Has represented the Belgian national football team on the international football scene since 1904. To supporters, the team is nicknamed the Red Devils. The Belgian team is governed and regulated by the Royal Belgian Football Association as the governing body of Belgian football. The King Boudoin Stadium in Brussels is used as the team’s own stadium and training ground. Mark Wilmots, who initially worked as an assistant manager, has been the national team manager since May 2012.
History
Belgium officially took part in their first match of the Evans Copy Trophy on May 1, 1904. In the eventful match, the match against France was drawn 3-3. This game was the first for both teams. The match, which took place at the D’Oi (Goose Pond Stadium) in Stade Vivier, Akkal, Belgium, drew about 1,500 spectators. The symbolic prize of this trophy is given by raising the hand. Twenty days later, Belgium and France joined FIFA as one of the seven founding fathers. Prior to the 3-3 draw, Belgium’s selected players played in four games against France, but were not recognized by FIFA due to the presence of a few English players in the squad.
On 28 April 1901, Belgium defeated the Netherlands 6-0 with unofficially selected players. It was decided at that time that they would compete against each other twice a year from 1905 onwards. The game was played in Antwerp and Rotterdam. The players of the national team were determined by a committee formed by the representatives of 6 or 7 major club teams. Until 1932, the Belgian-Dutch Cup Trophy was held unofficially.
Only two years after the party was officially founded, Pinere nicknamed The Red Devils after a group of journalists called the Walkers. Pinere was named in 1906 after a 5-0, 5-0 victory over France and a 3-2 victory over the Netherlands. The main color of the team jersey is kept red. Due to the First World War, the activities of the national team were suspended between 1915 and 1918.
Success Story:
Belgium’s main achievement in international football has been qualifying for the FIFA World Cup six times in a row and reaching the final. They achieved this success between 1982 and 2002. Among them, the 1986 FIFA World Cup was ranked fourth as the best achievement. The team also became the European runners-up once in 1980. As the host team, the Belgian team won a gold medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Other notable issues include winning against the previous four title-winning teams. In 1954, they defeated West Germany 2-0, Brazil 5-1 in 1963, Argentina 1-0 and France in 2002.
Ranking:
In the FIFA World Rankings, published in November 2015, Belgium ranked first in their history (1st) and in the rankings published in June 2007, they ranked 61st, the lowest in their history. On the other hand, Belgium’s highest position in the World Football Elo rating is 1st (which they first achieved in 2019) and lowest position is 70. The following is a list of current FIFA world rankings and world football rankings:
FIFA world rankings
FIFA World Rankings as of 27 May 2021 [1]
Position change team points
1 unchanged Belgium 1783.38
2 Unchanged France 1757.3
3 Unchanged Brazil 1742.75
World football came rating
As of June 2, 2021, World Football Elo Rating [2]
Position change team points
1 increase 1 Brazil 2136
2 Decrease 1 Belgium 2098
3 Unchanged France 2087
4 Unchanged Spain 2036