Belgium men's national field hockey team
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| Nickname | Red Lions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Royal Belgian Hockey Association | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederation | EHF (Europe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Shane McLeod | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assistant coach(es) | Philippe Goldberg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Captain | Thomas Briels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FIH ranking | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current |
3  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | Team |
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 1920 Antwerp | Team |
The Belgium national field hockey team (nicknamed the Red Lions) are coached by Shane McLeod, who succeeded the Dutch trainer Jeroen Delmee. Their greatest achievements in international tournaments to date are reaching six semifinals at the EuroHockey Nations Championship since 1995, including a third place in 2007 and runners-up in 2013 and 2017, winning the Champions Challenge in 2011, the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the bronze medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2014–15 Hockey World League.
History
Belgium first played hockey in 1902 and their first club was formed two years later. In 1907, several clubs established the Belgian Hockey Association. Belgium played its first international match against Germany, and was one of the founding members of the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
Between 1920 and 1978, Belgium appeared in two of the first three World Cups and in eleven out of thirteen Summer Olympics. After the successful early years (before the 1950s) with three times being among the best five at the Summer Olympics, it would last six decades before Belgium reached the international field hockey top again from the 1990s on.
The team was coached by Adam Commens until the end of 2010 before being replaced by Colin Batch as Adam Commens had been appointed coach of the Australian women's national team. Commens has been coach of Belgium's national men's team since 2007, and led them to their first Olympics appearance in 32 years when the team competed in Beijing in 2008. He will begin his role with the Hockeyroos early 2011. After the 2007 Champions Challenge, hosted in their own country, they ended at the last (sixth) place. This prompted coach Gilles Bonnet and his assistant-coach Pascal Kina to be replaced by Adam Commens and assistant Murray Richards. From 2012 on Marc Lammers trained the Belgian squad with assistants Jeroen Delmee and Philippe Goldberg. After Lammers resigned in July 2014, Delmee became his successor.
At the 2016 Summer Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, the Belgian Hockey Team was able to achieve the silver medal, second time that Belgium is able to win an Olympic Medal (1920 Bronze in Antwerp). Additionally, the Under 21 National Team made it to the final match of the FIH Junior World Cup in 2016 but they lost against India by 2 to 1. Still, this proves the success and hard work of the whole structure of hockey in Belgium.[1]
Honours
- Summer Olympics
- Second place
- Third place
- European Championship
- Runners-up: 2013
- Third place: 2007
- Champions Challenge
- Winners: 2011
- Third place: 2005
Tournament history
A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Belgium.
Summer Olympics
Gold Silver Bronze Fourth place
| Olympic Games record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
| United Kingdom 1908 | Did Not Participate | ||||||||
| Sweden 1912 | Not Held | ||||||||
| Belgium 1920 | Bronze Medal | 3rd | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 19 | |
| France 1924 | Not Held | ||||||||
| Netherlands 1928 | Fourth place | 4th | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 12 | |
| United States 1932 | Did Not Participate | ||||||||
| Germany 1936 | Group Phase | 9th | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | |
| United Kingdom 1948 | Group Phase | 5th | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | |
| Finland 1952 | Second round | 9th | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |
| Australia 1956 | Group Phase | 7th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | |
| Italy 1960 | Group Phase | 11th | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 9 | |
| Japan 1964 | Group Phase | 11th | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 13 | |
| Mexico 1968 | Group Phase | 9th | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 9 | |
| Germany 1972 | Group Phase | 10th | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 16 | |
| Canada 1976 | Group Phase | 9th | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 19 | |
| Soviet Union 1980 | Did Not Participate | ||||||||
| United States 1984 | |||||||||
| Korea 1988 | |||||||||
| Spain 1992 | |||||||||
| United States 1996 | |||||||||
| Australia 2000 | |||||||||
| Greece 2004 | |||||||||
| People's Republic of China 2008 | Group Phase | 9th | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 13 | |
| United Kingdom 2012 | Group Phase | 5th | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 9 | |
| Brazil 2016 | Final | 2nd | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 11 | |
| Total | 1 silver medal | 14/25 | 74 | 30 | 10 | 34 | 139 | 150 | |
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts.
World Cup
Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
| World Cup record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
| Spain 1971 | Did Not Participate | ||||||||
| Netherlands 1973 | Group Phase | 8th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 12 | |
| Malaysia 1975 | Did Not Participate | ||||||||
| Argentina 1978 | Group Phase | 14th | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 18 | |
| India 1982 | Did Not Participate | ||||||||
| United Kingdom 1986 | |||||||||
| Pakistan 1990 | |||||||||
| Australia 1994 | Group Phase | 11th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 26 | |
| Netherlands 1998 | Did Not Participate | ||||||||
| Malaysia 2002 | Group Phase | 14th | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 23 | |
| Germany 2006 | Did Not Participate | ||||||||
| India 2010 | |||||||||
| Netherlands 2014 | 5th–6th Play-off | 5th | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 13 | |
| India 2018 | Qualified | ||||||||
| Total | Best: 5th place | 6/14 | 29 | 7 | 3 | 19 | 54 | 92 | |
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts.
World League
Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place
| FIH Hockey World League record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
| India 2012–14 | 5th–6th Play-off | 5th | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 10 | |
| India 2014–15 | Final | 2nd | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 9 | |
| India 2016–17 | 5th–6th Play-off | 5th | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 5 | |
| Total | 3/3 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 38 | 24 | ||
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts.
European Championship
Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
| European Championship Record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
| Belgium 1970 | Second round | 5th | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 7 | |
| Spain 1974 | Group Phase | 10th | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 9 | |
| Germany 1978 | Did Not Participate | ||||||||
| Netherlands 1983 | Group Phase | 8th | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 17 | |
| Soviet Union 1987 | Group Phase | 10th | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 21 | |
| France 1991 | Group Phase | 9th | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 17 | |
| Ireland 1995 | Fourth place | 4th | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 8 | |
| Italy 1999 | Fourth place | 4th | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 28 | |
| Spain 2003 | Group Phase | 6th | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 21 | 21 | |
| Germany 2005 | Fourth place | 4th | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 20 | |
| England 2007 | Third place | 3rd | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 14 | |
| Netherlands 2009 | Group Phase | 5th | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 11 | |
| Germany 2011 | Fourth place | 4th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 12 | |
| Belgium 2013 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | |
| England 2015 | Group Phase | 5th | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 13 | |
| Netherlands 2017 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 9 | |
| Total | Best: Runners-ip | 15/16 | 90 | 41 | 15 | 35 | 216 | 213 | |
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts.
Champions Trophy
Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place
| Champions Trophy record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
| Pakistan 1978 until |
Did Not Participate | ||||||||
| Australia 2012 | First round | 5th | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 16 | |
| India 2014 | Second round | 8th | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 15 | |
| United Kingdom 2016 | Second round | 5th | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 15 | |
| Netherlands 2018 | Second round | 5th | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 15 | |
| Total | Best: 5th place | 4/37 | 24 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 53 | 61 | |
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts.
Champions Challenge
Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place
| Champions Challenge record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
| Malaysia 2001 | Playoff | 6th | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 18 | |
| South Africa 2003 | Did Not Participate | ||||||||
| Egypt 2005 | Playoff | 3rd | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 17 | |
| Belgium 2007 | Playoff | 6th | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 21 | |
| Australia 2009 | Playoff | 7th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 9 | |
| South Africa 2011 | Winners | 1st | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 12 | |
| Total | 1 title | 5/6 | 32 | 13 | 5 | 14 | 80 | 77 | |
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts.
Current roster
The following is Belgiums most recent roster for the 2018 Champions Trophy in Breda, Netherlands.[2]
Head coach: 
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | GK | Loic van Doren | 14 September 1996 | 10 |  | |||
| 21 | GK | Vincent Vanasch | 21 December 1987 | 197 | | |||
| 4 | DF | Arthur van Doren | 1 October 1994 | 140 | | |||
| 12 | DF | Gauthier Boccard | 26 August 1991 | 178 | | |||
| 16 | DF | Alexander Hendrickx | 6 August 1993 | 82 | | |||
| 23 | DF | Arthur de Sloover | 3 May 1997 | 43 | | |||
| 25 | DF | Loïck Luypaert | 19 August 1991 | 199 | | |||
| 7 | MF | John-John Dohmen | 24 January 1988 | 362 | | |||
| 19 | MF | Felix Denayer | 31 January 1990 | 277 | | |||
| 22 | MF | Simon Gougnard | 17 January 1991 | 240 | | |||
| 24 | MF | Antoine Kina | 1996 (age 21–22) | 29 | | |||
| 26 | MF | Victor Wegnez | 25 December 1995 | 47 | | |||
| 8 | FW | Florent van Aubel | 25 September 1991 | 191 | | |||
| 9 | FW | Sébastian Dockier | 28 December 1989 | 166 | | |||
| 10 | FW | Cédric Charlier | 27 November 1987 | 281 | | |||
| 11 | FW | Amaury Keusters | 1 September 1990 | 96 | | |||
| 17 | FW | Thomas Briels (C) | 23 August 1987 | 305 | | |||
| 27 | FW | Tom Boon | 25 January 1990 | 254 | | |||
See also
References
- ↑ "Belgian hockey: From underdogs to powerhouse! How did they become such a strong team?". A Hockey World. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
- ↑ "Belgium". International Hockey Federation. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
External links
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