Belgian national football team (U-21 men)
Nickname (s) | Young Devils ("The Young Devils") |
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Association | Royal Belgian Football Association | ||
confederacy | UEFA | ||
Head coach | vacant | ||
Record scorer | Cédric Roussel (10 goals) | ||
Record player | Maarten Martens (27) | ||
FIFA code | BEL | ||
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statistics | |||
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First international match France 1-1 Belgium ( Grenoble , October 13, 1974) |
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Biggest win Belgium 8-0 Luxembourg ( Mechelen , June 3rd 2007) |
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Biggest defeat Czech Republic 7-0 Belgium (April 24, 2001) |
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Successes in tournaments | |||
European Championship | |||
Participation in the finals | 2 ( first : 2002 ) | ||
Best results | Semi-finals 2007 | ||
(As of October 2009) |
The Belgian U-21 national football team is a selection team of Belgian football players . It is subject to the Royal Belgian Football Association and represents it at the U-21 level , in friendly matches against the national teams of other national associations, but also at the European Championship of the continental association UEFA . Eligible to play are players who have not yet reached the age of 21 and who are Belgian citizens . In tournaments, the age at the first qualifying game is decisive.
history
Between 1976 and 2000 the Belgian team missed a total of thirteen times to qualify for a final round of the European Championship . In 2002 the team took part for the first time. In Group 2, the U-21 teams from France , Greece and the Czech Republic met . After winning the opening game against Greece on May 16, 2002 with goals from Koen Daerden and Tom Soetaers 2-1, it lost 1-0 and 2-0 respectively against the two group favorites Czech Republic and France. Thus, the team was eliminated as third in the table after the group stage. In 2004 and 2006 the junior selection missed the final tournament. For the EM 2007 they qualified again and played a good tournament. With Israel , Portugal and the defending champions Netherlands , they had an easier group than five years ago. One win against Israel and two draws were enough to take second place. This qualified for the first time for the knockout round. In the semifinals, Serbia was finally selected . With an early goal and a second goal shortly before the end, the young devils were eliminated. In qualifying for the 2009 European Championship , the young Belgians disappointed in group seven. With Austria , Slovakia , Iceland and Cyprus they fought for a place in the play-offs. But after a defeat and a draw, the Belgian team was under pressure early on. When they lost the second leg against Austria on the fourth matchday, qualification was a long way off. With a total of three wins and two draws from eight games, it was only enough for second place, nine points behind the alpine footballers.
Participation in U-21 European Championships
1978 | not qualified |
1980 | not qualified |
1982 | not qualified |
1984 | not qualified |
1986 | not qualified |
1988 | not qualified |
1990 | not qualified |
1992 | not qualified |
1994 in France | not qualified |
1996 in Spain | not qualified |
1998 in Romania | not qualified |
2000 in Slovakia | not qualified |
2002 in Switzerland | Group stage |
2004 in Germany | not qualified |
2006 in Portugal | not qualified |
2007 in the Netherlands | Semifinals |
2009 in Sweden | not qualified |
2011 in Denmark | not qualified |
2013 in Israel | not qualified |
2015 in the Czech Republic | not qualified |
2017 in Poland | not qualified |
2019 in Italy | Group stage |
Note : Between 1978 and 1992, the final round of a U-21 European Championship was not played in one country, but instead was played back and forth in the respective participating nations.
Former and well-known players
(Selection)
- Logan Bailly (active in the Bundesliga for Borussia Mönchengladbach )
- Maarten Martens
- Tom De Mul
- Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe (Former player for Hamburger SV )
- Wesley Sonck (Former player for Borussia Mönchengladbach )
- Önder Turacı
- Thomas Vermaelen
- Jan Vertonghen
- Junior Malanda (Former player for VfL Wolfsburg )
- Alexis Saelemaekers
U-21 coach
(incomplete)
- 1989-1999: Ariël Jacobs
- 1999–2011: Jean-François De Sart
- 2011: Francky Dury
- 2012–2015: Johan Walem
- 2015: Enzo Scifo
- 2015–2020: Johan Walem
See also
Web links
swell
- ↑ 2002 / Group 2 on weltfussball.de
- ↑ Johan Walem no longer coach of the U21 national soccer team. Belgian Broadcasting, January 25, 2020, accessed January 25, 2020 .