 2–0 after Marc Wilmots' headed opening goal was disallowed due to a "phantom foul" on
Roque Júnior José Vítor Roque Júnior (; born 31 August 1976), more commonly known as Roque Júnior, is a Brazilian football pundit and former player who played as a defender. He won 48 caps for Brazil and was part of the winning squad at the 2002 Wo ...
, as Witzig named it. In 2014, Belgium beat all their group opponents by only one goal, and played an entertaining round of 16 match against the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, in which American goalkeeper
Tim Howard Timothy Matthew Howard (born March 6, 1979) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He is the part-owner of club Dagenham & Redbridge as well as an international ambassador in the United States for Premie ...
made 15 saves. However, they defeated the U.S. 2–1 in extra time. In a balanced quarter-finals, Argentina eliminated Belgium, after a 1–0 victory. At the
2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...
, Belgium started with five consecutive victories (including group wins over
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
,
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
and England). In the round of 16 match against
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, Belgium were down 2–0, eventually turning the tide and eventually winning 3–2 with goals from
Jan Vertonghen Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen (; born 24 April 1987) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Mainly a centre-back, he also played as a left-back. Vertonghen began his senior career at Dutch club Ajax in 2006, and total ...
and late substitutes
Marouane Fellaini Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui (born 22 November 1987) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Etterbeek to Moroccan parents, Fellaini played youth football for Anderlecht, R.A.E.C. Mons, Royal Francs Borai ...
and
Nacer Chadli Nacer Chadli (; born 2 August 1989) is a Belgian professional association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger for Belgian Division 1 club Standard Liège, Standard de Liège 16. Chadli began his career in th ...
. Belgium then defeated World Cup favourites Brazil 2–1 on the back of an early Fernandinho
own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...
and a goal by
Kevin De Bruyne Kevin De Bruyne (; born 28 June 1991) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and captains the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. After spending mos ...
, and reached the
semi-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...
. Belgium lost to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
0–1 in the semi-finals, but rebounded to win 2–0 in their second victory over England in the tournament to secure third place and the best ever World Cup result for the Belgian national team.


UEFA European Championship

Belgium have qualified for the
UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...
seven times, and has hosted or co-hosted the event twice; they were chosen to accommodate
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
and
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, co-hosting the latter with the Netherlands. At Euro 1972, Belgium finished third after losing 1–2 against West Germany and beating Hungary 2–1. The team's best continental result is runners-up at
Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams ...
in Italy, losing to West Germany. West Germany's
Horst Hrubesch Horst Hrubesch (; born 17 April 1951) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed the Germany women's national team. As a player, Hrubesch won three West German championships with his club side, Hamburger SV, as ...
scored first, but
René Vandereycken René Vandereycken (born 22 July 1953) is a Belgian retired professional footballer and manager. During his playing career, he played as a midfielder. He was the head coach of the Belgium national team from 2006 to 2009. Club career Vandereyc ...
equalised courtesy of a penalty. Two minutes before the regular playing time ended, Hrubesch scored again denying Belgium a first European title. At Euro 1984, in their last and decisive group match against
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, the Belgian team took a 0–2 lead, but the Danes won the match 3–2. Sixteen years later, Belgium reappeared at the Euros as co-hosts, qualifying automatically, but the Belgians were eliminated in the group stage. Belgium exited in the quarter-finals of
UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...
, losing to Wales.


UEFA Nations League


Olympic Games

The football tournament for senior men's national teams took place in six Summer Olympics between 1908 and 1936. The Belgian squad participated in all three
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
in the 1920s and won the gold medal at home at the 1920 edition. Two other Belgian delegations appeared at the Olympics. At the
1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closin ...
, a Belgian representation with mainly students won bronze, and at the 2008 edition, Belgium's U-23 selection placed fourth. Belgium's 1920 Olympic squad was given a bye into the quarter-finals, where they won 3–1 against Spain, and reached the semi-finals, where they beat the Netherlands 3–0. In the first half of the final against Czechoslovakia, the Belgians led 2–0. Forward Robert Coppée converted a disputed early
penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...
, and the action in which attacker
Henri Larnoe Alfons Henri "Rik" Larnoe (18 May 1897 – 24 February 1978) was a Belgian football player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonl ...
doubled the score was also a matter of debate. After the dismissal of the Czechoslovak left-back Karel Steiner, the discontented visitors left the pitch in the 40th minute. Afterwards, the away team reported their reasons for protest to the Olympic organisation; these complaints were dismissed and the Czechoslovaks were disqualified. The 2–0 score was allowed to stand and Belgium were crowned the champions.


Honours


Major competitions

*
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
** Third place (1):
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
*
UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...
** Runners-up (1):
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
** Third place (1):
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
*
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
** Gold medal (1):
1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...
** Bronze medal (1):
1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...
1


Friendly

*
Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan national football team, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (Internatio ...
** Champions (1): 1999


Awards

* FIFA Team of the Year
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
,
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
,
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
,
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
,
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
* FIFA World Cup Fair Play Trophy:
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
* Belgian Sports Merit Award: 1980 * Belgian Sportsteam of the Year: 2013, 2014


Summary

;Notes: # Demonstration matches played by club teams, officially not recognized by FIFA. The University of Brussels participated.


See also

* Belgium men's national football team results – unofficial matches * Belgian Congo men's national football team (1948–60) * Belgium men's national football B team * Belgium men's national youth football team (U-15 – U-21 squads) *
Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...
*
Belgium women's national football team The Belgium women's national football team, nicknamed the Belgian Red Flames, represents Belgium in international women's football. It is controlled by the Royal Belgian Football Association, the governing body for football in Belgium. Their home ...
*
Sport in Belgium Sport in Belgium plays a prominent role in the society. As of 2010, Belgium counted around 17,000 sport clubs with approximately 1.35 million members, or about 13% of the Belgian population. Popular sports in Belgium are, among others: football, ...


Footnotes


References


Bibliography

* (Unpaginated version consulted online via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
; the particular phrase by
Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
can be retrieved with
this search
'.) * (Numberless page copy consulted online on 25 June 2014 o
GOAAAL! Voetbalvaria (by RBFA)
* (Numberless book pages consulted online via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
) * * * (Extract consulted online on 30 August 2010 o
Beerschot Athletic Club
* * * * * * * * * * (Unpaginated version consulted online via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
; the particular fact is mentioned in chapter "The Only Time It Happened", section "10. Belgium".) * * *


Further reading

* * * *


External links

*
FIFA team profile

UEFA team profile


(archived)
Belgian national team news website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belgium National Football Team European national association football teams 1904 establishments in Belgium Articles containing video clips National sports teams established in 1904