Belgian national football team (U-21 men)

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Belgium
België
Belgique
National team logo
Nickname (s) Young Devils
("The Young Devils")
Association Royal Belgian Football Association
confederacy UEFA
Head coach vacant
Record scorer Cédric Roussel (10 goals)
Record player Maarten Martens (27)
FIFA code BEL
home
Away
statistics
First international match
France 1-1 Belgium
( Grenoble , October 13, 1974)
Biggest win
Belgium 8-0 Luxembourg
( Mechelen , June 3rd 2007)
Biggest defeat
Czech Republic 7-0 Belgium
(April 24, 2001)
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)

U-21 coach

(incomplete)

See also

Web links

swell

  1. 2002 / Group 2 on weltfussball.de
  2. Johan Walem no longer coach of the U21 national soccer team. Belgian Broadcasting, January 25, 2020, accessed January 25, 2020 .