Belgium national football team

Belgium
Nickname(s)	Red Devils
Association	Royal Belgian Football Association
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Roberto Martinez
Asst coach	Shaun Maloney
Captain	Eden Hazard
Most caps	Jan Vertonghen (118)
Top scorer	Romelu Lukaku (51)
Ground	King Baudouin Stadium
FIFA code	BEL
FIFA ranking	1 (19 September 2019)
Highest FIFA ranking	1 (November 2015 - March 2016, September 2018 – present)
Lowest FIFA ranking	71 (June 2007)
Elo ranking	2 (13 October 2019)
Highest Elo ranking	2 (September 2019 – present)
Lowest Elo ranking	70 (Sep/Oct 2009, Sep 2010)
First international	Belgium 3–3 France  (Brussels, Belgium; 1 May 1904)
Biggest win	Belgium 9–0 Zambia  (Brussels, Belgium; 4 June 1994)  Belgium 10–1 San Marino  (Brussels, Belgium; 28 February 2001)  Belgium 9–0 Gibraltar  (Liège, Belgium; 31 August 2017)
Biggest defeat	England Am. 11-2 Belgium (London, England; 17 April 1909)
World Cup appearances	13 (First in 1930)
Best result	Third place (2018)
UEFA European Championship appearances	5 (First in 1972)
Best result	Runners-Up (1980)

The Belgian national football team has officially represented Belgium in association football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian team's supervising body, the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA). Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938, and 1970 to 2002, have alternated with mostly unsuccessful qualification rounds. Most of Belgium's home matches are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.

Belgium's national team have participated in three, quadrennial major football competitions. They appeared in the end stages of twelve FIFA World Cups and four UEFA European Football Championships, and featured at three Olympic football tournaments, including the 1920 Olympic tournament 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 longstanding football rivalries with its Dutch neighbours and its 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 supporters' group is named 1895.

During the national player career of forward Paul Van Himst, the most-praised Belgian footballer of the 20th century, Belgium took third place at Euro 1972. After that, the national squad experienced two golden ages with many gifted players. In the first period, which lasted from the 1980s to the early 1990s, the team finished as runners-up at Euro 1980 and fourth in the 1986 World Cup. In the second, under guidance of Marc Wilmots and later Roberto Martínez in the 2010s, Belgium topped the FIFA World Rankings for the first time in November 2015 and finished third at the 2018 World Cup. Belgium currently participates in League A of the first UEFA Nations League edition, and will participate in the same league for the next edition.

Competitive records

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup finals record											Qualifications record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad		GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Round 1	11th	2	0	0	2	0	4	Squad		Qualified as invitees						—
1934		15th	1	0	0	1	2	5	Squad		2	0	1	1	6	8	1934
1938		13th	1	0	0	1	1	3	Squad		2	1	1	0	4	3	1938
1950	Withdrew										Withdrew						1950
1954	Group stage	12th	2	0	1	1	5	8	Squad		4	3	1	0	11	6	1954
1958	Did not qualify										4	2	1	1	16	11	1958
1962											4	0	0	4	3	10	1962
1966											5	3	0	2	12	5	1966
1970	Group stage	10th	3	1	0	2	4	5	Squad		6	4	1	1	14	8	1970
1974	Did not qualify										6	4	2	0	12	0	1974
1978											6	3	0	3	7	6	1978
1982	Group stage 2	10th	5	2	1	2	3	5	Squad		8	5	1	2	12	9	1982
1986	Fourth place	4th	7	2	2	3	12	5	Squad		8	4	2	2	9	5	1986
1990	Round of 16	11th	4	2	0	2	6	4	Squad		8	4	4	0	15	5	1990
1994		11th	4	2	0	2	4	4	Squad		10	7	1	2	16	5	1994
1998	Group stage	19th	3	0	3	0	3	3	Squad		10	7	1	2	23	13	1998
2002	Round of 16	14th	4	1	2	1	6	7	Squad		10	7	2	1	27	6	2002
2006	Did not qualify										10	3	3	4	16	11	2006
2010											10	3	1	6	13	20	2010
2014	Quarter-finals	6th	5	4	0	1	6	3	Squad		10	8	2	0	18	4	2014
2018	Third place	3rd	7	6	0	1	16	6	Squad		10	9	1	0	43	6	2018
2022	To be determined										To be determined						2022
Total	13/21	Best: Third place	48	20	9*	19	68	72	N/A		133	77	25	31	277	141	Total
Champions       Runners-up       Third place       Fourth place

*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

UEFA European Championship record

UEFA European Championship record											Qualification record
Host nation(s) and year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960	Did not enter										Did not enter
1964	Did not qualify										2	0	0	2	2	4
1968											6	3	1	2	14	9
1972	Third place	3rd	2	1	0	1	3	3	Squad		8	5	2	1	13	4
1976	Did not qualify										8	3	2	3	7	10
1980	Runners-up	2nd	4	1	2	1	4	4	Squad		8	4	4	0	12	5
1984	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	4	8	Squad		6	4	1	1	12	8
1988	Did not qualify										8	3	3	2	16	8
1992											6	2	1	3	7	6
1996											10	4	3	3	17	13
2000	Group stage	12th	3	1	0	2	2	5	Squad		Qualified as hosts
2004	Did not qualify										8	5	1	2	11	9
2008											14	5	3	6	14	16
2012											10	4	3	3	21	15
2016	Quarter-finals	7th	5	3	0	2	9	5	Squad		10	7	2	1	24	5
2020	Qualified										Ongoing (Group I)
2024	To be determined
Total	Best: runners-up	5/15	17	7	2	8	22	25	—		104	49	26	29	170	112
Champions       Runners-up       Third place/semi-finalists

Results and fixtures

2018

2018–19 UEFA Nations League 12 October 2018 (2018-10-12)	Belgium	2–1	Switzerland	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	R. Lukaku  58', 84'	Report	Gavranović  76'	Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium Attendance: 39,049 Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

Friendly 16 October 2018 (2018-10-16)	Belgium	1–1	Netherlands	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	Mertens  5'	Report	Groeneveld  27'	Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium Attendance: 34,747 Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)

2018–19 UEFA Nations League 15 November 2018 (2018-11-15)	Belgium	2–0	Iceland	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)	Batshuayi  65', 81'	Report		Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium Attendance: 28,891 Referee: Orel Grinfeld (Israel)

2018–19 UEFA Nations League 18 November 2018 (2018-11-18)	Switzerland	5–2	Belgium	Lucerne, Switzerland
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)	Rodríguez  26' (pen.) Seferović  31', 44', 84' Elvedi  62'	Report	T. Hazard  2', 17'	Stadium: Swissporarena Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)

2019

UEFA Euro 2020 Q 21 March 2019 (2019-03-21)	Belgium	3–1	Russia	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)	Tielemans  14' E. Hazard  45' (pen.), 88'	Report	Cheryshev  16'	Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium Attendance: 34,245 Referee: Ovidiu Haţegan (Romania)

UEFA Euro 2020 Q 24 March 2019 (2019-03-24)	Cyprus	0–2	Belgium	Nicosia, Cyprus
20:45 (21:45 UTC+2)		Report	E. Hazard  10' Batshuayi  18'	Stadium: GSP Stadium Attendance: 8,728 Referee: François Letexier (France)

UEFA Euro 2020 Q 8 June 2019 (2019-06-08)	Belgium	3–0	Kazakhstan	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	Mertens  11' Castagne  14' R. Lukaku  50'	Report		Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium Attendance: 37,155 Referee: Irfan Peljto (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

UEFA Euro 2020 Q 11 June 2019 (2019-06-11)	Belgium	3–0	Scotland	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	R. Lukaku  45+1', 57' De Bruyne  90+2'	Report		Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium Attendance: 32,482 Referee: Petr Ardeleanu (Czech Republic)

UEFA Euro 2020 Q 6 September 2019 (2019-09-06)	San Marino	0–4	Belgium	Serravalle, San Marino
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)		Report	Batshuayi  43' (pen.), 90+2' Mertens  57' Chadli  64'	Stadium: San Marino Stadium Referee: Horațiu Feșnic (Romania)

UEFA Euro 2020 Q 9 September 2019 (2019-09-09)	Scotland	0–4	Belgium	Glasgow, Scotland
20:45 (19:45 UTC+1)		Report	R. Lukaku  9' Vermaelen  24' Alderweireld  32' De Bruyne  82'	Stadium: Hampden Park Referee: Paweł Gil (Poland)

UEFA Euro 2020 Q 10 October 2019 (2019-10-10)	Belgium	9–0	San Marino	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	R. Lukaku  28', 41' Chadli  31' Brolli  35' (o.g.) Alderweireld  43' Tielemans  45+1' Benteke  79' Verschaeren  84' (pen.) Castagne  90'	Report		Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium Referee: Anastasios Papapetrou (Greece)

UEFA Euro 2020 Q 13 October 2019 (2019-10-13)	Kazakhstan	0–2	Belgium	Astana/Nursultan, Kazakhstan
15:00 (19:00 UTC+6)		Report	Batshuayi  21' Meunier  53'	Stadium: Astana Arena Referee: Gediminas Mažeika (Lithuania)

UEFA Euro 2020 Q 16 November 2019 (2019-11-16)	Russia	v	Belgium	Saint Petersburg, Russia
18:00 (20:00 UTC+3)		Report		Stadium: Krestovsky Stadium

UEFA Euro 2020 Q 19 November 2019 (2019-11-19)	Belgium	v	Cyprus	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)		Report		Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium

Players

Current squad

The following 28 players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against San Marino and Kazakhstan on 10 and 13 October 2019, respectively.
Caps, goals and player numbers are correct as of 13 October 2019 after the game against Kazakhstan.

# Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club 1 1GK Thibaut Courtois 11 May 1992 (1992-05-11) (age 27) 78 0 Real Madrid 12 1GK Jens Teunckens 30 January 1998 (1998-01-30) (age 21) 0 0 Antwerp 13 1GK Matz Sels 26 February 1992 (1992-02-26) (age 27) 0 0 Strasbourg 2 2DF Toby Alderweireld 2 March 1989 (1989-03-02) (age 30) 96 5 Tottenham Hotspur 3 2DF Thomas Vermaelen 14 November 1985 (1985-11-14) (age 34) 77 2 Vissel Kobe 4 2DF Dedryck Boyata 28 November 1990 (1990-11-28) (age 29) 16 0 Hertha BSC 5 2DF Jan Vertonghen 24 April 1987 (1987-04-24) (age 32) 118 9 Tottenham Hotspur 15 2DF Brandon Mechele 28 January 1993 (1993-01-28) (age 26) 1 0 Club Brugge 21 2DF Timothy Castagne 5 December 1995 (1995-12-05) (age 24) 6 2 Atalanta 2DF Thomas Meunier 12 September 1991 (1991-09-12) (age 28) 40 7 Paris Saint-Germain 6 3MF Axel Witsel 12 January 1989 (1989-01-12) (age 30) 104 9 Borussia Dortmund 7 3MF Hans Vanaken 14 August 1992 (1992-08-14) (age 27) 3 0 Club Brugge 8 3MF Youri Tielemans 7 May 1997 (1997-05-07) (age 22) 26 2 Leicester City 11 3MF Yannick Carrasco 4 September 1993 (1993-09-04) (age 26) 40 5 Dalian Yifang 18 3MF Adnan Januzaj 5 February 1995 (1995-02-05) (age 24) 12 1 Real Sociedad 19 3MF Yari Verschaeren 12 July 2001 (2001-07-12) (age 18) 2 1 Anderlecht 22 3MF Nacer Chadli 2 August 1989 (1989-08-02) (age 30) 59 8 Anderlecht 3MF Leander Dendoncker 15 April 1995 (1995-04-15) (age 24) 9 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 3MF Dennis Praet 14 May 1994 (1994-05-14) (age 25) 5 0 Leicester City 9 4FW Romelu Lukaku 13 May 1993 (1993-05-13) (age 26) 83 51 Internazionale 10 4FW Eden Hazard (Captain) 7 January 1991 (1991-01-07) (age 28) 104 30 Real Madrid 14 4FW Dries Mertens 6 May 1987 (1987-05-06) (age 32) 89 18 Napoli 16 4FW Thorgan Hazard 29 March 1993 (1993-03-29) (age 26) 24 3 Borussia Dortmund 17 4FW Divock Origi 18 April 1995 (1995-04-18) (age 24) 27 3 Liverpool 20 4FW Christian Benteke 3 December 1990 (1990-12-03) (age 29) 36 13 Crystal Palace 23 4FW Michy Batshuayi 2 October 1993 (1993-10-02) (age 26) 28 16 Chelsea Recent call-ups The following footballers were part of a national selection in the past 12 months, but are not part of the current squad. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up GK Simon Mignolet OTH 6 March 1988 (1988-03-06) (age 31) 22 0 Club Brugge v.  San Marino, 10 October 2019 GK Hendrik Van Crombrugge INJ 30 April 1993 (1993-04-30) (age 26) 0 0 Anderlecht v.  San Marino, 10 October 2019 GK Koen Casteels INJ 25 June 1992 (1992-06-25) (age 27) 0 0 VfL Wolfsburg v.  San Marino, 6 September 2019 DF Jason Denayer 28 June 1995 (1995-06-28) (age 24) 11 0 Lyon v.  Scotland, 9 September 2019 DF Vincent Kompany INJ 10 April 1986 (1986-04-10) (age 33) 89 4 Anderlecht v.  Scotland, 11 June 2019 DF Christian Kabasele 24 February 1991 (1991-02-24) (age 28) 2 0 Watford v.  Switzerland, 18 November 2018 MF Maxime Lestienne INJ 17 June 1992 (1992-06-17) (age 27) 0 0 Standard Liège v.  San Marino, 10 October 2019 MF Kevin De Bruyne INJ 28 June 1991 (1991-06-28) (age 28) 72 17 Manchester City v.  Scotland, 9 September 2019 MF Mousa Dembélé 16 July 1987 (1987-07-16) (age 32) 82 5 Guangzhou R&F v.  Russia, 21 March 2019 FW Benito Raman 7 November 1994 (1994-11-07) (age 25) 1 0 Schalke 04 v.  Scotland, 9 September 2019 FW Leandro Trossard INJ 4 December 1994 (1994-12-04) (age 25) 0 0 Brighton & Hove Albion v.  San Marino, 6 September 2019 INJ = Withdrew from this squad due to injury SUS = Serving suspension PRE = Preliminary squad / standby RET = Retired from international football Alumni Former players Main article: List of Belgium international players Managers Main article: List of Belgium international managers Honours FIFA World Cup Third place(1): 2018 Fourth place (1): 1986 UEFA European Championship Runners-up (1): 1980 Third place (1): 1972 Olympic football tournament Gold Medal 1 ! (1): 1920 Third place 3 ! (1): 1900 (no medals were awarded yet) (represented by the team of the University of Brussels) Fourth place (1): 2008 (in fact a U-23 tournament) External links RBFA official website (Dutch) (English) (French) FIFA team profile ELO team records Belgian national team news website (French) Official supporters' federation 1895 (Dutch) (French) Belgium Belgian competitions Belgian Coaches Belgian players Belgian Stadiums Add a photo to this gallery Belgium – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1. Preud'homme 2. Medved 3. Borkelmans 4. Albert 5. Smidts 6. Staelens 7. Van der Elst 8. Nilis 9. Degryse 10. Scifo 11. Czerniatynski 12. De Wilde 13. Grün (c) 14. De Wolf 15. Emmers 16. Boffin 17. Weber 18. Wilmots 19. Van Meir 20. Verlinden 21. Van Der Heyden 22. Renier Manager:  Paul Van Himst Belgium – 2014 FIFA World Cup – Quarter-finals 1. Courtois 2. Alderweireld 3. Vermaelen 4. Kompany (c) 5. Vertonghen 6. Witsel 7. De Bruyne 8. Fellaini 9. Lukaku 10. Hazard 11. Mirallas 12. Mignolet 13. Bossut 14. Mertens 15. Van Buyten 16. Defour 17. Origi 18. Lombaerts 19. Dembélé 20. Januzaj 21. Vanden Borre 22. Chadli 23. Ciman Manager:  Marc Wilmots Belgium – UEFA Euro 2016 – Quarter-finals 1. Courtois 2. Alderweireld 3. Vermaelen 4. Nainggolan 5. Vertonghen 6. Witsel 7. De Bruyne 8. Fellaini 9. R. Lukaku 10. Hazard 11. Carrasco 12. Mignolet 13. Gillet 14. Mertens 15. Denayer 16. Meunier 17. Origi 18. Kabasele 19. Dembélé 20. Benteke 21. J. Lukaku 22. Batshuayi 23. Ciman Manager:  Marc Wilmots Football in Belgium League competitions The RBFA Cup competitions Belgian First Division A Belgium Belgian Cup Belgian First Division B (U-21) Belgian Supercup Third Division (A, B) List of clubs Belgian League Cup Belgian Promotion (A, B, C, D) List of stadiums Provincial leagues (by capacity) List of leagues Records