The Belgium women's national football team, nicknamed the Belgian Red Flames, represents

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 international

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

. It is controlled by 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 ...

, the governing body for

football in Belgium Association football is the most popular sport in Belgium, which has been played since the end of the 19th century. The national association was founded in 1895 with the intention of bringing some order and organization to the sport. The fir ...

. Their home stadium is

Den Dreef Den Dreef, also known as King Power at Den Dreef for sponsorship reasons, is a Association football, football stadium situated on Kardinaal Mercierlaan in the Heverlee suburb of Leuven in Belgium. It is home to Jupiler Pro League football team O ...

and their current head coach is Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir. During most of their history the team has had poor results but showed improvement in the Euro 2013 and 2015 World Cup Qualifiers. In 2016, they qualified for their first major tournament: Euro 2017. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, they won the Pinatar Cup in San Pedro del Pinatar (

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History

Early days (1976–1984)

Belgium played its first 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 ...

on May 30, 1976 at Stade Auguste Delaune in

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. The game ended in a 2–1 victory. A year after this debut, the Belgian team played against

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 ...

and

, tying both matches, 2–2 and 1–1 respectively. The next year, they faced the same opposition once more and won both games by scores of 1-0 and 2-0. Another victory followed against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

with 1–0. The team's first defeat however came at the hands of

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: 3–0, which was followed by a 2–0 loss against France and a 2–2 tie against 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 ...

. In the following years, Belgium kept playing mostly against European teams.

First tournaments (1984–1989)

Belgium participated in qualifications for the first time for the

1984 European Competition for Women's Football The 1984 European Competition for Women's Football was won by Sweden on penalties against England. It comprised four qualifying groups, the winner of each going through to the semi-finals which were played over two legs, home and away. As only si ...

. They were sorted in Group 4 with the

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

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 ...

. The campaign started off well with a 3–2 victory over the Netherlands, but continued with a 1–0 loss against

and a 1–1 draw against

. Despite having a neutral goal difference at this point, the Belgian team ended up last in the group after a 5–0 defeat against the Netherlands and draws against their other two opponents, 2–2 against Denmark and 1–1 against West Germany. Their second attempt at qualifying was for the 1987 European Competition, where they were joined in Group 3 by

, the

again and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Their games against France were one win and one loss, both 3–1. Their matches against their two other opponents however were all defeats: 3–1 and 3–0 against The Netherlands, and 5–0 and 2–1 against Sweden. This resulted in Belgium again ending last in the group. In attempting to qualify for the

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

tournament they did better. They played in Group 4 against four other teams:

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. Among the eight games, they won two, drew four and lost two, with 7 goals for and 4 against. This earned them third place in the group of five, which did not suffice for qualification.

Stagnation (1990–2011)

The Belgian team suffered a series of poor results from 1990 to 2011. They never won even half of their matches in any of the qualification campaigns during this period, except for one. This notable exception was the 2003 Women's World Cup qualifiers, where they won five games and suffered only one loss.

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

however had achieved the same result and with better goal difference, leaving Belgium second in their group. This was nevertheless Belgium's best performance at the World Cup qualifiers until

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 ...

when they went out in the play-offs. It was followed by their worst: they lost all eight games in the next iteration (

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

). At the UEFA Women's Euro qualifications, their best performances during this period were at the 1995 edition and the 2009 edition, both times losing 'only' half of their matches and drawing one.

Improvements (2011–2018)

An era of victories began when Ives Serneels replaced Anne Noë as manager in 2011. Serneels led the team to improved qualification campaigns for Euro 2013 and 2015 World Cup, both times ending third in the group (just short of qualifying). Between both campaigns, the Belgian female football team adopted the nickname "Belgian Red Flames". Following the improvements, the RBFA invested in more growth in 2015, targeting qualification for Euro 2017. After a successful start in their qualifications group, the team was invited to play at the 2016 Algarve Cup in Portugal, one of the most prestigious women's international football events. Belgium finished second in their Euro 2017 qualifications group (after

), which was enough to earn them their first ever qualification for a major tournament. At the European championship Belgium secured a 2–0 upset win over

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

during the group stage. However, after losing 1–0 to

and 2–1 to the

, they finished third in their group and did not advance to the knockout rounds.

First success (2019–2022)

Belgium performed well in UEFA World Cup Qualifying for the 2019 World Cup and secured second place in

Group 6 Group 6 may refer to: * Group 6 element, chemical element classification * Group 6 (motorsport), FIA classification for sports car racing * Group 6 Rugby League, rugby league competition in New South Wales, Australia {{disambig ...

behind

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 ...

. As a result, they qualified for the UEFA Play-offs as they were one of the top 4 ranked second place teams.

, the

and

were the other teams in the play-off. Belgium faced Switzerland in their play-off semi-final, after two legs the aggregate score was 3–3, but Switzerland advanced on away goals. The Netherlands went on to defeat Switzerland in the play-off final to claim the final UEFA qualifying spot at the 2019 World Cup.
In 2019, Belgium also finished third during the 2019 Cyprus cup after defeating Austria on penalties. In

, Belgium won the Pinatar Cup, a friendly tournament held in

, beating

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 ...

on penalties. Euro 2022 was a success for Belgium, who managed to get out of the first round and reach the quarter-finals for the first time in their second appearance at the continental finals. The Red Flames finished 2nd in

Group D Group D may refer to: * FIA Group D - International Formula racing cars: ** Formula Two ** Formula Three ** Formula 3000 * One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group D ** 2018 FIFA Worl ...

behind

, the group's favorite against whom they conceded a narrow defeat (1–2), but ahead of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and

after a 1–1 draw against the former and a 1–0 victory against the latter (an outgoing quarter-finalists of the 2019 World Cup), in the last match. All this combined with the lack of a victory for the Icelandic women against the French, who were already assured a finish in first place of the group, in the other match (1–1). This historic qualification was made possible in part by the performance of Belgian goalkeeper

Nicky Evrard Nicky Evrard (born 26 May 1995) is a Belgian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for PSV and the Belgium women's national team. Club career Evrard started her career at RC Strijpen boy's teams. She was coached by Stefan Van de Voorde, a legen ...

, who saved two penalties in each of the first two games (against Iceland and France). Belgium faced

in the quarter-finals, the winner of

group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for Touring car racing, touring cars and ''Group B'' for Grand tourer, GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 (motorspor ...

and silver medalist at the

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 Tokyo. The Belgians lost by a score of 0–1 at the end of the match and saw their journey end at this stage of the competition.

Team image

Nicknames

At the start of the qualifying campaign for the 2015 World Cup in Canada, the team earned their first and current nickname: the "Belgian Red Flames". Prior to that, they were simply known as "Rode Duivelinnen" (Red Devil Ladies).

Kits and crest

On September 19, 2022 the RBFA presented new home kits. This was the first time that a unified look was presented for all Belgian national teams. It replaces the one-off black home shirt which was released earlier in support of women's football in Belgium.
The kit comes with a red base, and black and yellow details representing the Belgian flag. The jersey features a dynamic graphic print of flames on both sleeves, hinting at the team's nickname "Red Flames".

Kit suppliers

Home stadium

The team plays their home matches mostly at

but occasionally at other stadiums in Belgium.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. ;Legend

2024

2025

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Manager history

* Albert Bers (1976–1991) * Marc Van Geersom (1991–1994) * Johan Bol (1994–1999) * Anne Noë (1999–2010) * Ives Serneels (2011–2024) * Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir (2025–)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the

2025 UEFA Women's Nations League The 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League is the second season of the UEFA Women's Nations League, an international women's football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the ...

matches against

and

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 ...

on 30 May and 3 June 2025, respectively. ''Caps and goals are correct as of 3 June 2025, after the match against

.''

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up to the squad within the past 12 months. ;Notes * = Withdrew due to injury * = Preliminary squad * = Retired from national team

Individual records

: :''Players in bold are still active.''

Competitive record

Belgium has not yet featured at the World Cup, but has reached the end stage of the Euro 2017 tournament. Their best qualification rounds before that were for 2003 World Cup, 2013 Euro and 2015 World Cup.

FIFA Women's World Cup

UEFA Women's Championship

UEFA Women's Nations League

Algarve Cup

Belgium was invited to play at the 2016 Algarve Cup in Portugal and ended fifth out of eight teams. The teams were divided into two groups; after the group stage, placement matches were played among the equally ranked teams from both groups. Belgium ended third in Group A, and won the placement match against

(third place in Group B) with 5–0.

Cyprus Cup

Belgium has been invited to the Cyprus Cup four times, . Their first appearance was in

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 ...

. They were sorted into group C that year, with

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and ended last in the group. They also lost the placement match (after penalties) against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, resulting in the last place of all 12 teams. In

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Belgium finished third in Group A with

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

and

, and eventually reached seventh place out of 12 after winning the placement match against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Belgium was also invited to play the tournament in

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 ...

, in a group with

and

. They ended second in the group behind eventual winner Spain, and fifth overall (out of 12) after winning the placement match against

. Belgium returned to the Cyprus Cup in

. They were in Group C with

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. Belgium finished in third place after defeating

on penalties in the third place match.

Pinatar Cup

Belgium were crowned Pinatar Cup champions in 2022. Belgium beat

in the final after taking the game to penalties.

FIFA world rankings

Worst Ranking Best Ranking Worst Mover Best Mover

Head-to-head record

The following table shows Belgium's all-time international record.

Honours

Friendly

* Cyprus cup ** Third place (1): 2019 * Pinatar Cup ** Champions (1): 2022

Notes

References

External links

BelRedFlamesOfficial websiteFIFA profileList of international players
belgianfootball.be {{Portal bar, Women's association football, Association football, Sports, Belgium European women's national association football teams 1976 establishments in Belgium Association football clubs established in 1976