European Football Championship 2016 / Belgium

This article covers the Belgian national team at the 2016 European Football Championship in France . For Belgium it was the fifth participation in a European Championship finals. The Belgians last participated in 2000 when they hosted the finals with the Dutch, but were the first hosts to be eliminated in the group stage.

qualification

Kevin De Bruyne (left) and Eden Hazard (right), top goal scorers for Belgium in qualifying

Belgium completed the qualification for the European Championship in Group B . The Belgians started qualifying with five games without a loss and were level on points with the Welsh after half of the games but were in first place with the more goals scored. Then they lost in Wales for the first time and gave the lead to the Welsh. Since the Belgians then won all games, while Wales only won two and lost on the penultimate matchday in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium took the lead again and qualified on October 10, 2015. The Belgians scored a total of 24 goals - only the English (31 ) and Poland (33) were even more accurate - and 10 Belgians were able to put themselves on the list of goalscorers. They only scored no goals against Wales. With five goals, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard were Belgium's top scorers. In the ten games, coach Marc Wilmots used 29 players, of which Toby Alderweireld , Kevin De Bruyne and Jan Vertonghen were used in all ten games. Yannick Carrasco and Michy Batshuayi came on against Cyprus on March 28, 2015 , with Batshuayi scoring a 5-0 goal three minutes after being substituted on. Three days later, Jason Denayer made his first international match against Israel . Then three newcomers ( Luis Pedro Cavanda , Jordan Lukaku and Laurent Depoitre ) were deployed against Andorra on October 10, 2015 .

In the course of qualification, the Belgians, who climbed to fifth place in the FIFA world rankings after the 2014 World Cup, improved to first place, making them the first team to be the only world number one to never become European or world champions.

Games

All results from a Belgian point of view.

date	Venue	opponent	Result	Goal scorers
10/10/2014	King Baudouin Stadium , Brussels	Andorra	6: 0 (3: 0)	1-0, 2-0 Kevin De Bruyne (31st / penalty, 34th), 3-0 Nacer Chadli (37th), 4-0 Divock Origi (59th), 5-0, 6-0 Dries Mertens ( 65th, 68th)
October 13, 2014	Bilino Polje , Zenica ( BIH )	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1: 1 (0: 1)	0: 1 Edin Džeko (28th), 1: 1 Radja Nainggolan (51st)
11/16/2014	King Baudouin Stadium , Brussels	Wales	0-0
03/28/2015	King Baudouin Stadium , Brussels	Cyprus	5: 0 (2: 0)	1-0 Marouane Fellaini (21st), 2-0 Christian Benteke (35th), 3-0 Marouane Fellaini (66th), 4-0 Eden Hazard (67th), 5-0 Michy Batshuayi (80th)
03/31/2015	Teddy Kollek Stadium , Jerusalem ( ISR )	Israel	1: 0 (1: 0)	1-0 Marouane Fellaini (9th)
06/12/2015	Cardiff City Stadium , Cardiff ( WAL )	Wales	0: 1 (0: 1)	0-1 Gareth Bale (25th)
09/03/2015	King Baudouin Stadium , Brussels	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3: 1 (2: 1)	0: 1 Edin Džeko (15th), 1: 1 Marouane Fellaini (23rd), 2: 1 Kevin De Bruyne (44th), 3: 1 Eden Hazard (78th / penalty)
09/06/2015	GSP Stadium , Nicosia ( CYP )	Cyprus	1: 0 (0: 0)	1-0 Eden Hazard (86th)
10/10/2015	Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella , Andorra la Vella ( AND )	Andorra	4: 1 (2: 0)	1-0 Radja Nainggolan (19th), 2-0 Kevin De Bruyne (42nd), 2-1 Ildefons Lima (51th / penalty), 3-1 Eden Hazard (56th / penalty), 4-1 Laurent Depoitre (64.)
13/10/2015	King Baudouin Stadium , Brussels	Israel	3: 1 (0: 0)	1-0 Dries Mertens (64th), 2-0 Kevin De Bruyne (78th), 3-0 Eden Hazard (84th), 3: 1 Tomer Hemed (88th)

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Belgium	10	7th	2	1	024: 500	+19	23
2.	Wales	10	6th	3	1	011: 400	+7	21st
3.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	10	5	2	3	017:120	+5	17th
4th	Israel	10	4th	1	5	016:140	+2	13
5.	Cyprus	10	4th	0	6th	016:170	−1	12
6th	Andorra	10	0	0	10	004:360	−32	00

preparation

After the end of the qualification, the Belgians won a friendly against Italy 3-1 in Brussels on November 13, which also commemorated the victims of the Heysel disaster . Since several terrorist attacks happened in Paris on the same day during the game between EM host France and world champions Germany and some of the assassins came from Belgium, the game against European champions Spain on November 17th in Brussels was canceled. A game against Portugal in Brussels was scheduled for March 29, 2016, but was moved to Leiria on March 22, 2016 due to the terrorist attacks in Brussels , where it was lost 2-1. Here played Romelu Lukaku , who scored the goal for Belgium, and his brother Jordan Lukaku , who gave to the template for the first time together for Belgium.

A training camp took place in Knokke from May 18th to 21st , after which the team flew to Lausanne and on May 28th they won a test match 2-1 against Swiss championship participants in Geneva . From May 29th to June 6th the last part of the preparation followed in Genk with test matches on June 1st and 5th in Brussels against Finland and Norway , who could not qualify for the European Championship. On June 7th, the team moved into their EM quarters in Bordeaux .

Squad

The roster was named on May 12, 2016. Players from 18 clubs were nominated. Most of them come from Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur (three each). On May 22nd, Laurent Ciman was nominated. On May 30, 2016, Christian Kabasele replaced Nicolas Lombaerts . All players are under contract with top division clubs.

No.	position	Surname	society	birth date	NM Sp. 1	LS gates 1	debut
01	goalkeeper	Thibaut Courtois	Chelsea FC	May 11, 1992	37	0	2011	5
12	goalkeeper	Simon Mignolet	Liverpool FC	06th Mar 1988	17th	0	2011
13	goalkeeper	Jean-François Gillet	KV Mechelen	May 31, 1979	9	0	2009
02	Defense	Toby Alderweireld	Tottenham Hotspur	02nd Mar 1989	56	1	2009	5	1	1
03	Defense	Thomas Vermaelen	FC Barcelona	Nov 14, 1985	54	1	2006	4th		2
05	Defense	Jan Vertonghen	Tottenham Hotspur	Apr. 24, 1987	79	6th	2007	4th		1
15th	Defense	Jason Denayer	Galatasaray Istanbul	June 28, 1995	7th	0	2015	1
16	Defense	Thomas Meunier	Club Bruges	Sep 12 1991	5	0	2013	4th		1
18th	Defense	Christian Kabasele	KRC Genk	Feb. 24, 1991	0	0	-
21st	Defense	Jordan Lukaku	KV Ostend	July 25, 1994	4th	0	2015	1
23	Defense	Laurent Ciman	Montreal Impact	0Aug 5, 1985	11	0	2010	1
04th	midfield	Radja Nainggolan	AS Roma	0May 4, 1988	19th	4th	2009	5	2
06th	midfield	Axel Witsel	Zenit Saint Petersburg	Jan. 12, 1989	69	6th	2008	5	1	1
08th	midfield	Marouane Fellaini	Manchester United	Nov 22, 1987	70	15th	2007	3		2
19th	midfield	Mousa Dembélé	Tottenham Hotspur	July 16, 1987	65	5	2006	1
07th	attack	Kevin De Bruyne	Manchester City	June 28, 1991	41	13	2010	5
09	attack	Romelu Lukaku	Everton FC	May 13, 1993	46	14th	2010	5	2
10	attack	Eden Hazard	Chelsea FC	0Jan. 7, 1991	66	12	2008	5	1
11	attack	Yannick Carrasco	Atlético Madrid	04th Sep 1993	4th	0	2015	5	1
14th	attack	Dries Mertens	SSC Naples	0May 6, 1987	46	8th	2011	5
17th	attack	Divock orig	Liverpool FC	Apr 18, 1995	20th	3	2014	2
20th	attack	Christian Benteke	Liverpool FC	0Dec. 3, 1990	27	7th	2010	2
22nd	attack	Michy Batshuayi	Olympique Marseille	0Oct 2, 1993	5	2	2016	2	1	1

Trainer: Marc Wilmots

¹ Stand: before the first EM preliminary round game

Players who were only in the preliminary roster

Björn Engels was out on May 18th due to an injury. On May 30, 2016, the injured Nicolas Lombaerts was replaced by the newcomer Christian Kabasele . In addition, Dedryck Boyata failed .

position	Surname	society	birth date	International matches	Länderspiel- gates	debut
Defense	Dedryck Boyata	Celtic Glasgow	Nov 28, 1990	2	0	2010
Defense	Bjorn Engels	Club Bruges	Sep 15 1994	0	0
Defense	Nicolas Lombaerts	Zenit Saint Petersburg	20 Mar 1985	39	3	2006

Finals

Lyon Bordeaux (VR + Q) Nice Knokke Genk Lausanne Toulouse (AF) Lille (VF)

Venues (green = won, red = lost), training camp (pink)

At the draw for the six final groups on December 12, 2015, Belgium was placed in pot 1 and could therefore not meet hosts France, defending champions Spain or world champions Germany. Belgium was drawn as the group head of Group E and received strong opponents with Italy, Sweden and Ireland. Against Ireland and Sweden the balance is positive. In previous 13 games against Ireland there were five wins and five draws with three defeats. The last game before the European Championship between the two took place on November 15, 1997 in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup and was won 2-1. The last defeat occurred in May 1966. Sweden were once more frequent opponents and have been defeated seven times, with two draws and five defeats. Both played the opening game when the Belgians last participated in the European Championship. The last time they played against each other before the European Championship on June 1, 2014 in preparation for the 2014 World Cup, the Belgians won in Solna against the Swedes who had not qualified for the World Cup. The balance against Italy, however, is negative. In 21 games there were only four wins and four draws, but 13 defeats. The Belgians won the last game, a month before the European Championship group draw. At European Championships, both have played against each other twice in the preliminary round, but in 1980 there was a goalless draw in Italy, but Belgium reached the final. At the home European championships in 2000 , however, Belgium lost 2-0 and then dropped out after another defeat. Belgium have only played in Bordeaux so far - at the 1998 World Cup they beat Mexico 2-2 there .

The slightly favored Belgians lost the opening game against Italy 2-0, then improved against Ireland and won 3-0. Against Sweden, who absolutely had to win in order to reach the round of 16, they were able to add 1-0 and were second in the group. In the round of 16 they meet Hungary, who surprisingly became group winners in Group F. Both contested the game for third place in 1972, which the Belgians won. Most recently, both met in a competitive game in the group stage of the 1982 World Cup, where they separated 1: 1. After that there were only friendlies. Overall, the record is positive with eight wins and two draws and two defeats. The last defeat against the Hungarians was on November 23, 1958. The Belgians took the lead in the 10th minute with a header from Toby Alderweireld and then controlled the game. When the Hungarians pressed for an equalizer in the second half, the Belgians were able to add three more goals, with substitute Michy Batshuayi making it 2-0 93 seconds after his substitution. A downer is the second yellow card for Thomas Vermaelen , who is missing in the quarter-finals.

There they meet Wales, the winner of the British novice duel against Northern Ireland. So far, there have been five wins, three draws and four defeats in 12 games against the Welsh. The last time they met in the qualification for this European Championship, they parted once goalless and once with a 1-0 for the Welsh. The Belgians celebrated their last win against the Welsh on September 7, 2012, 2-0 in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. The Belgians had to do without the suspended Vermaelen and the injured Jan Vertonghen in defense, so that the Lukaku brothers ran together for the first time in a European Championship match. They took the lead in the 13th minute with a long-range shot from Nainggolan, but conceded the equalizer in the 30th minute after a corner and two more goals in the second half.

Belgium gained 17 points in the FIFA world rankings and held second place through the European Championship games , but lost points to world number one Argentina , who finished second at the Copa America Centenario during the same period and gained more points. In addition, Copa winner Chile , who is still in 5th place, was able to make up a few points on Belgium (and Germany).

On July 15th, the Belgian association and coach Wilmots agreed to end his activities.

Group games

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Italy	3	2	0	1	003: 100	+2	06th
2.	Belgium	3	2	0	1	004: 200	+2	06th
3.	Ireland	3	1	1	1	002: 400	−2	04th
4th	Sweden	3	0	1	2	001: 300	−2	01

Mon., June 13, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Décines-Charpieu ( Lyon )
Belgium	-	Italy	0: 2 (0: 1)
Saturday, June 18, 2016 at 3 p.m. in Bordeaux
Belgium	-	Ireland	3: 0 (0: 0)
Wed., June 22, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Nice
Sweden	-	Belgium	0: 1 (0: 0)

Knockout phase

Round of 16: Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Toulouse
Hungary	-	Belgium	0: 4 (0: 1)
Quarter-finals: Fri. July 1, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Lille
Wales	-	Belgium	3: 1 (1: 1)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Belgium - Cyprus 5-0
2. ↑ Israel - Belgium 0: 1
3. ^ Andorra - Belgium 1: 4
4. ↑ FIFA World Ranking (August 14, 2014)
5. ↑ FIFA World Ranking (5th November 2015)
6. ↑ fifa.com: "Jordan Lukaku: brother and proud of it"
7. ↑ EK-voorbereiding Rode Duivels
8. ↑ twitter.com: "Belgian Red Devils - Official Squad List UEFA Euro 2016"
9. ↑ Marc Wilmots on Twitter: “LaurentCiman23 komt bij de selectie. Hij sluit in Zwitserland aan bij de groep. "
10. ↑ weltfussball.at: "Next EM failure in Belgium's defense"
11. ↑ "Bjorn Engels mist het EK door blessure"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ nieuwsblad.be: "Zoveelste tegenvaller: Lombaerts en Boyata out voor EK, Wilmots moet debutant oproepen"
13. ↑ uefa.com: "UEFA EURO 2016 final draw"
14. ↑ International match record Belgium vs. Wales
15. ↑ fifa.com: "Wilmots no longer train the" Red Devils ""