Belgium national football team

Olympic gold and World Cup struggles

At the 1920 Summer Olympics, 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.

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 to be the most surprising result of that match day, even more than Switzerland's victory over the Italian "football stars". However, Belgium were eliminated after a loss to Italy in the second (and last) group match.

thumb|260px|The Belgium squad at the start of a friendly game against the Netherlands, 1966

The team's performance improved during the early 1970s, under manager Raymond Goethals. Fully dressed in white, as the White Devils, 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 and the 1978 FIFA World Cup) were also fruitless.

thumb|260px|The Belgian national team before a training session in 1977

Golden age

Beginning with a second-place finish at Euro 1980, Coached by Guy Thys, 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. During this period, managers Guy Thys, Paul Van Himst and Robert Waseige each guided Belgium past the first round. Argentina went through to the final after a 2–0 victory, in which their star player Diego Maradona scored both goals.

thumb|260px|[[Diego Maradona and Argentina won 2–0 to knock Belgium out of the 1986 World Cup.]]

After reaching the Euro 1980 final, they were unsuccessful at subsequent European Championships, with early exits from their appearances in 1984 and 2000. sharing the 1999 Kirin Cup with Peru in the latter. Before the 2002 World Cup, Belgium defeated reigning world and European champions France.

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 until UEFA Euro 2012, and went through an equal number of head coaches. A 2005 win over reigning European champions Greece meant nothing but a small comfort. where the Young Red Devils squad finished fourth. and lost against 125th-ranked Armenian team in September 2009. his assistant Marc Wilmots 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, and earned Belgium's second-ever place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a four-match winning streak. 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. In 2018 World Cup qualifying, they were seeded first in their group, and made the final tournament under Spanish manager Roberto Martínez, becoming the first European team besides hosts Russia to do so. At the World Cup, Belgium won all their group matches, against Panama, Tunisia and England, progressing to the knockout stage as group winners. In the round of 16 they trailed 2–0 against Japan, but eventually won 3–2 with a 94th minute winner by Nacer Chadli. The Red Devils defeated Brazil 2–1 in the quarter-finals, and would be eliminated in the semi-finals 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, after a 1–4 away win over Russia during the Euro 2020 qualifiers. In the knockout phase, Belgium faced reigning champions Portugal in the round of 16 with a strike from Thorgan Hazard 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, ending Belgium's campaign on a sad note.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Belgium were drawn into Group F alongside Croatia, Morocco and Canada. 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. Following their elimination from the tournament, Martínez 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 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. At the finals, Belgium were eliminated in the round of 16, losing 1–0 to France.

Team image

Kits

In home matches, the team's outfield players traditionally wear the colours of the Belgian flag: black, yellow and red. 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, On 8 November 2019, the Royal Belgian Football Association revealed a new logo, which preserved the main elements of the previous one: the royal crown, the wreath 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 ... [that 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, 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. and closed a sponsorship deal with the RBFA until 2026; it was also the supplier from 1974 to 1980, and from 1983 to 1991. This suggests that Admiral's sponsorship started in 1981, contrary to what the 2014 article stated. Diadora (1992–1998),

thumb|260px|Traditional red home jersey during the [[2018 FIFA World Cup|2018 World Cup where the team finished third.]]

{| class="wikitable"

!Kit supplier

!Period

| Umbro

|Early 1970s

| Adidas

|1974–1980

| Admiral

|1981–1982

| Adidas

|1983–1991

| Diadora

|1992–1998

| Nike

|1999–2009

| Burrda

|2010–2014

| Adidas

|2015–present

Media coverage

thumb|260px|upright=1.2|Gust De Muynck's live coverage during Belgium–Netherlands in 1931|alt=Journalist, seated in the stands and speaking into a microphone

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 and 40 per cent speak French, commentaries for the national team matches are provided in both languages. The matches are not broadcast in German—Belgium's third official language.

Initially the matches were transmitted mainly on public television channels: the former BRTN (now VRT) in Dutch, and the RTBF in French. Since 1994, commercial channels such as vtm and its sister channel Kanaal 2, and VIER in Flanders, 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 broadcast an eight-part documentary about individual players titled Rode Helden (Red Heroes).

Side activities

thumb|upright=1.2|Illustration of Belgium's game against France in April 1918: some of such unofficial wartime matches served as charity fundraisers.|alt=Old cartoon of an association football match with the goalkeeper in the middle who jumps and hits the ball

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 decibels", 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, 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 campaign in which they posed with slogans. A home Euro 2012 qualifier was given the theme of respect for diversity in 2010; this UEFA-supported action was part of the European FARE Action Week. Ex-Red Devil Dimitri Mbuyu—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

thumb|260px|"Belgian Red Devils" airbus with trident logo, pictured in 2016

After a 1905 match, a Dutch reporter wrote that three Belgian footballers "work[ed] as devils". A year later Léopold FC manager Pierre Walckiers nicknamed the players Red Devils, inspired by their jersey colour, and the achievement of three successive victories in 1906. 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, 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 adjoining Grand Place square was filled with an ecstatic crowd that cheered as though their squad had won a major tournament.

260px|thumb|Crowd of Belgian fans in [[Kaliningrad Stadium at the 2018 World Cup|alt=Belgian fans wearing red at the 2018 World Cup in Kaliningrad]]

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 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 banner, sized depicting a devil in the national colours. The presence of many Belgian players in top leagues abroad, such as the Premier League, 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 statue received a child-sized version of the new Belgian uniform, and facets of the Atomium's upper sphere were covered in black, yellow and red vinyl.

Rivalries

Belgium's main football rivals are its neighbors the Netherlands and France, 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, they have played each other in 129 official matches.

France

The clash between Belgium and France is nicknamed le Match Sympathique in French ("the Friendly Match"); they have contested 78 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. 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, or at Anderlecht'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. 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 and Liverpool; 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. In May 2013, the Brussels-Capital Region announced that the King Baudouin Stadium would be replaced by Eurostadium, 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 860 matches: 381 wins, 182 draws and 297 losses. During these matches, the team scored 1,555 times and conceded 1,329 goals. Belgium's highest winning margin is nine goals, which has been achieved on four occasions: against Zambia in 1994 (9–0), twice against San Marino in 2001 (10–1) and 2019 (9–0), and against Gibraltar in 2017 (9–0). Their longest winning streak is 12 wins, and their highest unbeaten record is 23 consecutive official matches.

:Players in bold are still active with Belgium.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

!style="width:30px;"|Rank

!style="width:150px;"|Player

!style="width:50px;"|Caps

!style="width:50px;"|Goals

!style="width:50px;"|Position

!style="width:110px;"|Belgium career

|style="text-align:left|Jan Vertonghen

|157

|10

|DF

|2007–2024

|style="text-align:left|Axel Witsel

|136

|12

|MF

|2008–present

|style="text-align:left|Toby Alderweireld

|127

|DF

|2009–2022

|style="text-align:left|Eden Hazard

|126

|33

|MF/FW

|2008–2022

|style="text-align:left|Romelu Lukaku

|124

|89

|FW

|2010–present

|style="text-align:left;"|Kevin De Bruyne

|117

|36

|MF

|2010–present

|style="text-align:left|Dries Mertens

|109

|21

|FW

|2011–2022

|style="text-align:left|Thibaut Courtois

|107

|GK

|2011–present

|style="text-align:left;"|Jan Ceulemans

|96

|23

|MF/FW

|10

|style="text-align:left;"|Timmy Simons

|94

|DF/MF

|2001–2016

Top goalscorers

thumb|200px|Romelu Lukaku is Belgium's top goalscorer with 89 goals.

Romelu Lukaku is the highest-scoring Belgium player with 89 goals.

. The records are collected based on data from FIFA and RSSSF. Statistics include three matches that are unrecognised by FIFA.