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 (131)
Top scorer	Romelu Lukaku (66)
Ground	King Baudouin Stadium
FIFA code	BEL
FIFA ranking	1 (12 August 2021)
Highest FIFA ranking	1 (November 2015 - March 2016, September 2018 – present)
Lowest FIFA ranking	71 (June 2007)
Elo ranking	1 (4 September 2021)
Highest Elo ranking	1 (November 2019 – 10 October 2020)
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	6 (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. As of August 2021, Belgium are still ranked first in the World Rankings. Belgium participated in League A of the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, where they made it to the finals.

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										4	3	1	0	17	4	2022
Total	13/21	Best: Third place	48	20	9*	19	68	72	N/A		137	80	26	31	294	145	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		5th	5	4	0	1	9	3	Squad		10	10	0	0	40	3
2024	To be determined
Total	Best: runners-up	6/16	22	11	2	9	31	28	—		114	59	26	29	210	115
Champions       Runners-up       Third place/semi-finalists

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Year	Division	Round	Pos	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2018–19	A	Group stage	5th	4	3	0	1	9	6
2020–21	A	To be determined		6	5	0	1	16	6
Total		Group stage League A	2/2	10	8	0	2	25	12

Results and fixtures

2020

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 5 September 2020 (2020-09-05)	Denmark	0–2	Belgium	Copenhagen, Denmark
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)		Report	Denayer  9' Mertens  77'	Stadium: Parken Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Sandro Schärer (Switzerland)

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 8 September 2020 (2020-09-08)	Belgium	5–1	Iceland	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	Witsel  13' Batshuayi  17', 69' Mertens  50' Doku  80'	Report	H. Friðjónsson  11'	Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Paweł Raczkowski (Poland)

Friendly 8 October 2020 (2020-10-08)	Belgium	1–1	Ivory Coast	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	Batshuayi  54'	Report	Kessié  87' (pen.)	Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (Netherlands)

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 11 October 2020 (2020-10-11)	England	2–1	Belgium	London, England
18:00 (17:00 UTC+1)	Rashford  39' (pen.) Mount  65'	Report	Lukaku  16' (pen.)	Stadium: Wembley Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany)

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 14 October 2020 (2020-10-14)	Iceland	1–2	Belgium	Reykjavík, Iceland
20:45 (18:45 UTC±0)	Sævarsson  17'	Report	Lukaku  9', 38' (pen.)	Stadium: Laugardalsvöllur Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia)

Friendly 11 November 2020 (2020-11-11)	Belgium	2–1	Switzerland	Leuven, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)	Batshuayi  49', 70'	Report	Mehmedi  12'	Stadium: Den Dreef Attendance: 0 Referee: Jérôme Brisard (France)

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 15 November 2020 (2020-11-15)	Belgium	2–0	England	Leuven, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)	Tielemans  10' Mertens  23'	Report		Stadium: Den Dreef Attendance: 0 Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 18 November 2020 (2020-11-18)	Belgium	4–2	Denmark	Leuven, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)	Tielemans  3' R. Lukaku  57', 69' De Bruyne  87'	Report	Wind  17' Chadli  86' (o.g.)	Stadium: Den Dreef Attendance: 0 Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)

2021

2022 World Cup Q. Group E 24 March 2021 (2021-03-24)	Belgium	3–1	Wales	Leuven, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)	De Bruyne  22' Hazard  28' R. Lukaku  73' (pen.)	Report	Wilson  11'	Stadium: Den Dreef Attendance: 0 Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)

2022 World Cup Q. Group E 27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)	Czech Republic	1–1	Belgium	Prague, Czech Republic
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)	Provod  50'	Report	R. Lukaku  60'	Stadium: Eden Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)

2022 World Cup Q. Group E 30 March 2021 (2021-03-30)	Belgium	8–0	Belarus	Leuven, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	Batshuayi  14' Vanaken  17', 89' Trossard  38', 75' Doku  42' Praet  49' Benteke  70'	Report		Stadium: Den Dreef Attendance: 0 Referee: Donatas Rumšas (Lithuania)

Friendly 3 June 2021 (2021-06-03)	Belgium	1–1	Greece	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	Hazard  20'	Report	Tzavellas  66'	Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Robert Hennessy (Republic of Ireland)

Friendly 6 June 2021 (2021-06-06)	Belgium	1–0	Croatia	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	R. Lukaku  38'	Report		Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium Attendance: 50 Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Germany)

Euro 2020 Group B 12 June 2021	Belgium	3–0	Russia	Saint Petersburg, Russia
22:00	R. Lukaku  10', 88' Meunier  34'	Report		Stadium: Krestovsky Stadium Attendance: 26,264 Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

Euro 2020 Group B 17 June 2021	Denmark	1–2	Belgium	Copenhagen, Denmark
18:00	Poulsen  2'	Report	T. Hazard  55' De Bruyne  70'	Stadium: Parken Stadium Attendance: 23,395 Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

Euro 2020 Group B 21 June 2021	Finland	0–2	Belgium	Saint Petersburg, Russia
21:00		Report	Hrádecký  74' (o.g.) R. Lukaku  81'	Stadium: Krestovsky Stadium Attendance: 18,545 Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Euro 2020 R16 27 June 2021	Belgium	1–0	Portugal	Seville, Spain
21:00	T. Hazard  42'	Report		Stadium: La Cartuja Attendance: 11,504 Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Euro 2020 QF 2 July 2021	Belgium	1–2	Italy	Munich, Germany
21:00	R. Lukaku  45+2' (pen.)	Report	Barella  31' Insigne  44'	Stadium: Allianz Arena Attendance: 12,984 Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)

2022 World Cup Q. Group E 2 September 2021	Estonia	2–5	Belgium	Tallinn, Estonia
20:45	Käit  2' Sorga  83'	Report	Vanaken  22' Lukaku  29', 52' Witsel  65' Foket  76'	Stadium: A. Le Coq Arena Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández (Spain)

2022 World Cup Q. Group E 5 September 2021 (2021-09-05)	Belgium	v	Czech Republic	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)		Report		Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium

2022 World Cup Q. Group E 8 September 2021 (2021-09-08)	Belarus	v	Belgium	Minsk, Belarus
20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)		Report		Stadium: Dinamo Stadium

UEFA Nations League SF 7 October 2021 (2021-10-07)	Belgium	v	France	Turin, Italy
				Stadium: Juventus Stadium

UEFA Nations League 3rd/F 10 October 2021 (2021-10-10)	Italy / Spain	v	Belgium	Turin / Milan, Italy
				Stadium: Juventus Stadium / San Siro

2022 World Cup Q. Group E 13 November 2021 (2021-11-13)	Belgium	v	Estonia	Belgium
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)		Report

2022 World Cup Q. Group E 16 November 2021 (2021-11-16)	Wales	v	Belgium	Wales
20:45 (19:45 UTC±0)		Report

Players

Current squad

The following 31 players were named to the squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Estonia, Czech Republic and Belarus on 2, 5 and 8 September 2021, respectively.

Information correct as of 2 September 2021 (2021-09-02)Template:DMCA, after the match against Estonia.

#	Pos	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Thibaut Courtois (3rd captain)	11 May 1992 (1992-05-11)	90	0	Real Madrid
	1GK	Koen Casteels	25 June 1992 (1992-06-25)	1	0	VfL Wolfsburg
	1GK	Matz Sels	26 February 1992 (1992-02-26)	1	0	Strasbourg
	1GK	Thomas Kaminski	23 October 1992 (1992-10-23)	0	0	Blackburn Rovers
	2DF	Jan Vertonghen	24 April 1987 (1987-04-24)	131	9	Benfica
	2DF	Toby Alderweireld	2 March 1989 (1989-03-02)	114	5	Al-Duhail
	2DF	Thomas Meunier	12 September 1991 (1991-09-12)	52	8	Borussia Dortmund
	2DF	Jason Denayer	28 June 1995 (1995-06-28)	28	1	Lyon
	2DF	Dedryck Boyata	28 November 1990 (1990-11-28)	26	0	Hertha BSC
	2DF	Leander Dendoncker	15 April 1995 (1995-04-15)	21	0	Wolverhampton Wanderers
	2DF	Timothy Castagne	5 December 1995 (1995-12-05)	15	2	Leicester City
	2DF	Brandon Mechele	28 January 1993 (1993-01-28)	3	0	Club Brugge
	2DF	Zinho Vanheusden	29 July 1999 (1999-07-29)	1	0	Genoa
	2DF	Hannes Delcroix	28 February 1999 (1999-02-28)	1	0	Anderlecht
	3MF	Axel Witsel	12 January 1989 (1989-01-12)	115	11	Borussia Dortmund
	3MF	Yannick Carrasco	4 September 1993 (1993-09-04)	50	6	Atlético Madrid
	3MF	Youri Tielemans	7 May 1997 (1997-05-07)	43	4	Leicester City
	3MF	Thorgan Hazard	29 March 1993 (1993-03-29)	39	8	Borussia Dortmund
	3MF	Dennis Praet	14 May 1994 (1994-05-14)	13	1	Torino
	3MF	Hans Vanaken	24 August 1992 (1992-08-24)	12	3	Club Brugge
	3MF	Thomas Foket	25 September 1994 (1994-09-25)	6	1	Reims
	3MF	Alexis Saelemaekers	27 June 1999 (1999-06-27)	2	0	Milan
	3MF	Albert Sambi Lokonga	22 October 1999 (1999-10-22)	1	0	Arsenal
	4FW	Eden Hazard (captain)	7 January 1991 (1991-01-07)	112	32	Real Madrid
	4FW	Romelu Lukaku	13 May 1993 (1993-05-13)	99	66	Chelsea
	4FW	Christian Benteke	3 December 1990 (1990-12-03)	41	16	Crystal Palace
	4FW	Michy Batshuayi	2 October 1993 (1993-10-02)	35	22	Beşiktaş
	4FW	Leandro Trossard	4 December 1994 (1994-12-04)	9	2	Brighton & Hove Albion
	4FW	Yari Verschaeren	12 July 2001 (2001-07-12)	6	1	Anderlecht
	4FW	Charles De Ketelaere	10 March 2001 (2001-03-10)	1	0	Club Brugge
	4FW	Dodi Lukebakio	24 September 1997 (1997-09-24)	2	0	Hertha BSC

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 6 March 1988 (1988-03-06) 31 0 Club Brugge UEFA Euro 2020 INJ GK Gaëtan Coucke 3 November 1998 (1998-11-03) 0 0 Mechelen v. Denmark, 18 November 2020 GK Hendrik Van Crombrugge 30 April 1993 (1993-04-30) 1 0 Anderlecht v. Switzerland, 11 November 2020 INJ GK Davy Roef 6 February 1994 (1994-02-06) 0 0 Gent v. Iceland, 14 October 2020 GK Jens Teunckens 30 January 1998 (1998-01-30) 0 0 RKC Waalwijk v. Ivory Coast, 8 October 2020 DF Thomas Vermaelen 14 November 1985 (1985-11-14) 85 2 Vissel Kobe UEFA Euro 2020 DF Jordan Lukaku 25 July 1994 (1994-07-25) 8 0 Antwerp UEFA Euro 2020 PRE DF Sebastiaan Bornauw 22 March 1999 (1999-03-22) 2 0 VfL Wolfsburg v. Switzerland, 11 November 2020 DF Elias Cobbaut 24 November 1997 (1997-11-24) 1 0 Parma v. Denmark, 5 September 2020 INJ MF Kevin De Bruyne (vice-captain) 28 June 1991 (1991-06-28) 84 22 Manchester City UEFA Euro 2020 MF Nacer Chadli 2 August 1989 (1989-08-02) 66 8 İstanbul Başakşehir UEFA Euro 2020 MF Adnan Januzaj 5 February 1995 (1995-02-05) 13 1 Real Sociedad UEFA Euro 2020 PRE MF Bryan Heynen 3 January 1997 (1997-01-03) 0 0 Genk UEFA Euro 2020 PRE MF Orel Mangala 18 March 1998 (1998-03-18) 0 0 VfB Stuttgart v. Wales, 24 March 2021 UNF MF Joris Kayembe 8 August 1994 (1994-08-08) 2 0 Charleroi v. Denmark, 18 November 2020 FW Jérémy Doku 27 May 2002 (2002-05-27) 10 2 Rennes UEFA Euro 2020 FW Dries Mertens 6 May 1987 (1987-05-06) 102 21 Napoli UEFA Euro 2020 FW Divock Origi 18 April 1995 (1995-04-18) 29 3 Liverpool v. Iceland, 14 October 2020 FW Landry Dimata 1 September 1997 (1997-09-01) 0 0 Espanyol v. Iceland, 8 September 2020 INJ = Withdrew from this squad due to injury OTH = Other reason UNF = Deemed unfit RET = Retired from international football SUS = Serving suspension 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 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 Belgium – 2018 FIFA World Cup – Third place 1. Courtois 2. Alderweireld 3. Vermaelen 4. Kompany 5. Vertonghen 6. Witsel 7. De Bruyne 8. Fellaini 9. Lukaku 10. E. Hazard (c) 11. Carrasco 12. Mignolet 13. Casteels 14. Mertens 15. Meunier 16. T. Hazard 17. Tielemans 18. Januzaj 19. Dembélé 20. Boyata 21. Batshuayi 22. Chadli 23. Dendoncker Manager:  Roberto Martínez 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