Football World Cup 1998 / Belgium

This article covers the Belgian national football team at the 1998 World Cup .

qualification

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Netherlands	26: 4	19th
2	Belgium	20:11	18th
3	Turkey	21: 9	14th
4th	Wales	20:21	7th
5	San Marino	0:42	0

Belgium	-	Turkey	2: 1
San Marino	-	Belgium	0: 3
Belgium	-	Netherlands	0: 3
Wales	-	Belgium	1: 2
Turkey	-	Belgium	1: 3
Belgium	-	San Marino	6-0
Netherlands	-	Belgium	3: 1
Belgium	-	Wales	3: 2

Belgian contingent

No.	Surname	Club before the start of the World Cup	birthday	Games	Gates
goalkeeper
1	Filip De Wilde	RSC Anderlecht	07/05/1964	2	0	0	0
12	Philippe Vande Walle	Eendracht Aalst	12/22/1961	1	0	0	0
13	Dany Verlinden	Club Bruges	08/15/1963	0	0	0	0
Defender
2	Bertrand Crasson	SSC Naples	05.10.1971	2	0	0	0
3	Lorenzo Staelens	Club Bruges	04/30/1964	3	0	1	0
4th	Gordan Vidović	Excelsior Mouscron	06/23/1978	2	0	1	0
5	Vital Borkelmans	Club Bruges	06/01/1973	3	0	1	0
15th	Philippe Clement	KRC Genk	March 22, 1974	2	0	0	0
16	Glen De Boeck	RSC Anderlecht	08/22/1971	1	0	0	0
17th	Mike Verstraeten	Germinal Ekeren	08/12/1967	1	0	0	0
19th	Eric Van Meir	Lierse SK	02/28/1968	0	0	0	0
22nd	Eric Deflandre	Club Bruges	08/02/1973	3	0	1	0
midfield player
6th	Franky Van Der Elst	Club Bruges	04/30/1961	3	0	0	0
7th	Marc Wilmots	FC Schalke 04	02/22/1969	3	2	0	0
11	Nico Van Kerckhoven	Lierse SK	December 14, 1970	1	0	0	0
14th	Enzo Scifo	RSC Anderlecht	02/19/1966	2	0	0	0
18th	Gert Verheyen	Club Bruges	09/20/1970	1	0	0	1
21st	Danny Boffin	FC Metz	07/10/1965	2	0	0	0
striker
8th	Luís Oliveira	AC Florence	March 24, 1969	3	0	0	0
9	Mbo Mpenza	Standard Liege	December 04, 1976	1	0	0	0
10	Luc Nilis	PSV Eindhoven	05/25/1967	3	1	0	0
20th	Emile Mpenza	Standard Liege	07/04/1978	3	0	0	0
Trainer
	Georges Leekens		May 18, 1949

Belgian team matches

Preliminary round

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Netherlands	7: 2	5
2	Mexico	7: 5	5
3	Belgium	3: 3	3
4th	South Korea	2: 9	1

• Netherlands - Belgium 0: 0 (0: 0)

Stadium: Stade de France ( Saint-Denis )

Spectators: 75,000

Referee: Pierluigi Collina ( Italy )

Goals: none

• Belgium - Mexico 2: 2 (1: 0)

Stadium: Parc Lescure ( Bordeaux )

Spectators: 31,800

Referee: Hugh Dallas ( Scotland )

Goals: 1-0 Wilmots (43.), 2-0 Wilmots (47.), 2: 1 García Aspe (55.) 11m , 2: 2 Blanco (62.)

• Belgium - South Korea 1: 1 (1: 0)

Stadium: Prinzenparkstadion ( Paris )

Spectators: 45,500

Referee: Márcio Rezende Freitas ( Brazil )

Goals: 1: 0 Nilis (7th), 1: 1 Yoo (71.)

In Group E, Mexico and the Netherlands fought head-to-head for group victory. After Oranje disappointed in their first game against neighboring Belgium, Dennis Bergkamp's team turned up against South Korea and won 5-0. In the last group game, the Netherlands and Mexico finally drew 2-2, while the Belgians also ended their last game with a draw and thus missed the knockout stage.