Soccer World Cup 1982 / Belgium

The Belgian national football team at the 1982 World Cup in Spain :

World Cup qualification

After the successful European football championship in 1980 , Belgium entered the qualification on a wave of euphoria and was able to prevail in European group 2 against opponents as strong as vice world champions Netherlands and Ireland. France was relegated to second place, but just like Belgium qualified for the World Cup, as a tournament with 24 teams was held for the first time. It was Belgium's first participation in a World Cup since the 1970 World Cup in Mexico .

Group 2

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Belgium	8th	5	1	2	012: 900	+3	11: 50
2.	France	8th	5	0	3	020: 800	+12	10: 60
3.	Ireland	8th	4th	2	2	017:110	+6	10: 60
4th	Netherlands	8th	4th	1	3	011: 700	+4	09: 70
5.	Cyprus	8th	0	0	8th	004:290	−25	00:16

Ireland	-	Belgium	1: 1 (1: 1)
Belgium	-	Netherlands	1: 0 (0: 0)
Cyprus	-	Belgium	0: 2 (0: 1)
Belgium	-	Cyprus	3: 2 (2: 1)
Belgium	-	Ireland	1: 0 (0: 0)
France	-	Belgium	3: 2 (3: 1)
Belgium	-	France	2: 0 (1: 0)
Netherlands	-	Belgium	3: 0 (2: 0)

World Cup finals

Belgian contingent

No.	Surname	Club before the start of the World Cup	birthday	Games	Gates
goalkeeper
1	Jean-Marie Pfaff	KSK Beveren	December 04, 1953	3	0	1	0
12	Theo Custers	Espanyol Barcelona	08/10/1950	1	0	0	0
22nd	Jacky Munaron	RSC Anderlecht	09/08/1956	1	0	0	0
Defender
2	Eric Gerets	Standard Liege	05/18/1954	3	0	0	0
3	Luc Millecamps	KSV Waregem	09/10/1951	5	0	1	0
4th	Walter Meeuws	Standard Liege	07/11/1951	4th	0	1	0
5	Michel Renquin	RSC Anderlecht	03/11/1955	2	0	0	0
14th	Marc Baecke	KSK Beveren	07/24/1956	4th	0	0	0
15th	Maurice De Schrijver	KSC Lokeren	06/26/1951	2	0	0	0
16	Gérard Plessers	Standard Liege	03/30/1959	2	0	0	0
midfield player
6th	Franky Vercauteren	RSC Anderlecht	10/28/1956	5	0	0	0
7th	René Vandereycken	CFC genoa	07/22/1953	0	0	0	0
8th	Wilfried Van Moer	KSK Beveren	03/01/1945	3	0	0	0
10	Ludo Coeck	RSC Anderlecht	09/25/1955	5	1	0	0
17th	René Verheyen	KSC Lokeren	03/21/1952	2	0	0	0
18th	Raymond Mommens	KSC Lokeren	December 27, 1958	0	0	0	0
19th	Marc Millecamps	KSV Waregem	10/09/1950	1	0	0	0
20th	Guy Vandersmissen	Standard Liege	December 25, 1957	4th	0	0	0
striker
9	Erwin Vandenbergh	RSC Anderlecht	01/26/1959	5	1	0	0
11	Jan Ceulemans	Club Bruges	02/28/1957	5	0	0	0
13	François Van Der Elst	West Ham United	December 01, 1954	2	0	0	0
21st	Alexandre Czerniatynski	Royal Antwerp	07/28/1960	5	1	0	0
Trainer
	Guy Thys		December 06, 1922

Preliminary round ( group 3 )

For the opening game of this World Cup, Belgium was drawn against defending champion Argentina. With a goal by Erwin Vandenbergh, an opening game has not ended goalless since the 1962 World Cup in Chile . Two narrow wins and one draw were enough to win the group and qualify for the intermediate round.

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Belgium	3	2	1	0	003: 100	+2	05: 10
2.	Argentina	3	2	0	1	006: 200	+4	04: 20
3.	Hungary	3	1	1	1	012: 600	+6	03: 30
4th	El Salvador	3	0	0	3	001:130	−12	00: 60

Sunday June 13, 1982; 8:00 p.m. in Barcelona
Argentina	-	Belgium	0: 1 (0: 0)
Saturday June 19, 1982; 9:00 p.m. in Elche
Belgium	-	El Salvador	1: 0 (1: 0)
Tuesday June 22, 1982; 9:00 p.m. in Elche
Belgium	-	Hungary	1: 1 (0: 1)

Intermediate round ( group A )

After two defeats against Poland and the USSR, Belgium finished last in this group and were eliminated from the tournament. The absence of injured top performers Jean-Marie Pfaff and Eric Gerets was particularly noticeable in the clear defeat against Poland.

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Poland	2	1	1	0	003-000	+3	03: 10
2.	Soviet Union	2	1	1	0	001-000	+1	03: 10
3.	Belgium	2	0	0	2	000: 400	−4	00: 40

Monday June 28, 1982; 9:00 p.m. in Barcelona
Poland	-	Belgium	3: 0 (2: 0)
Thursday July 1, 1982; 9:00 p.m. in Barcelona
Belgium	-	USSR	0: 1 (0: 0)

literature

• Hardy Greens : Football World Cup Encyclopedia. 1930-2006. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2002, ISBN 3-89784-205-X .
• New football week (fuwo) . Sportverlag Berlin, 1982, ISSN  0323-8407 .
• Foosball sports magazine . Olympia-Verlag GmbH, 1982, ISSN  0023-1290 .