Belgium national football team

• 1. Introduction

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  In November 2015, the Belgium national football team topped the FIFA World Ranking for the first time. They are, to this day, the only national team ever to hold that position without winning a World Cup or continental championship. The program began on the 1st of May 1904 with a draw against France. From that first result to the summit of world rankings took over a century of competition. What drove Belgian players to such extraordinary heights in two separate periods? And why, despite reaching the top of every ranking, has the prize always been just beyond their grasp?

• 2. Born Red Devils

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  A Dutch reporter covering a match in 1905 wrote that three Belgian footballers "worked as devils". A year later, Léopold FC manager Pierre Walckiers formalized the nickname. He called the players the Red Devils after their red jerseys and three consecutive victories. The name has outlasted every generation.

  Since 1904, Belgium's all-red jersey design has been revised only twice. Sports journalist Victor Boin left a verdict on the first revision. The 1904-05 satin shirts featuring three horizontal bands in red, yellow and black set, in his words, "the ugliness record". In the 1970s, the team adopted all-white kits to improve visibility in evening matches. They became briefly known as the White Devils.

  Since 2012, the team's official logo has been a red trident, an item widely associated with the devil. Four official anthropomorphous mascots have represented the squad across different eras. The first was a lion in team kit named Diabolix, linked to the Belgian coat of arms. In 2018, a new devil mascot was introduced and named Red.

  Supporter clubs merged into a single national federation in 2012 and chose the name 1895. The number refers to the founding year of the Royal Belgian Football Association. Within one year, membership reached 24,000. Belgian monarchs have attended the team's matches since 1914. The round of 16 match at Euro 2016 against Hungary drew over 4 million viewers from a population of 11.3 million. It was the most-watched programme in the country's television history.

• 3. World Champions of Friendlies

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  Robert Coppée scored a hat-trick against Spain's goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora in the quarter-finals of the 1920 Summer Olympics. He also converted the decisive penalty in the final. Belgium had been given a bye into the quarter-finals as the host nation. After defeating the Netherlands 3-0 in the semi-finals, they met Czechoslovakia in the final. Belgium led 2-0 when Czechoslovakia's left-back Karel Steiner was dismissed. The visitors left the pitch in the 40th minute. Their appeals to the Olympic organisation were dismissed, the Czechoslovaks were disqualified, and Belgium were crowned champions.

  In Belgium's first three FIFA World Cup tournaments, the team lost every match. Historian Richard Henshaw wrote that "the growth of football in Scandinavia, Central Europe, and South America left Belgium far behind". The gap between competitive failure and exhibition success earned the team a sardonic label: world champions of the friendlies.

  Belgium beat reigning World Cup holders West Germany in 1954, and reigning holders Brazil in 1963. They also defeated Hungary's Golden Team in 1956. At the 1954 World Cup itself, Pol Anoul scored three goals, and newspaper L'Équipe named Rik Coppens the tournament's best centre forward. Dutch journalists described Belgium's 4-4 draw with England as the most surprising result of that match day, more surprising even than Switzerland's victory over Italy.

  Under manager Raymond Goethals in the early 1970s, Belgium eliminated reigning European champions Italy in the Euro 1972 quarter-finals. They won the two-legged tie on aggregate. At the final stage of that tournament, their debut in the competition, they finished third after defeating Hungary in the consolation match.

  In 1973, a disallowed goal in Belgium's final World Cup qualifier for UEFA Group 3 cost them a place at the 1974 tournament. Belgium became the only nation ever to miss a World Cup final round despite conceding no goals throughout qualifying. From the 1982 World Cup onward, Belgium would qualify for six consecutive tournaments, a run that would define their first golden era.

• 4. Two Golden Generations

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  Horst Hrubesch scored twice for West Germany in the Euro 1980 final in Italy. The second goal came two minutes from the end of regular time. Belgium had reached that final with an unbeaten group stage. René Vandereycken equalized with a penalty, but Hrubesch's second goal ended Belgium's hopes of a first European title.

  In the 1982 World Cup opener, Belgium defeated defending champions Argentina 1-0. Their run ended in the second group stage, after Poland's Zbigniew Boniek scored a hat-trick and a 0-1 loss to the Soviet Union followed. Three successive managers each guided Belgium past the first round: Guy Thys, Paul Van Himst and Robert Waseige.

  At Mexico 1986, Belgium progressed as underdogs through the knockout rounds. They beat the Soviet Union 4-3 after extra time, with Jan Ceulemans equalizing despite being offside during the initial ninety minutes. A penalty shoot-out victory over Spain followed. Argentina's Diego Maradona scored both goals in a 2-0 semi-final. FIFA later recognised Ceulemans and Enzo Scifo as the driving forces of that 1986 World Cup squad. The run had a lasting consequence off the pitch. The delegation began Casa Hogar, a home for street children in the Mexican city of Toluca. Players donated part of their tournament bonuses to fund it, at the suggestion of delegation leader Michel D'Hooghe.

  In 2002, before the tournament, Belgium defeated reigning world and European champions France. At the World Cup itself, Marc Wilmots headed the ball into the net in the second round against eventual champions Brazil. The goal was disallowed for what analyst Richard Witzig called a "phantom foul" on Roque Júnior. Belgium lost 2-0 and were eliminated.

  After 2002, the team missed five successive major tournaments. Belgium's youth squad qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, finishing fourth. Seventeen players from that group later appeared in the senior national team. Marc Wilmots became caretaker manager in May 2012, confirmed in the role after two matches. The young squad qualified for the 2014 World Cup unbeaten and advanced to the quarter-finals with four consecutive victories.

  At the 2018 World Cup, Belgium won all three group matches, against Panama, Tunisia and England. In the round of 16 against Japan, they trailed 2-0 before Nacer Chadli scored a winner in the 94th minute. A Fernandinho own goal and a Kevin De Bruyne strike then eliminated Brazil 2-1 in the quarter-finals. Belgium lost to eventual champions France 0-1 in the semi-finals, but beat England 2-0 in the third-place play-off, their best-ever World Cup result.

  At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Belgium were eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 1998. They beat Canada but lost 0-2 to Morocco and drew 0-0 with Croatia. Roberto Martínez departed after six years in charge. In February 2023, Domenico Tedesco was appointed head coach on a contract through Euro 2024. At Euro 2024, Belgium were eliminated in the round of 16 by France, losing 1-0.

• 5. The Legends

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  With 89 goals in 124 appearances, Romelu Lukaku is Belgium's all-time leading scorer. He holds the record for the most hat-tricks in Belgian colours, with four. Christian Benteke scored the team's fastest ever goal, 8.1 seconds after kick-off against Gibraltar on the 10th of October 2016.

  Jan Vertonghen leads the appearances list with 157 caps. Axel Witsel's international career lasted 17 years, 7 months and 23 days, the longest tenure in Belgian football history. Eden Hazard captained the side in 59 matches, more than any other player.

  Kevin De Bruyne ranks second on the all-time scoring list with 36 goals. Eden Hazard is third with 33. Their generation also included Thibaut Courtois, Dries Mertens, Toby Alderweireld and Vincent Kompany. Jean-Marie Pfaff and Michel Preud'homme were each elected best goalkeeper at a FIFA World Cup during the 1980s.

  Paul Van Himst won the Belgian Golden Shoe four times and was later elected Belgian UEFA Golden Player of 1954-2003. IFFHS named him Belgium's Player of the Century. At the 1965 Ballon d'Or, Van Himst finished fourth. Wilfried Van Moer matched that position at the 1980 Ballon d'Or.

  Richard Henshaw described Alphonse Six as "Belgium's greatest player in the prewar period". Six was often called the most skillful forward outside Great Britain. Raymond Braine, known as "Belgium's football grandmaster", was considered one of the greatest players of his era. Robert De Veen scored 26 goals in 23 international appearances in the team's first decade.

  Decades after retirement, a journalist on a Flemish television show put a question to Rik Coppens and Paul Van Himst. Which of the two men had been the better player? Coppens replied: "I will ask Paul that... If Paul says it was me, then he's right."

• 6. Two Rival Nations

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  Belgium and the Netherlands have played 129 official matches in what is known as the Low Countries derby. They faced each other twice a year between 1905 and 1964, except during the World Wars. The overall record favours the Netherlands, with 57 wins against Belgium's 41.

  Beerschot AC's pitch in Antwerp hosted the first encounter in 1901, with Belgium winning 8-0. FIFA does not recognise that result or three follow-up victories because Belgium fielded English players. Herbert Potts, one of those players, scored 12 of the 17 goals attributed to Belgium in those matches. In their first FIFA-recognised contest, Belgium lost.

  Between 1925 and 1941, the two nations' football associations played seven unofficial charity matches for FIFA and the Belgian Olympic Committee. They also competed for trophies throughout this period. In Belgium the prize was the Coupe Vanden Abeele, and in the Netherlands the Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad-Beker.

  The fixture between Belgium and France is known in French as le Match Sympathique. Of their 78 official meetings, Belgium held the stronger head-to-head record for most of the first century. The 1904 encounter was also the first official football match between two independent nations on the European continent.

  Since 2018, France has won five successive meetings against Belgium. Belgium's squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was named alongside friendlies against Croatia and Tunisia. Their official record of 860 matches and 1,555 goals scored will grow with every contest.