The Belgian national football team officially represents Belgium in men's international football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian team's supervising body, the Royal Belgian Football Association. Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938, from 1982 to 2002 and again from 2014 onwards, have alternated with mostly unsuccessful qualification rounds. Most of Belgium's home matches are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.
Belgium's national team have participated in three quadrennial major football competitions. It appeared in the end stages of thirteen FIFA World Cups and five UEFA European Championships, and featured at three Olympic football tournaments, including the 1920 Olympic tournament which they won. Other notable performances are victories over four reigning world champions—West Germany, Brazil, Argentina and France—between 1954 and 2002. Belgium has long-standing football rivalries with its Dutch and French counterparts, having played both teams nearly every year from 1905 to 1967. The squad has been known as the Red Devils since 1906; its fan club is named "1895".
During the national player career of forward Paul Van Himst, the most-praised Belgian footballer of the 20th century, Belgium finished in third place as hosts at UEFA Euro 1972. After that, they experienced two golden ages with many gifted players. In the first period, which lasted from the 1980s to the early 1990s, the team finished as runners-up at UEFA Euro 1980 and fourth in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. In the second, under guidance of Marc Wilmots and later Roberto Martínez in the 2010s, Belgium topped the FIFA World Rankings for the first time in November 2015 and finished third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. To date, Belgium is the only national team in the world to top the FIFA ranking without having won a World Cup or a continental trophy (Spain had topped the ranking in late 2008 without winning the World Cup, but had won the European title in 1964 and 2008).<\/P>","C0939111B6B9B2A43FCCB75CD7645021":"Belgium","E6C7E9F1C9CF42CA43917444E7095BC4":"2023-2-8","FBAF2B9B8402EC60":"977884","E1D5C635E9B8B544CDBA4735F8E03DC0":"","C403D9D9F071ACF5":"481","622EB7B4B85B2C76":"
First international FIFA World Cup
<\/STRONG>Belgium 3-3 France
Biggest win
<\/STRONG>Belgium 9–0 Zambia (Brussels, Belgium; 4 June 1994)
Belgium 10–1 San Marino (Brussels, Belgium; 28 February 2001)
Belgium 9–0 Gibraltar (Liege, Belgium; 31 August 2017)
Biggest defeat
<\/STRONG>England Amateurs 11–2 Belgium (London, England; 17 April 1909)
World Cup
<\/STRONG>Appearances: 14 (first in 1930)
Best result: Third place (2018)
European Championship
<\/STRONG>Appearances: 6 (first in 1972)
Best result: Runners-up (1980)
Nations League Finals
<\/STRONG>Appearances: 1 (first in 2021)
Best result: Fourth place (2021)
Most caps
<\/STRONG>Jan Vertonghen (99)
Top scorer
<\/STRONG>Romelu Lukaku (33)<\/P>","7E5D3E774B9EC62B":"Brussels","DE0C7E7350A48DF5A65F90F776C48D66":"RB Leipzig","4DFD3563356F21B8":"1","7E907563BF179508":"urbsfa.kbvb@footbel.com","E0A04148ADEEA21E":"http:\/\/https:\/\/www.rbfa.be\/nl","5A3E8B25A329ABB4785C62D37B63DE94":"","E0F6EEE10E22199909912E9167EBFDA2":"Belgium","2EBB7B469EDB7E39":"Domenico Tedesco","8A2C437DD6BF07ECBF73DA968D3B75C4":"Domenico Tedesco","8C36798E00E0D688B6705FB6F02CF010":"65","60DC9D976694DF52":"1","E45C1F715A41C4086A1A5DFF72C29C40":"50,093","63D5A09C1F729528628C60E02F0396E1":"
<\/STRONG>Third place: 2018
UEFA European Championship
<\/STRONG>Runners-up: 1980
Third place: 1972
Football at the Summer Olympics<\/STRONG>
Gold Medal: 1920
Bronze medal: 1900<\/P>","B850B84A81F37F05F4386A810BC6107CF078F37712465C6A":"1895","9BA4801895A8DFD49438954196B52718":"King Baudouin Stadium","D94224B0718FDBA6500EEB9BC8E208DC":"1985-9-12","411CCFA197052F93":"Belgium","2134628892B06B90":"Belgium","5D47EACB4D5E6DAA3CEC66553FE0120E":"","C08EDA0A226BF5BFC211B6FCDAE25C17":"145 Avenue Houba de Strooper,BRUXELLES - 1020","4406E48704A97D69D6728A5D009266729A239ADB920A5D02":"1","D1518711AEB23972F2EDEC88D48D85B0":"","66B628A331EE3B62":"26.56","2775A0F6CDE5FA9FEBFF51A9CD3C0BB9":"RB Leipzig,Spartak Moscow,Schalke 04,FC Erzgebirge Aue,Hoffenheim(U19),VfB Stuttgart(U17)","5FF2086A93BB2EE023D0558B503D08D2":"Germany,Italy","4406E48704A97D6900ACBB46602769C2":"0","e_index":9};