Belgium

General Information

As of April 2024, the Belgian national team held third place in the official FIFA ranking. Their first match in history was played on May 1, 1904 against France (1-1), their biggest win came on February 28, 2001 over San Marino (10-1), and their worst defeats were suffered on May 11, 1927 from England (1-9) and October 4, 1959 from the Netherlands (1-9). The team is known by the nickname "Red Devils."

The Belgian national team finished third at the World Cup in 2018 and won silver at the European Championship in 1980 and bronze at the European Championship in 1972. Olympic champion in 1920.

Squad

In the Euro-2024 match against Ukraine, Belgium's head coach Domenico Tedesco will be able to rely on 24 players.

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois ("Wolfsburg", Germany), Thomas Kaminski ("Luton", England), Matz Sels ("Nottingham Forest", England).

Defenders: Timothy Castagne ("Fulham", England), Wesley Fofana ("Leicester City", England), Thomas Meunier ("Trabzonspor", Turkey), Arthur Theate ("Rennes", France), Youri Tielemans ("Aston Villa", England), Zeno Debast, Jan Vertonghen (both — "Anderlecht").

Midfielders: Kevin de Bruyne, Jeremy Doku (both — "Manchester City", England), Yannick Carrasco ("Al-Shabab", Saudi Arabia), Charles De Ketelaere ("Milan", Italy), Orel Manga ("Nottingham Forest", England), Amadou Onana ("Everton", England), Arthur Verheyen, Axel Witsel (both — "Atletico Madrid", Spain), Ander Vrancken ("Wolfsburg", Germany), Maxime De Keyzer ("Brugge").

Forwards: Jean-Baptiste Bakambu (PSV, Netherlands), Romelu Lukaku ("Chelsea", England), Lois Openda ("RB Leipzig", Germany), Thorgan Hazard ("Arsenal", England).

It should be noted that the participation of defender Thomas Meunier and midfielder Axel Witsel in the match against Ukraine is questionable due to minor injuries.

Head Coach

The 38-year-old German-Italian specialist Domenico Tedesco has been coaching the Belgian national team since February 8, 2023. He replaced Spaniard Roberto Martinez on this position.

Prior to this, Tedesco worked with German "Erzgebirge Aue", "Schalke", "RB Leipzig" and Russian "Spartak Moscow". With "RB Leipzig," he won the German Cup (2021/2022).

Under Tedesco, Belgium's national team has played 16 matches, winning 11 times, drawing four times, and losing once.

Leader

The current undisputed leader of the Belgian national team is midfielder Kevin de Bruyne of English "Manchester City."

At 32 years old, De Bruyne has played 103 matches for Belgium, scoring 28 goals. In his career, he has played for "Genk," "Chelsea," "Werder Bremen," and "Wolfsburg."

With "Genk," De Bruyne won the Belgian championship (2010/2011), the Belgian Cup (2008/2009), and the Belgian Super Cup (2011). With "Wolfsburg," he became the German Cup champion (2014/2015) and the German Super Cup champion (2015).

With "Manchester City," he is currently a six-time English Premier League champion (2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, 2023/2024), a two-time FA Cup champion (2018/2019, 2022/2023), and a five-time EFL Cup champion (2015/2016, 2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021). In the 2022/2023 season, he won the UEFA Champions League.

With Belgium's national team, Kevin de Bruyne won bronze at the World Cup in 2018.

Recall that the match between Ukraine and Belgium will take place on June 26 in Stuttgart at the "Stadion am Neckar" (kickoff at 7 PM).