Belgian national football team / European championships
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| European Championship record scorer: | Jan Ceulemans , Romelu Lukaku and Radja Nainggolan (2 each) |
| European Championship record players: | Jan Ceulemans , Jean-Marie Pfaff , René Vandereycken (7 each) |
| Rank: | 12 |
| Organizer: | 1972, 2000 (co-host) |
| Balance sheet | |
|---|---|
| 17 European Championship games 7 wins 2 draws 8 defeats 22:25 goals |
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| statistics | |
First European Championship game Belgium 1: 2 BR Germany Antwerp ( BEL ); June 14, 1972  |
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Biggest European Championship victory Belgium 4: 0 Hungary Toulouse ( FRA ); June 26, 2016  |
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Biggest European Championship defeat Belgium 0-5 France Nantes ( FRA ); June 16, 1984  |
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| successes | |
| European Championship | |
| Participation in the finals | 5 ( first : 1972 ) |
| Best results | Vice European Champion: 1980 |
| Best results in the countries where the UEFA European Football Championships are held | |
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| (As of November 19, 2019) | |
The article contains a detailed description of the Belgian national football team at European championships . Belgium hosted twice, including once together with its Dutch neighbors, once finished second and once third, but has only qualified for the finals five times so far.
The national team at European championships
Overview
Belgium took part in the final round of the European Championship five times, once as a host for four participants, for which Belgium also had to qualify, twice in a final round with eight participants, once as an automatically qualified host with 16 participants and once with 24 participants.
| year | Host country | Participation until ... | Last opponent | Result | Trainer | Comments and special features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | France | not participated | ||||
| 1964 | Spain | not qualified | Failed in the preliminary round to Yugoslavia . | |||
| 1968 | Italy | not qualified | In the qualification of France failed. | |||
| 1972 | Belgium | 3rd place match | Hungary | Third | Raymond Goethals | |
| 1976 | Yugoslavia | not qualified | Failed in the quarter-finals at the later third Netherlands . | |||
| 1980 | Italy | final | Germany | Second | Guy Thys | |
| 1984 | France | Preliminary round | Denmark , France , Yugoslavia | - | Guy Thys | Retired as third party |
| 1988 | BR Germany | not qualified | In the qualification of Ireland failed. | |||
| 1992 | Sweden | not qualified | In the qualification of Germany failed. | |||
| 1996 | England | not qualified | In the qualification of Denmark and Spain failed. | |||
| 2000 | Netherlands and Belgium | Preliminary round | Italy , Sweden , Turkey | - | Robert Waseige | Retired as third party |
| 2004 | Portugal | not qualified | In the qualification of Bulgaria and Croatia failed. | |||
| 2008 | Austria and Switzerland | not qualified | In the qualification of Portugal and Poland failed. | |||
| 2012 | Poland and Ukraine | not qualified | In the qualification to Germany and Turkey failed. | |||
| 2016 | France | Quarter finals | Wales | Marc Wilmots | Reached the round of 16 as second in the group. | |
| 2021 | Europe | qualified | Belgium became the first team to qualify on October 10, 2019 and, alongside Italy, are the only team to win 10 games. Group opponents at the final round are Denmark, Finland and Russia. |
EM 1960
The Belgians did not register for the 1960 European Football Championship, which was still the “European Cup of Nations”.
EM 1964
For the European Football Championship in 1964, Belgium had to play against Yugoslavia in the preliminary round and lost both games (2: 3 and 0: 1). Yugoslavia then failed in the second round to Sweden .
EM 1968
For the European Football Championship 1968, Belgium had against the neighbors France and Luxembourg and Poland qualify . In the balanced group only Luxembourg had no chance. Belgium lost to Poland twice, two points less than the French and eliminated. France then failed in the quarter-finals to Yugoslavia.
European Championship 1972
For the European Championship finals , Belgium first qualified as group winners ahead of Portugal , Scotland and Denmark and then surprisingly against defending champions Italy in the quarter-finals after a 0-0 win in Italy with a 2-1 win in the second leg. The Belgians were thus in the semi-finals and were chosen to host the finals . But they lost the semi-finals against Germany with 1: 2, with Odilon Polleunis scoring the first European Championship goal for Belgium with the 1: 2 connection goal in the 83rd minute, leaving them only the game for 3rd place. They won it 2-1 against Hungary. Germany also won the final against the Soviet Union (3-0), celebrating dream football.
EM 1976
The final round was held for the last time with four teams in 1976, Belgium qualified for the quarter-finals as group winners ahead of the GDR , France and Iceland . In the quarter-finals, however, they were defeated by their northern neighbors, the Netherlands, with 0: 5 and 1: 2, who thus reached the finals for the first time.
EM 1980
For the European Championship in Italy, which was held for the first time with eight teams, Belgium qualified with four wins and four draws against Austria , Portugal, Scotland and Norway . The qualification was only made perfect in the last game with a 3-1 win in Scotland.
At the EM , the Belgians were drawn into a group with hosts Italy, England and Spain and were considered outsiders. After a 1-1 draw against England and a 2-1 win against Spain, a goalless draw against Italy was enough for them to reach the final against Germany, where they were once again underdogs. They fell behind in the 10th minute with a goal from Horst Hrubesch and the German team dominated the game. In the second half, however, the Belgians got better into the game. In the 75th minute they were able to equalize with a controversial penalty and had further chances to win the game. In the 89th minute, however, it was Hrubesch again who scored the winning goal with a header and thus gave Germany the second European title. Second place is the Belgians' best placement at a European Championship to date.
EM 1984
For the European Championship in France , Belgium qualified against Switzerland , the GDR and Scotland and only lost the last game in Switzerland when the qualification for the European Championship finals had already been determined. In France, the Belgians won the opening game against Yugoslavia 2-0, but then lost to hosts France 5-0. Since this time there was also a semi-final, to which the second place in the group entitled and Denmark had lost against France and won against Yugoslavia, the last group game against the Danes was decisive. The Belgians also took the lead 2-0 with two goals in the 27th and 39th minute, but had to accept the following goal in the 40th minute. In the second half the Danes were able to turn the game around for good and won 3-2. Belgium was eliminated in third place and said goodbye to the EM stage for 16 years.
EM 1988
For the European Championship in neighboring Germany Belgium should be against Ireland , Bulgaria , Scotland and again Luxembourg qualify . In a very even group, in which only Luxembourg did not win a game, Belgium only finished third and missed the European Championship with a 2-0 draw in Scotland in the penultimate game despite the best goal difference. Ireland reached the European Championship finals for the first time. The Belgian Nico Claesen was together with the Italian Alessandro Altobelli and the Dutch Marco van Basten the top scorer of the entire competition with 7 goals each.
EM 1992
In qualifying for the European Championships in 1992 , Belgium should play against the GDR , the Federal Republic of Germany, Wales and again Luxembourg. However, due to the reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990, an all-German team competed in the qualification for the first time. The game in Brussels against the GDR, scheduled before reunification , was therefore played as a friendly game and was the GDR's last game. With only two wins against Luxembourg, the Belgians were only third. World champions Germany reached the European Championship as group winners, but lost there in the final against the Danes, who were subsequently nominated for the suspended Yugoslavs.
EM 1996
Four years later the Belgians met in the qualifiers to Spain , Denmark and Cyprus and Macedonia and Armenia , who participated for the first time. Behind the unbeaten Spaniards and the Danes, the Belgians only came third. They lost second place on the third from last game day with a 3-1 home game against Denmark .
EM 2000
The Belgians did not have to qualify for the EM 2000, as they were automatically qualified as co-hosts together with the Dutch.
In the opening game against Sweden , Bart Goor scored the 1-0 and thus the first goal of the European Championship just before the break. Emile Mpenza was able to make it 2-0 immediately after the half-time break. The Swedes scored the next goal shortly afterwards, but the Belgians brought home the win against Scandinavians who were only playing with 10 players. In the following two games against Italy and Turkey, however, they lost 2-0 each, so that the Belgians were the first to host a European Championship with a group stage in the preliminary round. In addition, goalkeeper Filip De Wilde received the red card in the last group game and since Belgium had already made three substitutions, a field player had to go into the goal. Belgium said goodbye to the EM stage for 16 years.
EM 2004
In qualifying for the 2004 European Championship, Belgium met Bulgaria , Croatia , Estonia and Andorra . Belgium started qualifying with a defeat in Bulgaria and then only won 1-0 in Andorra and Estonia. This was followed by a 4-0 win in Croatia and a 2-2 win against Bulgaria. The last three games were then won, but in the end Belgium had the worse goal difference against Croatia and one point less than group winners Bulgaria. Therefore, Belgium was only third and missed the playoffs of the group runners-up. In these, Croatia prevailed against Slovenia and went to the EM.
EM 2008
In qualifying group A for the European Championship 2008, Belgium met Poland , Portugal , Serbia , Finland , Kazakhstan , Armenia and Azerbaijan . The first two teams were qualified for the finals in Switzerland and Austria . Poland was able to qualify as group winners for the first time for the European Championship finals, Portugal reached the European Championship as second in the group. Belgium was only fifth and could only win the games against Armenia and Azerbaijan and one game against Serbia.
EM 2012
In qualifying group A for the Euro 2012, Belgium met Azerbaijan , Germany , Kazakhstan , Austria and Turkey . Belgium lost the chance to participate in the playoffs of the group runners-up by a 1: 3 in the last game in Germany, whereby the German team finished the qualification with 10 wins, but the Belgians only remained 3rd behind Turkey, who in the parallel game with 1 : Won 0 against Azerbaijan. Turkey failed in the playoffs to Croatia.
EM 2016
For the first time, 24 teams took part in the European Championship. Belgium was placed in Pot 2 for the qualifying group draw , which took place on February 23, 2014. Belgium was drawn into group B. The following were drawn from the other pots: Andorra , Bosnia-Herzegovina (worst team from Pot 1), Israel , Wales and Cyprus (worst team from Pot 5)
Belgium started the qualification with a 6-0 win against Andorra on October 10, 2014 and were in first place after half of the games, tied with Wales. Due to a defeat in Wales, however, places were swapped. The two following victories didn't change that. With a win in Andorra, Belgium qualified early for the finals on the penultimate matchday and, thanks to the Welsh defeat in Bosnia and Herzegovina, were able to take the lead in the group again and defend it until the end. The second-placed Welsh were also able to qualify for the finals for the first time, while Bosnia and Herzegovina reached third place on the last matchday and thus still has the chance to qualify for the first time in playoff games against another group third. Thanks to the good qualification results, Belgium achieved first place in the FIFA world rankings for the first time in November 2015 and as the first team to never become continental or world champions.
For the group draw on December 12, 2015, Belgium was assigned to Pot 1 with the fifth best UEFA coefficient . Belgium was drawn as the group head of group E and received Italy, Sweden and Ireland as opponents. The Belgians, who were favored because of their performances in qualifying, lost 2-0 to Italy, then improved against Ireland and won 3-0, so that a draw against Sweden would have been enough to make it into the knockout round . In a long balanced game they were able to score the only goal of the game after a big chance for the Swedes and move into second place in the group of 16 where they met Hungary, against whom they had won the game for third place in 1972. The Belgians took the lead in the tenth minute through defender Toby Alderweireld , who headed the ball into the goal after a free kick. After that, the Belgians were unable to convert their superiority into further goals and failed several times against the best Hungarian player goalkeeper Gábor Király . It was only in the 78th minute that Michy Batshuayi, who had come on for the first time two minutes earlier, scored the second goal and again two minutes later the best player of the game, Eden Hazard, scored 3-0. In stoppage time, substitute Yannick Carrasco scored the last goal of the game for the highest round of 16 victory of the tournament. In the quarter-finals they met Wales, the last remaining British team in the tournament. Belgium took the lead with Radja Nainggolan's second goal in the 13th minute , but equalized in the 30th minute after a corner. In the second half, the Belgians pushed for the opening goal, but conceded the second goal in the 55th minute and a third shortly before the end. They could no longer make up for this.
EM 2021
For the pan-European European Championship, the Belgians had applied for the planned Eurostadion to host three group matches, as well as a round of 16 or quarter-finals, and were also given four matches. However, when the plans could not be implemented on time and the planned completion date of the stadium could no longer be met, the staging in the Eurostadion on December 7, 2017 was canceled by UEFA.
In qualifying, which all countries in which the final round of matches are to take place, the Belgians faced Russia, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Scotland and San Marino. The Belgians were the first team to win the first seven games and qualified as the first team for the finals on October 10, 2019 with a 9-0 win over San Marino (one of their highest wins). The three remaining games were also won, making the Belgians the first time to qualify without losing points. With only three goals conceded, they were together with the Turks the defensively strongest team in the qualification and at the same time scored the most goals with 40 goals.
As the best team in the qualification, Belgium was placed in Pot 1 for the draw for the final round. Since this pot only included Ukraine, in addition to four EM host countries, which could not be drawn into the group with Russia, Belgium had already been assigned to the group with Russia and Denmark before the draw. Finland, a newcomer to the European Championship, was drawn to the group on November 30, 2019.
Player with the most appearances in European championships
| Games | player | Year (games) |
|---|---|---|
| 7th | Jan Ceulemans | 1980 (4), 1984 (3) |
| Jean-Marie Pfaff | 1980 (4), 1984 (3) | |
| René Vandereycken | 1980 (4), 1984 (3) | |
| 6th | Erwin Vandenbergh | 1980 (3), 1984 (3) |
| 5 | Toby Alderweireld | 2016 (5) |
| Yannick Carrasco | 2016 (5) | |
| Thibaut Courtois | 2016 (5) | |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 2016 (5) | |
| Eden Hazard | 2016 (5) | |
| Romelu Lukaku | 2016 (5) | |
| Dries Mertens | 2016 (5) | |
| Radja Nainggolan | 2016 (5) | |
| Axel Witsel | 2016 (5) | |
| 4th | Julien Cools | 1980 (4) |
| Eric Gerets | 1980 (4) | |
| Walter Meeuws | 1980 (4) | |
| Luc Millecamps | 1980 (4) | |
| Raymond Mommens | 1980 (4), 1984 (0) | |
| Michel Renquin | 1980 (4) | |
| Michel Renquin | 1980 (4) | |
| François Van Der Elst | 1980 (4) | |
| Wilfried Van Moer | 1980 (4) | |
| Jan Vertonghen | 2016 (4) |
As of July 1, 2016
Player with the most goals at European championships
| Gates | player | Year (goals) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Jan Ceulemans | 1980 (1), 1984 (1) |
| Romelu Lukaku | 2016 (2) | |
| Radja Nainggolan | 2016 (2) | |
| 1 | 16 players |
As of July 1, 2016
Players banned from European championships
- In 1980 René Vandereycken and François Van Der Elst received the second yellow card , but this no longer had any effect.
- In 2000, goalkeeper Filip De Wilde received a red card in the last group game because Belgium had already made three substitutions and a field player had to go into goal. With Belgium's elimination, the card had no further effect on the tournament, but De Wilde was banned for the next World Cup qualifier against Croatia.
- In 2016 Thomas Vermaelen received the second yellow card in the round of 16 and was suspended for the quarter-finals against Wales. The second yellow card, which Marouane Fellaini received in the quarter-finals, however, had no effect as Belgium were eliminated.
Share of players playing abroad in the EM squad
For the first time at the European Championship 1984 two players were appointed to the European Championship squad who did not play in Belgium. In 2012 legionnaires made up a slim majority in the squad and in 2016 there are still players active in Belgium in a small minority.
| Year (games) | Number (countries) | Players (stakes) |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 (2) | 0 | |
| 1980 (4) | 0 | |
| 1984 (2) | 2 (1 in Germany, 1 in Italy) | Jean-Marie Pfaff (3); Ludo Coeck (2) |
| 2000 (3) | 12 (4 in Germany, 2 in England, 1 in France, 1 in Italy, 3 in the Netherlands, 1 in Portugal) | Emile Mpenza (3), Jacky Peeters (1), Nico Van Kerckhoven (3), Marc Wilmots (3); Gilles De Bilde (1), Branko Strupar (3); Philippe Léonard (1); Johan Walem (0); Geert De Vlieger (0), Luc Nilis (3), Joos Valgaeren (3); Mbo Mpenza (1) |
| 2016 (5) | 19 (11 in England, 1 in France, 2 in Italy, 1 in Canada, 1 in Russia, 2 in Spain, 1 in Turkey) |
Toby Alderweireld (5), Christian Benteke (2), Thibaut Courtois (5), Kevin De Bruyne (5), Moussa Dembélé (1), Marouane Fellaini (3), Eden Hazard (5), Romelu Lukaku (5), Simon Mignolet , Divock Origi (2), Jan Vertonghen (4); Michy Batshuayi (2); Radja Nainggolan (5), Dries Mertens (5); Laurent Ciman (1); Axel Witsel (5); Yannick Carrasco (5) (1), Thomas Vermaelen (3); Jason Denayer (1)
 |
As of July 1, 2016
Records
- Biggest win in a round of 16: Belgium 4-0 Hungary (2016)
- There was the highest victory against a country at an EM
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Hungary : Round of 16 2016 - 4-0
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- The Belgian team suffered their biggest defeats in European championships against the following countries:
Negative records
- Biggest defeats in group matches: Belgium - France (1984), Yugoslavia - Denmark (1984) and Bulgaria - Sweden (2004) - all 0-5
Games
Venues (green = positive balance, yellow = balanced balance, red = negative balance, bold = final location, number in brackets = number of games, if> 1) |
Belgium has played 17 European Championship games so far, seven of which have been won, eight lost and two have ended in a draw. No game had to be extended. Belgium took part in the opening game of the European Championship once (as host in 2000).
Belgium have had five home games so far and have played twice against the hosts (2 × in the preliminary round: 1980 and 1984). Belgium never faced the defending champions. Belgium played three times against the eventual European champions: 1972 (semi-finals), 1980 (final) and 1984 (preliminary round).
Most of the games were against Italy (3).
| All EM games | |||||||||
| No. | date | opponent | Result | occasion | venue | Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 06/14/1972 |
FRG
|
1: 2 | Semifinals | H | Antwerp | |||
| 2. | 06/17/1972 |
 Hungary
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2: 1 | 3rd place match | H | Liege | |||
| 3. | 06/12/1980 |
 England
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1: 1 | Preliminary round | * | Turin ( ITA ) | |||
| 4th | 06/15/1980 |
.svg){kind=small} Spain
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2: 1 | Preliminary round | * | Milan ( ITA ) | 400th international match | ||
| 5. | 06/18/1980 |
 Italy
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0-0 | Preliminary round | A. | Rome ( ITA ) | |||
| 6th | 06/22/1980 |
FRG
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1: 2 | final | * | Rome ( ITA ) | |||
| 7th | 06/13/1984 |
.svg){kind=small} Yugoslavia
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2-0 | Preliminary round | * | Lens ( FRA ) | |||
| 8th. | 06/16/1984 |
France
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0: 5 | Preliminary round | A. | Nantes ( FRA ) | |||
| 9. | 06/19/1984 |
 Denmark
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2: 3 | Preliminary round | * | Strasbourg ( FRA ) | |||
| 10. | 06/10/2000 |
 Sweden
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2: 1 | Opening game | H | Brussels | |||
| 11. | 06/14/2000 |
Italy
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0: 2 | Preliminary round | H | Brussels | |||
| 12. | 06/19/2000 |
 Turkey
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0: 2 | Preliminary round | H | Brussels | |||
| 13. | June 13, 2016 |
Italy
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0: 2 | Preliminary round | * | Lyon ( FRA ) | |||
| 14th | June 18, 2016 |
 Ireland
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3-0 | Preliminary round | * | Bordeaux ( FRA ) | |||
| 15th | June 22, 2016 |
Sweden
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1-0 | Preliminary round | * | Nice ( FRA ) | |||
| 16. | June 26, 2016 |
Hungary
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4-0 | Round of 16 | * | Toulouse ( FRA ) | Highest victory at an EM | ||
| 17th | July 1, 2016 |
 Wales
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1: 3 | Quarter finals | * | Lille ( FRA ) | |||
| June 12, 2021 |
 Russia
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Preliminary round | A. | Saint Petersburg ( RUS ) | |||||
| June 17, 2021 |
Denmark
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Preliminary round | A. | Copenhagen ( DNK ) | |||||
| June 21, 2021 |
 Finland
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Preliminary round | * | Saint Petersburg ( RUS ) | |||||
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Euro 1980
- ↑ Draw for the EURO qualification: Pot 1 in focus. In: uefa.com. UEFA , February 20, 2014, accessed March 11, 2014 .
- ↑ kicker.de: Hungary without consolation goal - Batshuayi's great EM debut - Hazard decides Belgium's game with fire