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The Belgium national football team is the national Football team of Belgium and is controlled by the Belgian Football Association . HISTORY Belgium played its first official game on May 1 , 1904 in a 3-3 draw against France . Prior to this match, a Belgian selection played several matches, but the squad contained some English players, so these are not added to the caps. For example, Belgium beat Netherlands by 8-0 on April 28 , 1901 with the help of some Englishmen. It was then decided that Belgium would play twice a year against Netherlands beginning from 1905, generally once in Antwerp and once in Rotterdam (later {Link without Title} ]). At that time, the national squad was chosen by a committee of representatives of the 6 or 7 main clubs. The team was nicknamed ''The Red Devils'' by journalist Pierre Walckiers after its 3:2 victory over Netherlands (Rotterdam, 1906). Over the next six decades, Belgium established itself as a strong second-tier team, rarely in the running for winning a major tournament but never easy to handle at home or abroad. A key strength of the team was its systematic use of the Offside Trap , a defensive tactic developed in the 1960 s at Anderlecht under French coach Pierre Sinibaldi. The 1980s and early 1990s are generally considered the strongest period of the national team. Under the lead of Guy Thys , who coached more than 100 official games, Belgium established a reputation of being a physical, well-organized team that was hard to play against. The team's rigorous organization was reinforced by several world-class players such as goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff , right-back Eric Gerets , midfielder Jan Ceulemans , and playmaker Enzo Scifo . Performances were typically poor against lower-ranked teams, but nearly always inspired against top teams. Until as recently as 2002 , world-class national teams did not like the prospect of playing the ''Red Devils''--not even eventual champions Brazil , who won 2-0 with some difficulty in the knockout phase of the 2002 World Cup . Since then, however, the team has steadily slipped down the rankings, and has not been able to extend its past reputation. After failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup for the first time in 24 years, the contract of national coach Aimé Anthuenis was not renewed beyond 2005, and it was decided on December 22 , 2005 that René Vandereycken would replace Anthuenis on January 1 , 2006 . On August 16 of that year, they started their new campaign against Kazakhstan and although the team had made the confidence of the home public grow through some promising performances from new talented young players against teams as Slovakia and Turkey , they played awfully and did not manage to get past the team from Kazakhstan. The situation got worse after also losing the home game against Poland on November 15 of that year. Qualification already seemed far away. WORLD CUP RECORD Belgium's World Cup appearance record reflects the unusual depth of footballing talent for a country of this size, in the manner of the Czech Republic , the Netherlands , or Sweden . The country qualified for six successive World Cups - ( 1982 - 2002 ), a total only surpassed by Italy (12), Argentina (9) and Spain (8). Every other nation with an equal or longer string of appearances has had the streak "interrupted" by automatic qualification as the host or the defending champion. (The 2006 tournament was the first for which the defending champion does not automatically qualify.) Playing inspired against other teams in the World Cup, they have reached the knockout phase five out of six times from 1982 to 2002, including a streak of four tournaments. One of their most famous victories was a 1-0 win over defending champions Argentina , in the first game of the 1982 World Cup held at Camp Nou with a great goal of Erwin Vandenbergh . Four years later they achieved their best-ever World Cup run in 1986 when they placed fourth under command of players like Jan Ceulemans , Eric Gerets and Jean-Marie Pfaff . Belgium surprisely won against favourites Soviet-Union with stars such as Igor Belanov and Rinat Dasayev (3-4) after extra time. Belgium also beat Spain with penalties, but they lost to eventual champions Argentina in the semifinal (0-2). In the third-place match Belgium lost to France (2-4) after extra time. Captain and midfielder Jan Ceulemans was the first Belgian player to be selected in the All-Star Team of a World Cup. Despite being knocked out in the 2nd round, the team's general performance in the 1990 was considered even better than 4 years before. Belgium dominated England, but eventually lost in the last minute of extra time after a goal by David Platt . Enzo Scifo was elected as best young player of the tournament. In the 1994 World Cup Belgium lost to title defenders Germany in round 2. This match became most memorable because of a disputed decision by referee Kurt Röthlisberger . The team was not awarded a penalty when Josip Weber became tripped inside the penalty area. Michel Preud'homme was elected as best goalkeeper of the tournament and he was selected in the All-Star Team. In 1998 Belgium were the only team, together with World Champion France not to lose one game. Three draws in the first round proved not enough, however, to reach the knock-out stage. It was the 4the time Enzo Scifo and Franky Van Der Elst appeared in a World Cup which is a Belgian record. The FIFA World Cup 2002 started not very well for Belgium, but the team improved during the tournament. Captain Marc Wilmots was notable for scoring in every match of the first round. In the second round they had to play against eventual champions Brazil . Similar to 1994, the match was strongly influenced by a disputed referee decision. Even to the surprise of the Brazilians themselves, referee Peter Prendergast cancelled the 1-0 scored by Marc Wilmots. After this, the match went in favour of Brazil. Brazilian bondscoach Luiz Felipe Scolari would declare after the tournament that the match against the Red Devils had been the hardest for Brazil to win. The team did win the tournament's fair-play award. Marc Wilmots equaled the record of Enzo Scifo and Franky Van Der Elst to appear in 4 World Cups. He also scored his 5th World Cup goal against Russia , which made him the Belgian topscorer in World Cups.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD Belgium's performance in the European Championships does not match its World Cup record. The best result is no doubt the unexpected second place at the 1980 edition in Italy after a narrow defeat (1-2) to West Germany in the final. Belgium hosted or co-hosted the event twice, finishing third in 1972 and being one of the major disappointments of the 2000 edition with a first-round exit.
OLYMPICS RECORD Belgium won the Olympic Gold Medal in 1920 , and the Bronze Medal in 1900 . On June 16, 2007, Belgium qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics Games through a 2-2 draw with their neighbors, the Netherlands. For more info, see 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship . SELECTIONS TOURNAMENTS ''' 1930 Football World Cup Uruguay -. 1934 Football World Cup Italy -. 1938 Football World Cup France -. 1954 Football World Cup Switzerland 1. 1970 Football World Cup Mexico 1. 1972 European Football Championship Belgium -. 1980 European Football Championship Italy '''SECOND PLACE''' 1. 1982 Football World Cup Spain 1. 1984 European Football Championship France 1. 1986 Football World Cup Mexico '''FOURTH PLACE''' 1. 1990 Football World Cup Italy 1. 1994 Football World Cup USA 1. 1998 Football World Cup France 1. 2000 European Football Championship Belgium/Netherlands 1. 2002 Football World Cup Korea/Japan 1. CURRENT SQUAD The following players have all recently been called up to the Belgian squad. Caps as of 22 August 2007 DISTINGUISHED PLAYERS As of August 22 , 2007 the 40 most capped players for Belgium are: Other notable players who have represented Belgium include (note, this is not a comprehensive list):
TOP BELGIUM GOALSCORERS ''As of August 22 , 2007 :''
COACHES Before 1910, a committee of the Belgian federation selected the players.
LINKS: Belgium National Under-21 Football Team Belgium National Youth Football Team (U-17, U-18, U-19, U20, U23 Squads) EXTERNAL LINKS
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