Belgium national football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Belgium
Nickname(s)	Rode Duivels / Diables Rouges (Red Devils)
Association	Belgian Football Association
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	René Vandereycken (2006-)
Captain	Timmy Simons
Most caps	Jan Ceulemans (96)
Top scorer	Paul Van Himst, Bernard Voorhoof (30)
Home stadium	King Baudouin Stadium
FIFA code	BEL
FIFA ranking	49
Highest FIFA ranking	16 (January 2003)
Lowest FIFA ranking	71 (June 2007)
Elo ranking	56
Highest Elo ranking	2 (September 1920)
Lowest Elo ranking	57 (September 2007)
First kit 　 Second kit
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)
Biggest defeat
England amateur 11 - 2 Belgium (London, England; 17 April 1909)
World Cup
Appearances	11 (First in 1930)
Best result	Fourth place, 1986
European Championship
Appearances	4 (First in 1972)
Best result	Runners-up, 1980

The Belgium national football team is the national football team of Belgium and is controlled by the Belgian Football Association.

[edit] History

Belgium played its first official game on May 1, 1904 in a 3-3 draw against France. Prior to this match, a Belgian selection played several matches, but the squad contained some English players, so these are not added to the caps. For example, Belgium beat Netherlands by 8-0 on April 28, 1901 with the help of some Englishmen. It was then decided that Belgium would play twice a year against Netherlands beginning from 1905, generally once in Antwerp and once in Rotterdam (later Amsterdam). At that time, the national squad was chosen by a committee of representatives of the 6 or 7 main clubs.

The team was nicknamed The Red Devils by journalist Pierre Walckiers after its 3:2 victory over Netherlands (Rotterdam, 1906).

Over the next six decades, Belgium established itself as a strong second-tier team, rarely in the running for winning a major tournament but never easy to handle at home or abroad. A key strength of the team was its systematic use of the offside trap, a defensive tactic developed in the 1960s at Anderlecht under French coach Pierre Sinibaldi.

The 1980s and early 1990s are generally considered the strongest period of the national team. Under the lead of Guy Thys, who coached more than 100 official games, Belgium established a reputation of being a physical, well-organized team that was hard to play against. The team's rigorous organization was reinforced by several world-class players such as goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff, right-back Eric Gerets, midfielder Jan Ceulemans, and playmaker Enzo Scifo. Performances were sometimes poor against lower-ranked teams, but nearly always inspired against top teams. Until as recently as 2002, world-class national teams did not like the prospect of playing the Red Devils--not even eventual champions Brazil, who were very lucky to beat Belgium in the knockout phase of the 2002 World Cup (. Since then, however, the team has steadily slipped down the rankings, and has not been able to extend its past reputation.

After failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup for the first time in 24 years, the contract of national coach Aimé Anthuenis was not renewed beyond 2005, and it was decided on December 22, 2005 that René Vandereycken would replace Anthuenis on January 1, 2006. On August 16 of that year, they started their new campaign against Kazakhstan and although the team had made the confidence of the home public grow through some promising performances from new talented young players against teams as Slovakia and Turkey, they played awfully and did not manage to get past the team from Kazakhstan. The situation got worse after also losing the home game against Poland on November 15 of that year. Qualification already seemed far away.

[edit] World Cup Record

Belgium's World Cup appearance record reflects the unusual depth of footballing talent for a country of this size, in the manner of the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, or Sweden. The country qualified for six successive World Cups - (1982-2002), a total only surpassed by Italy (12), Argentina (9) and Spain (8). Every other nation with an equal or longer string of appearances has had the streak "interrupted" by automatic qualification as the host or the defending champion. (The 2006 tournament was the first for which the defending champion does not automatically qualify.)

Playing inspired against other teams in the World Cup, they have reached the knockout phase five out of six times from 1982 to 2002, including a streak of four tournaments. One of their most famous victories was a 1-0 win over defending champions Argentina, in the first game of the 1982 World Cup held at Camp Nou with a great goal by Erwin Vandenbergh.

Four years later they achieved their best-ever World Cup run in 1986 when they placed fourth under command of players like Jan Ceulemans, Eric Gerets and Jean-Marie Pfaff. Belgium surprisingly won against favourites Soviet-Union with stars such as Igor Belanov and Rinat Dasayev (3-4) after extra time. Belgium also beat Spain with penalties, but they lost to eventual champions Argentina in the semifinal (0-2). In the third-place match Belgium lost to France (2-4) after extra time. Captain and midfielder Jan Ceulemans was the first Belgian player to be selected in the All-Star Team of a World Cup.

Despite being knocked out in the 2nd round, the team's general performance in the 1990 was considered even better than 4 years before. Belgium dominated England, but eventually lost in the last minute of extra time after a goal by David Platt. Enzo Scifo was elected as best young player of the tournament, and second best player after Lothar Matthäus.

In the 1994 World Cup Belgium lost to title defenders Germany in round 2. This match became most memorable because of a disputed decision by referee Kurt Röthlisberger. The team was not awarded a penalty when Josip Weber was tripped inside the penalty area. Michel Preud'homme was elected as best goalkeeper of the tournament and he was selected in the All-Star Team.

In 1998 Belgium was one of only two teams, together with World Champion France not to lose a single game. Three draws in the first round - against Netherlands, Mexico and South Korea - proved not enough to reach the knock-out stage. In 1998 Enzo Scifo and Franky Van Der Elst appeared in their fourth World Cups, setting a Belgian record.

The FIFA World Cup 2002 did not start well for Belgium, but the team improved during the tournament. Captain Marc Wilmots was notable for scoring in every match of the first round. In the second round they had to play against eventual champions Brazil. Similar to 1994, the match was strongly influenced by a disputed referee decision. Even to the surprise of the Brazilians themselves, referee Peter Prendergast cancelled the 1-0 scored by Marc Wilmots. After this, the match went in favour of Brazil. Brazilian bondscoach Luiz Felipe Scolari would declare after the tournament that the match against the Red Devils had been the hardest for Brazil to win. The team did win the tournament's fair-play award. Marc Wilmots equaled the record of Enzo Scifo and Franky Van Der Elst to appear in 4 World Cups, but with the differene that he didn't played in his first World Cup. Wilmots also scored his 5th World Cup goal against Russia, which made him the Belgian topscorer in World Cups.

v • d • e Belgium squad - 1930 FIFA World Cup FW Adams • GK Badjou • MF Braine • MF Chantraine • GK De Bie • MF De Clercq • DF De Deken • FW Delbeke • FW Diddens • MF Hellemans • DF Hoydonckx • FW Moeschal • DF Nouwens • FW Saeys • FW Versyp • FW Voorhoof • Coach: Goetinck

v • d • e Belgium squad - 1934 FIFA World Cup GK Badjou • MF Bourgeois • FW Brichaut • FW Capelle • MF Claessens • FW Devries • FW Grimmonprez • MF Hellemans • FW Heremans • DF Joacim • FW Lamoot • FW Ledent • DF Pappaert • MF Peeraer • MF Putmans • MF Simons • DF Smellinckx • MF Van Ingelgem • GK Vandeweyer • FW Versyp • FW Voorhoof • MF Welkenhuysen • Coach: Goetinck

v • d • e Belgium squad - 1938 FIFA World Cup GK Badjou • GK Braet • FW Braine • FW Buyle • FW Capelle • FW Ceuleers • MF Dalem • MF De Winter • FW Fievez • GK Gommers • MF Henry • FW Isemborghs • FW Nelis • DF Paverick • DF Petit • DF Seys • DF Smellinckx • MF Stijnen • MF Van Alphen • FW Vanden Wouwer • GK Vandeweyer • FW Voorhoof • Coach: Butler

v • d • e Belgium squad - 1954 FIFA World Cup 1 Gernaey • 2 Dries • 3 Van Brandt • 4 Huysmans • 5 Carré • 6 Mees • 7 Vliers • 8 Houf • 9 Coppens • 10 Anoul • 11 Mermans • 12 Geerts • 13 Dirickx • 14 Van Kerkhoven • 15 H. Van Den Bosch • 16 P. Van Den Bosch • 17 Ausloos • 18 Van Der Linden • 19 Backaert • 20 Maertens • 21 Van Steen • 22 Van Hoywegen • Coach: Livingstone

v • d • e Belgium squad - 1970 FIFA World Cup 1 Piot • 2 Heylens • 3 Thissen • 4 Dewalque • 5 Jeck • 6 Dockx • 7 Semmeling • 8 Van Moer • 9 Devrindt • 10 Van Himst • 11 Puis • 12 Trappeniers • 13 Beurlet • 14 Martens • 15 Vandendaele • 16 Polleunis • 17 Verheyen • 18 Lambert • 19 Carteus • 20 Peeters • 21 Janssens • 22 Duquesne • Coach: Goethals

v • d • e Belgium squad - 1982 FIFA World Cup 1 Pfaff • 2 Gerets • 3 L. Millecamps • 4 Meeuws • 5 Renquin • 6 Vercauteren • 7 Vandereycken • 8 Van Moer • 9 Vandenbergh • 10 Coeck • 11 Ceulemans • 12 Custers • 13 Van Der Elst • 14 Baecke • 15 De Schrijver • 16 Plessers • 17 Verheyen • 18 Mommens • 19 M. Millecamps • 20 Vandersmissen • 21 Czerniatynski • 22 Munaron • Coach: Thys

v • d • e Belgium squad - 1986 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Pfaff • 2 Gerets • 3 F. Van Der Elst • 4 De Wolf • 5 Renquin • 6 Vercauteren • 7 Vandereycken • 8 Scifo • 9 Vandenbergh • 10 Desmet • 11 Ceulemans • 12 Munaron • 13 Grün • 14 Clijsters • 15 L. Van Der Elst • 16 Claesen • 17 Mommens • 18 Veyt • 19 Broos • 20 Bodart • 21 Demol • 22 Vervoort • Coach: Thys

v • d • e Belgium squad - 1990 FIFA World Cup 1 Preud'homme • 2 Gerets • 3 Albert • 4 Clijsters • 5 Versavel • 6 Emmers • 7 Demol • 8 Van Der Elst • 9 Degryse • 10 Scifo • 11 Ceulemans • 12 Bodart • 13 Grün • 14 Claesen • 15 De Sart • 16 De Wolf • 17 Plovie • 18 Staelens • 19 Van Der Linden • 20 De Wilde • 21 Wilmots • 22 Vervoort • Coach: Thys

v • d • e Belgium squad - 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 • 14 De Wolf • 15 Emmers • 16 Boffin • 17 Weber • 18 Wilmots • 19 Van Meir • 20 Verlinden • 21 Van Der Heyden • 22 Renier • Coach: Van Himst

v • d • e Belgium squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 De Wilde • 2 Crasson • 3 Staelens • 4 Vidović • 5 Borkelmans • 6 Van Der Elst • 7 Wilmots • 8 Oliveira • 9 M. Mpenza • 10 Nilis • 11 Van Kerckhoven • 12 Vande Walle • 13 Verlinden • 14 Scifo • 15 Clement • 16 De Boeck • 17 Verstraeten • 18 Verheyen • 19 Van Meir • 20 E. Mpenza • 21 Boffin • 22 Deflandre • Coach: Leekens

v • d • e Belgium squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 De Vlieger • 2 Deflandre • 3 De Boeck • 4 Van Meir • 5 Van Kerckhoven • 6 Simons • 7 Wilmots • 8 Goor • 9 Sonck • 10 Walem • 11 Verheyen • 12 Van Der Heyden • 13 Vandendriessche • 14 Vermant • 15 Peeters • 16 Van Buyten • 17 Englebert • 18 Vanderhaeghe • 19 Thijs • 20 Strupar • 21 Boffin • 22 Mpenza • 23 Herpoel • Coach: Waseige

• 1930 - Round 1
• 1934 - Round 1
• 1938 - Round 1
• 1950 - Withdrew
• 1954 - Round 1
• 1958 - Did not qualify
• 1962 - Did not qualify
• 1966 - Did not qualify
• 1970 - Round 1
• 1974 - Did not qualify
• 1978 - Did not qualify
• 1982 - Round 2
• 1986 - Fourth place
• 1990 - Round 2
• 1994 - Round 2
• 1998 - Round 1
• 2002 - Round 2
• 2006 - Did not qualify

[edit] European Championship Record

Belgium's performance in the European Championships does not match its World Cup record. The best result is no doubt the unexpected second place at the 1980 edition in Italy after a narrow defeat (1-2) to West Germany in the final. Belgium hosted or co-hosted the event twice, finishing third in 1972 and being one of the major disappointments of the 2000 edition with a first-round exit.

v • d • e Belgium squad - UEFA Euro 1972 Third Place GK Piot • GK Sanders • DF Dolmans • DF Heylens • DF Martens • DF Thissen • DF Van Binst • MF Semmeling • MF Thio • MF Vandendaele • MF Verheyen • FW Dockx • FW Janssens • FW Lambert • FW Polleunis • FW Teugels • FW Van Himst • Coach: Goethals

v • d • e Belgium squad - UEFA Euro 1980 Runners-up 1 Custers • 2 Gerets • 3 L. Millecamps • 4 Meeuws • 5 Renquin • 6 Cools • 7 Vandereycken • 8 Van Moer • 9 Van der Elst • 10 Vandenbergh • 11 Ceulemans • 12 Pfaff • 13 M. Martens • 14 Plessers • 15 Verheyen • 16 M. Millecamps • 17 Mommens • 18 Dardenne • 19 Wellens • 20 Preud'homme • 21 Heyligen • 22 R. Martens • Coach: Thys

v • d • e Belgium squad - UEFA Euro 1984 1 Pfaff • 2 Grün • 3 Lambrichts • 4 Clijsters • 5 De Wolf • 6 Vercauteren • 7 Vandereycken • 8 Claesen • 9 Vandenbergh • 10 Coeck • 11 Ceulemans • 12 Munaron • 13 Baecke • 14 De Greef • 15 Verheyen • 16 Scifo • 17 Voordeckers • 18 Czerniatynski • 19 Mommens • 20 De Coninck • Coach: Thys

v • d • e Belgium squad - UEFA Euro 2000 1 De Wilde • 2 Deflandre • 3 Valgaeren • 4 Staelens • 5 Clement • 6 Vanderhaeghe • 7 Wilmots • 8 Goor • 9 E. Mpenza • 10 Strupar • 11 Verheyen • 12 De Vlieger • 13 Herpoel • 14 Walem • 15 Peeters • 16 Nilis • 17 Léonard • 18 Van Kerckhoven • 19 Van Meir • 20 De Bilde • 21 M. Mpenza • 22 Hendrikx • Coach: Waseige

• 1960 - Did not qualify
• 1964 - Did not qualify
• 1968 - Did not qualify
• 1972 - Third place
• 1976 - Did not qualify
• 1980 - Runners-up
• 1984 - Round 1
• 1988 - Did not qualify
• 1992 - Did not qualify
• 1996 - Did not qualify
• 2000 - Round 1
• 2004 - Did not qualify
• 2008 - Did not qualify

[edit] Olympics Record

Belgium won the Olympic Gold Medal in 1920, and the Bronze Medal in 1900.

Gold Medal winners 1920: -Félix Balyu -Désiré Bastin -Mathieu Bragard -Jean De Bie -Robert Coppée -André Fierens -Emile Hanse -Georges Hebdin-Henri Larnoe -Joseph Musch(c) -Armand Swartenbroeks -Fernand Nisot -Louis Van Hege -Oscar Verbeek. coach: Raoul Daufresne

On June 16, 2007, Belgium qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics Games through a 2-2 draw with their neighbours, the Netherlands. For more info, see 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

[edit] Current squad

The following players have all recently been called up to the Belgian squad for the match against Italy. Caps as of May 30, 2008.

Po.	No.	Name	DoB.	Club	Caps (Sel.)	Goals	First sel.
GK	1	Stijn Stijnen	7 April 1981	Club Brugge K.V.	18 (20)	0	2006
GK	12	Olivier Renard	24 May 1979	Y.R. K.V. Mechelen	0 (2)	0	2008
DF	5	Daniel Van Buyten	7 February 1978	FC Bayern Munich	43 (48)	4	2001
DF	13	Carl Hoefkens	6 October 1978	West Bromwich Albion F.C.	21 (27)	1	1999
DF	27	Vincent Kompany	10 April 1986	Hamburger SV	23 (22)	0	2004
DF	28	Gill Swerts	23 September 1982	Vitesse	6 (9)	0	2006
DF	20	Mark De Man	27 April 1983	R.S.C. Anderlecht	4 (9)	0	2006
DF	30	Guillaume Gillet	9 March 1985	R.S.C. Anderlecht	5 (6)	0	2007
DF	16	Sébastien Pocognoli	1 August 1987	AZ	1 (1)	0	2008
DF	14	Landry Mulemo	17 September 1986	Standard Liège	0	0	2008
DF	2	Sepp De Roover	12 November 1984	FC Groningen	0	0	2008
MF	25	Steven Defour	15 April 1988	Standard Liège	13 (16)	0	2006
MF	3	Timmy Simons	11 December 1976	PSV Eindhoven	60 (62)	3	2001
MF	6	Gaby Mudingayi	1 October 1981	S.S. Lazio	11 (13)	0	2003
MF	17	Marouane Fellaini	22 November 1988	Standard Liège	10 (10)	1	2007
MF	15	Jan Vertonghen	24 April 1987	AFC Ajax	8 (9)	0	2007
MF	8	Axel Witsel	12 January 1989	Standard Liège	2 (2)	1	2008
FW	10	Wesley Sonck	9 August 1978	Club Brugge K.V.	41 (41)	17	2001
FW	9	Kevin Mirallas	5 January 1987	Lille O.S.C.	8 (8)	2	2007
FW	18	Moussa Dembélé	16 July 1987	AZ	14 (14)	4	2006
FW	19	Stein Huysegems	16 June 1982	FC Twente	9 (14)	0	2004

|}

Other players who have been called up recently:

|}

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  Turkey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  Belgium 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  Armenia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  Estonia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

– 9 Sep '09 5 Sep '09 28 Mar '09 10 Oct '09 6 Sep '08 11 Oct '08 – 28 Mar '09 6 Sep '08 15 Oct '08 10 Oct '09 15 Oct '08 1 Apr '09 – 10 Sep '08 14 Oct '09 9 Sep '09 1 Apr '09 14 Oct '09 10 Oct '09 – 11 Oct '08 15 Oct '08 10 Sep '08 5 Sep '09 6 Sep '08 9 Sep '09 – 28 Mar '09 14 Oct '09 10 Sep '08 11 Oct '08 5 Sep '09 1 Apr '09 –

[edit] Caps

As of November 24, 2007 the 100 most capped players for Belgium are:

Other notable players who have represented Belgium include (note, this is not a comprehensive list):

the * denotes a player still playing or available for selection.

[edit] Top Belgium goalscorers

As of October 17, 2007:

the * denotes a player still playing or available for selection.

[edit] Coaches

Before 1910, a committee of the Belgian federation selected the players.

• 1910-1913: William Maxwell
• 1914: Charles Bunyan
• 1920-1928: William Maxwell
• 1928-1930: Victor Löwenfelt
• 1930-1934: Hector Goetinck
• 1935: Jules Turnauer
• 1935-1940: Jack Butler
• 1944-1946: François Demol
• 1947-1953: Bill Gormlie
• 1953-1954: Dougall Livingstone
• 1955-1957: André Vandeweyer
• 1957 (caretaker): Louis Nicolay
• 1957-1958: Geza Toldi
• 1958-1968: Constant Vanden Stock
• June 19, 1968-April 26, 1976: Raymond Goethals
• May 22, 1976-June 9, 1989: Guy Thys
• July 23, 1989-February 21, 1990: Walter Meeuws
• May 26, 1990-May 1, 1991: Guy Thys
• September 1, 1991-March 25, 1996: Paul Van Himst
• October 8, 1996-December 27, 1996: Wilfried Van Moer
• February 11, 1997-August 18, 1999: Georges Leekens
• August 20, 1999-June 30, 2002: Robert Waseige
• August 21, 2002-December 31, 2005: Aimé Anthuenis
• since January 1, 2006: René Vandereycken

[edit] Captains

[edit] Links:

Belgium national under-21 football team

Belgium national youth football team (U-17, U-18, U-19, U20, U23 Squads)

[edit] External links

• Footbel.be website - Belgian FA official website
• Footbel.be/National team statistics page/
• The Red Devils Archive
• RSSSF archive of results 1904-
• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
• RSSSF archive of coaches 1904-
• IFFHS Archive:1904-1910

Football in Belgium v • d • e
League competitions The FA Cup competitions and awards Jupiler League Belgium U-21 Youth Cup Second division Women Supercup Third division (A, B) List of clubs Golden Shoe Promotion (A, B, C, D) List of venues Professional football awards
International football v • d • e
FIFA | World Cup | Confederations Cup | U-20 World Cup | U-17 World Cup Olympics | Asian Games | All-Africa Games | Pan American Games | Island Games | Minor Tournaments World Rankings | Player of the Year | Teams | Competitions | Organizations | Codes
Asia: AFC – Asian Cup      Africa: CAF – Africa Cup of Nations      North America: CONCACAF – Gold Cup      South America: CONMEBOL – Copa América      Oceania: OFC – Nations Cup      Europe: UEFA – European Championship      Non-FIFA: NF-Board – Viva World Cup
National football teams of Europe (UEFA) v • d • e
Albania | Andorra | Armenia | Austria | Azerbaijan | Belarus | Belgium | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bulgaria | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | England | Estonia | Faroe Islands | Finland | FYR Macedonia | France | Georgia | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Republic of Ireland | Israel | Italy | Kazakhstan | Latvia | Liechtenstein | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malta | Moldova | Montenegro | Netherlands | Northern Ireland | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia | San Marino | Scotland | Serbia | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Turkey | Ukraine | Wales