page_title: Belgium national football team records and statistics
section_title: General
hierarchical_section_title: Belgium national football team records and statistics / Appearances / General
caption_attribution_description: English: Belgian football player Hector Goetinck
context_page_description: The page currently shows the records as of 19 November 2019.
context_section_description: Most appearances
  Jan Vertonghen (2007–present), 118 caps
  The top 10 most capped players - players with an equal number of caps are ranked in chronological order of reaching the milestone.
  As of 19 November 2019. The records are collected based on data from FIFA and RSSSF. 
  Highlighted names denote a player still playing or available for selection.
  Most consecutive appearances
  Louis Carré, 50 games, from 22 May 1949 (vs  Wales) until 11 March 1956 (vs   Switzerland)
  Most appearances as a substitute
  Dries Mertens, 33 caps
  Most times substituted off
  Eden Hazard, 46 caps
  Most games started on the bench
  Simon Mignolet, 76 games
  Most selections (playing + non-playing)
  Jan Vertonghen, 123 selections
  Most selections as an unused substitute
  Simon Mignolet, 76 selections
  Most selections as an unused substitute without ever earning a cap
  Koen Casteels (still active), 35 selections & Jacques Duquesne, 16 selections
  Most selections needed to earn first cap
  Jean Valet, 15 selections
  Lowest caps to selections ratio (> 0)
  Jean Valet, 1/19
  Most selections without ever being an unused substitute
  Wesley Sonck, 55 selections
  Most appearances as a substitute without ever starting a game
  Tom Soetaers, 8 caps
  Most appearances while never playing an entire game
  Adnan Januzaj (still active), 12 caps & Tom Soetaers, 8 caps
  Most appearances in the starting eleven
  Jan Vertonghen, 113 caps
  Most caps earned while not playing the entire game
  Dries Mertens, 73 caps
  Most caps earned while only playing entire games
  Bernard Voorhoof, 61 caps
  Most caps earned while playing an entire game
  Jan Vertonghen, 103 caps
  Most caps without ever being substituted off
  Georges Heylens, 67 caps
  Most caps without ever appearing as a substitute
  Eric Gerets, 86 caps
  Most caps needed to first play an entire game
  Romelu Lukaku, 24 caps
  Most caps needed to first appear in the starting eleven
  Mbo Mpenza, 9 caps
  First player to reach a century of caps
  Jan Vertonghen, vs  Portugal on 2 June 2018
  Shortest time needed to reach a century of caps
  Eden Hazard, 10 years, 4 months and 5 days between his debut (vs  Luxembourg on 19 November 2008) and his 100th cap (vs  Cyprus on 24 March 2019)
  Longest Belgian career
  Hector Goetinck, 6402 days or 17 years, 6 months and 10 days between first (vs  France on 22 April 1906) and last cap (vs  England on 1 November 1923)
  Shortest Belgian career
  Joris Van Hout, 2 minutes (on 16 October 2002 vs  Estonia) & Brandon Mechele (still active), 2 minutes (on 13 October 2019 vs  Kazakhstan)
  Most consecutive calendar years of appearances
  Paul Van Himst (1960–'74) & Jan Ceulemans (1977–'91), 15 years
  Longest wait between appearances
  Hector Goetinck, 3476 days or 9 years, 6 months and 27 days, between his 16th (vs  Netherlands on 26 April 1914) and his 17th and final cap (vs  England on 1 November 1923)
  Appearances in three separate decades
  Georges Hebdin; 3 in the 1900s, 6 in the 1910s and 3 in 1920
  Hector Goetinck; 6 in the 1900s, 10 in the 1910s and 1 in 1923
  Bernard Voorhoof; 3 in 1928, 56 in the 1930s and 2 in 1940
  Vic Mees; 6 in 1949, 57 in the 1950s and 5 in 1960
  Wilfried Van Moer; 14 in the 1960s, 25 in the 1970s and 18 in the 1980s
  Jan Ceulemans; 10 in the 1970s, 75 in the 1980s and 11 in the 1990s
  Michel Preud'homme; 1 in 1979, 17 in the 1980s and 41 in the 1990s
  Eric Gerets; 19 in the 1970s, 57 in the 1980s and 10 in the 1990s
  Erwin Vandenbergh; 1 in 1979, 43 in the 1980s and 4 in the 1990s
  Filip De Wilde; 1 in 1989, 26 in the 1990s and 6 in 2000
  Danny Boffin; 2 in 1989, 39 in the 1990s and 14 in the 2000s
  Luc Nilis; 9 in the 1980s, 42 in the 1990s and 5 in 2000
  Smallest number of caps needed to appear in three separate decades
  Georges Hebdin, 10 caps (total number of caps obtained: 12)
  First player to debut as a substitute
  Louis Van Hege, vs  France on 9 March 1919
  Most times completed a game of 120 minutes
  Jan Ceulemans & Stéphane Demol, 4 games, both at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups
  First appearance by a player who was playing abroad
  Raymond Braine (Sparta Prague,  Czechoslovakia), vs  France on 14 April 1935
  First appearance by a player who h
caption: Hector Goetinck was the player with the longest career span, and the first national manager with the Belgian nationality.
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