Belgium national football team

General

Kit history

Belgium
Nickname(s)	Red Devils
Association	Royal Belgian Football Association
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Vacant
Asst coach	Andreas Hinkel Thomas Schneider
Captain	Romelu Lukaku
Most caps	Jan Vertonghen (152)
Top scorer	Romelu Lukaku (79)
Home Stadium	King Baudouin Stadium
FIFA code	BEL
FIFA ranking	2 1 (31 March 2022)
Highest FIFA ranking	1 (November 2015 - March 2016, September 2018 – February 2022)
Lowest FIFA ranking	71 (June 2007)
Elo ranking	4 2 (31 March 2022)
Highest Elo ranking	1 (16 November 2019 – 10 October 2020, 27 June – 7 September 2021)
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	14 (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. Belgium were ranked first in the World Rankings from 2018 to 2022, and is the only national team in the world to top the FIFA ranking without having won a World Cup or a continental trophy. 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	Qualified										8	6	2	0	25	6	2022
Total	14/21	Best: Third place	48	20	9*	19	68	72	N/A		141	83	27	31	302	147	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	P/R
2018–19	A	Group stage	5th	4	3	0	1	9	6
2020–21	A	Fourth place	4th	8	5	0	3	19	11
2022–23	A	To be determined
Total		Fourth place League A	2/2	12	8	0	4	28	17	—

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 – 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

Belgium – UEFA Euro 2020 – Quarter-finals

1. Courtois 2. Mignolet 3. Sels 4. Alderweireld 5. Boyata 6. Castagne 7. Denayer 8. Dendoncker 9. Meunier 10. Vermaelen 11. Vertonghen 12. Carrasco 13. Chadli 14. De Bruyne 15. T. Hazard 16. Praet 17. Tielemans 18. Vanaken 19. Witsel 20. Batshuayi 21. Benteke 22. Doku 23. E. Hazard (c) 24. Lukaku 25. Mertens 26. Trossard Manager:   Roberto Martínez

Belgium – 2022 FIFA World Cup – Group stage

1. Courtois 2. Alderweireld 3. Theate 4. Faes 5. Vertonghen 6. Witsel 7. De Bruyne 8. Tielemans 9. Lukaku 10. E. Hazard (c) 11. Carrasco 12. Mignolet 13. Casteels 14. Mertens 15. Meunier 16. T. Hazard 17. Trossard 18. Onana 19. Dendoncker 20. Vanaken 21. Castagne 22. De Ketelaere 23. Batshuayi 24. Openda 25. Doku 26. Debast Manager:   Martínez

Belgium – UEFA Euro 2024 – Round of 16

1. Casteels 2. Debast 3. Theate 4. Faes 5. Vertonghen 6. Witsel 7. De Bruyne (c) 8. Tielemans 9. Trossard 10. Lukaku 11. Carrasco 12. Kaminski 13. Sels 14. Lukebakio 15. Meunier 16. Vranckx 17. De Ketelaere 18. Mangala 19. Bakayoko 20. Openda 21. Castagne 22. Doku 23. Vermeeren 24. Onana 25. De Cuyper Manager:   Domenico Tedesco