Belgium at the UEFA European Championship

The UEFA European Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations). Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current name in 1968. Starting with the 1996 tournament, specific championships are often referred to in the form "Euro 2008" or whichever year is appropriate. Prior to entering the tournament all teams other than the host nations (which qualify automatically) compete in a qualifying process.

Belgium have participated in five UEFA European Championships finals, those held in 1972, 1980, 1984, 2000 and 2016, with an upcoming tournament in 2020. As of 1 July 2016, they have played 17 matches: 7 wins, 2 draws and 8 losses.

Euro 1972

Belgium hosted the European Championship twice, as they were chosen amongst the four semi-finalists to host the event, and ended third by beating Hungary.

Belgium 1 – 2 West Germany
Polleunis  83' Report Müller  24', 71'
Attendance: 55,669
Referee: William J. Mullan (Scotland)
Hungary 1 – 2 Belgium
Kű  53' (pen.) Report Lambert  24'
Van Himst  28'
Attendance: 6,184

Euro 1980

Under the guidance of manager Guy Thys, Belgium achieved their best European result at the 1980 edition in Italy. After finishing first in the group phase, before football nations Italy, England and Spain, Belgium stood in the final against West Germany. After the German opener from Horst Hrubesch and the penalty equalizer from René Vandereycken, the match seemed to go in extra time. Two minutes before the end of the regular playing time, Hrubesch's second goal ended the Belgian dream of winning a first major (non-Olympic) tournament.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Belgium 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 4 Advance to final
2  Italy (H) 3 1 2 0 1 0 +1 4 Advance to third place play-off
3  England 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 3
4  Spain 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host.
Belgium 1–1 England
Ceulemans  29' Report Wilkins  26'
Stadio Comunale, Turin
Attendance: 15,186
Belgium 2–1 Spain
Gerets  17'
Cools  65'		 Report Quini  36'
San Siro, Milan
Attendance: 11,430
Italy 0–0 Belgium
Report
Attendance: 42,318
West Germany 2–1 Belgium
Hrubesch  10', 88' (Report) Vandereycken  75' (pen.)
Attendance: 47,864

Euro 1984

At UEFA Euro 1984[1] the road to the knockout stage seemed open after taking a 0–2 lead in their last group match against Denmark, but the Red Devils could not prevent Danish Dynamite to turn the tide in their favour.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  France (H) 3 3 0 0 9 2 +7 6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Denmark 3 2 0 1 8 3 +5 4
3  Belgium 3 1 0 2 4 8 −4 2
4  Yugoslavia 3 0 0 3 2 10 −8 0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host.
Belgium 2–0 Yugoslavia
Vandenbergh  28'
Grün  45'		 (Report)
Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
Attendance: 41,525
Referee: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden)
France 5–0 Belgium
Platini  4', 74' (pen.), 89'
Giresse  33'
Fernández  43'		 (Report)
Attendance: 51,359
Referee: Robert Valentine (Scotland)
Denmark 3–2 Belgium
Arnesen  41' (pen.)
Brylle  60'
Elkjær  84'		 (Report) Ceulemans  26'
Vercauteren  39'
La Meinau, Strasbourg
Attendance: 36,911
Referee: Adolf Prokop (East Germany)

Euro 2000

The Belgian team was one of the major disappointments of the 2000 edition with a first-round exit. This early exit was fairly unexpected since during the eight preparational friendlies for Euro 2000 under Robert Waseige Belgium played well,[2] winning three times convincingly and losing only once (2–1 against England). At Euro 2000, Belgium first won against Sweden with 2–1 via goals from Bart Goor in the 43rd minute and Émile Mpenza in the 46th minute against Sweden's one by Johan Mjallby in the 53rd minute after a terrible error of goalkeeper Filip De Wilde. In the second match, Belgium lost 2–0 against the eventual tournament's runners-up Italy by a header from Francesco Totti in the 5th minute and Stefano Fiore's Goal of the Tournament (according to Britain's Match of the Day) in the 66th minute.[3] In the crucial match where Belgium needed one more point to move ahead to the quarter-finals, they lost 2–0 against Turkey (two goals from Hakan Şükür in the 45th after another error of goalkeeper Filip De Wilde, and 70th minute). In the 83rd minute of that last group match, De Wilde even ended his Euro 2000, being sent off for attacking Arif Erdem outside the penalty area.[4]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 3 3 0 0 6 2 +4 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Turkey 3 1 1 1 3 2 +1 4
3  Belgium (H) 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 3
4  Sweden 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host.
Belgium 2–1 Sweden
Goor  43'
É. Mpenza  46'		 Report Mjällby  53'
Attendance: 46,700
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)
Italy 2–0 Belgium
Totti  6'
Fiore  66'		 Report
Attendance: 44,500
Turkey 2–0 Belgium
Hakan Ş.  45', 70' Report
Attendance: 43,000

Euro 2016
Main article: UEFA Euro 2016

Just like in Belgium's previous Euro tournament in 2000, Belgium lost 2–0 to Italy in the group phase.[5] In spite of winning with broad margins against the Republic of Ireland (3–0)[6] and Hungary (4–0) at UEFA Euro 2016,[7][8] Belgium's second very talented generation disappointed with a quarter-final exit. As during the tournament's qualifiers, Wales got the better of Belgium, with a 3–1 win.[9]

Group stage
Main article: UEFA Euro 2016 Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 6[lower-alpha 1] Advance to knockout phase
2  Belgium 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6[lower-alpha 1]
3  Republic of Ireland 3 1 1 1 2 4 −2 4
4  Sweden 3 0 1 2 1 3 −2 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head result: Belgium 0–2 Italy.
Belgium 0–2 Italy
Report
Attendance: 55,408[10]
Belgium 3–0 Republic of Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 39,493[11]
Sweden 0–1 Belgium
Report
Attendance: 34,011[12]
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Knockout phase
Main article: UEFA Euro 2016 knockout phase
Round of 16
Hungary 0–4 Belgium
Report
Stadium Municipal, Toulouse
Attendance: 28,921[13]
Quarter-finals
Wales 3–1 Belgium
 Report
Attendance: 45,936[14]

Euro 2020
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020

Group stage
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Denmark (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout phase
2  Finland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Belgium 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout phase based on ranking
4  Russia (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on 12 June 2021. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host.
Belgium Match 4 Russia
Report
Denmark Match 16 Belgium
Report
Finland Match 28 Belgium
Report

Overview

Tournaments

     Champions       Runners-up       Third place       Fourth place

Line-ups for the UEFA Euro 1980 Final in which Belgium (red) faced the European vice-champion West Germany (white). The respective coaches were Guy Thys and Jupp Derwall.
Belgium's UEFA European Championship record Qualification record
Host nation(s)
and year		 Round Pos Pld W D L GF GA Squad Outcome Pld W D L GF GA
1960 Did not enter Did not enter
1964 Did not qualify Preliminary loss 2 0 0 2 2 4
1968 2nd of 4 6 3 1 2 14 9
1972 Third place 3rd of 4 2 1 0 1 3 3 Squad Quarter-finals win 8 5 2 1 13 4
1976 Did not qualify 1st of 4, playoff loss 8 3 2 3 7 10
1980 Runners-up 2nd of 8 4 1 2 1 4 4 Squad 1st of 5 8 4 4 0 12 5
1984 Group stage 6th of 8 3 1 0 2 4 8 Squad 1st of 4 6 4 1 1 12 8
1988 Did not qualify 3rd of 5 8 3 3 2 16 8
1992 3rd of 4 6 2 1 3 7 6
1996 3rd of 6 10 4 3 3 17 13
2000 Group stage 12th of 16 3 1 0 2 2 5 Squad Qualified as hosts
2004 Did not qualify 3rd of 5 8 5 1 2 11 9
2008 5th of 8 14 5 3 6 14 16
2012 3rd of 6 10 4 3 3 21 15
2016 Quarter-finals 7th of 24 5 3 0 2 9 5 Squad 1st of 6 10 7 2 1 24 5
2020 Qualified 1st of 6 10 10 0 0 40 3
2024 To be determined
Total Best: runners-up 5/15 17 7 2 8 22 25 — Total 114 59 26 29 210 115
     Champions       Runners-up       Third place/semi-finalists  

Matches


Goalscorers
Player Goals 1972 1980 1984 2000 2016
Jan Ceulemans 2 11
Romelu Lukaku 2 2
Radja Nainggolan 2 2
Toby Alderweireld 1 1
Michy Batshuayi 1 1
Julien Cools 1 1
Yannick Carrasco 1 1
Eric Gerets 1 1
Bart Goor 1 1
Georges Grün 1 1
Eden Hazard 1 1
Raoul Lambert 1 1
Émile Mpenza 1 1
Odilon Polleunis 1 1
Paul Van Himst 1 1
Erwin Vandenbergh 1 1
René Vandereycken 1 1
Frank Vercauteren 1 1
Axel Witsel 1 1
Total 22 34429

See also

Notes
  1. Nielsen suffered an injury shortly before half-time and was replaced by fourth official Benkö.

References
  1. Gianni Brera (June 17, 1984). "Festival di Platini sul tetto d' Europa". la Repubblica (in Italian). p. 26.
  2. "Experimental Italy sinks Belgium clearly wins: 3–1". repubblica.it (in Italian). November 13, 1999.
  3. "Fiore strike scoops top spot". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1 July 2000. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
  4. Gianni Piva (June 20, 2000). "Hakan Sukur, 2 gol la Turchia in delirio". la Repubblica (in Italian). p. 58.
  5. Stefano Cantalupi (June 13, 2016). "Euro 2016, Belgium-Italy 0-2: goals from Giaccherini and Pellé, Conte at top of his group". gazzetta.it (in Italian).
  6. Angelo Carotenuto (June 19, 2016). "Nel segno di Lukaku il Belgio ritrova il suo passo da grande". la Repubblica (in Italian). p. 60.
  7. "Belgium ease to 3–0 victory vs. Rep. Ireland". ESPN FC. 18 Jun 2016. Archived from the original on 14 June 2016. Retrieved 2 Jul 2016.
  8. "Hazard shines as Belgium thrash Hungary". ESPN FC. 26 Jun 2016. Archived from the original on 21 July 2016. Retrieved 2 Jul 2016.
  9. "Wales stun Belgium to reach Euro semifinal". ESPN FC. 1 Jul 2016. Archived from the original on 21 July 2016. Retrieved 2 Jul 2016.
  10. "Full Time Summary – Belgium v Italy" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  11. "Full Time Summary – Belgium v Republic of Ireland" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 18 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  12. "Full Time Summary – Sweden v Belgium" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  13. "Full Time Summary – Hungary v Belgium" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  14. "Full Time Summary – Wales v Belgium" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
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