Belgium naitional fitbaw team

The **Belgium naitional fitbaw team** (, ); (); (); represents Belgium in association fitbaw an is controllit bi the Ryal Belgian Fitbaw Association, the governin bodie fir fitbaw in Belgium. Belgium's hame groond is King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. Roberto Martínez is thair naitional manager. Thay are cawed the Reid Deeils (, ); (); ().

## Historie
Belgium playt its feerst offeecial gem on 1 Mey 1904, in a 3–3 draw versus France national football team.  Afore this gem, a Belgian selection playt severl matches, but the squad haed some Inglis players on it, sae thir irnae addit tae the caps.  Fir exampil, Belgium beat the Netherlands naitional fitbae team bi 8–0 on 28 Aprile 1901 wae the help o some Inglismen. It wis then decidit that Belgium wid play twa times a year against Netherlands beginnin frae 1905, generally wance in Antwerp an ance in Rotterdam (later Amsterdam).  At that time, the naitional squad wis chosen bi a committee o representatives o the 6 or 7 main squads.

The team wis nicknamit *The Red Deeils* bi jurnalist Pierre Walckiers efter its 3:2 victorie ower Netherlands (Rotterdam, 1906). The nickname stems frae the fact that fae the beginnin an up tae recently, the team's ane colours wir aw reid.

Ower the foalowin sax decades, Belgium establishit itsel as a strang seecond-tier team, nae eften in the runnin fir winnin a major tournament but ne'er easy tae han'l at hame or abroad. A key strengt a the team wis its systematit uiss o the offside trap, a defensive tactic developit in the 1960s at Anderlecht unner French coach Pierre Sinibaldi.

Thair maist successfu period stairtit when thay feenishit seecond in the UEFA Euro 1980. The 1980s an early 1990s ir generally considerit tae be the golden age o the national squad. Unner the lead o Guy Thys, who coachtt mair nor 100 officeel gems, Belgium establisht a reput o bein a physical, weel-organizit team that wis difficult tae play. The team's stere organisation wis reinforcit bi severl wurld-cless players sic as goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff, right-back Eric Gerets, midfielder Jan Ceulemans, playmaker Enzo Scifo an striker Luc Nilis.

Efter failing tae qualify fir the FIFA World Cup fir the feerst time syne 1978, the contract o national coach Aimé Anthuenis wisnae renewt beyond 2005, an it wis decidit on December 22, 2005 that René Vandereycken wid replace Anthuenis on Januar 1, 2006. The perfoarmances a the team didnae improve an Belgium slipped tae an aw-time law 71st poseetion in the FIFA Wurld Rankings in Juin 2007. Efter no qualifyin fir Euro 2008 an a generally pair performance in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, which ondit wae Belgium getin knocked oot, coach René Vandereycken wis sacked on the 7 Apryle 2009. Efter a 2–1 loss against Armenie on 9 September 2009, Vercauteren resignt an made wey fir new coach Dick Advocaat. Howe'er, on 15 Apryle 2010, Efter ony sixs months at the helm, Advocaat resignt as manager a the Belgian national team wae speculation that he wis tae acome coach a the Roushie national team. Georges Leekens wis annoonct as the next manager a the Belgian national team on 11 Mey 2010, signin a contract til 2012.  Thees is Leekens' seecond stint as national manager, haen previously managit the Reid Deeils fae 1997 tae 1999.

## Competitive record

### World Cup

Belgium qualified fir sax successit Wurld Cups fae 1982 throu 2002.
The Belgian team reachit the knockoot phase fev oot a sax times fae 1982 tae 2002, includin a streak o fower tournaments. wan a thair maist weel-kent victories wis a 1–0 win ower defendin champions Argentina, in the feerst gem a the 1982 World Cup held at Camp Nou wae a goal bi Erwin Vandenbergh.

Fower years efter thay achievitt thair best-ever Wurld Cup run in 1986 when thay placit fowrth unner command a players the lik o Jan Ceulemans, Eric Gerets an Jean-Marie Pfaff. Belgium won against favourites Soviet Union wae stamagast wae stars sic as Igor Belanov an Rinat Dasayev (3–4) efter extra time. Belgium beat Spain on penalties an aa, but thay loast tae eventual champions Argentina in the semifinal (0–2). In the third-place match Belgium loast tae France (2–4) efter extra time. Captain an midfielder Jan Ceulemans wis the feerst Belgian player tae be selectit in the Aw-Star Team o a World Cup. Enzo Scifo wis electit as best young player a the tournament.

In the 1990 World Cup, Belgium did weel agaunst Ingland, but eventually loast in the last meenut o extra time efter a goal bi David Platt. Enzo Scifo wis electit as seecond best player o the 1990 World Cup efter Lothar Matthäus.

In the 1994 Wurld Cup Belgium loast tae title defenders Germany in roond 2. Michel Preud'homme wis electit as best goalkeeper a the tournament an wis selectit in the Aw-Star Team.

In 1998 Belgium wis wan a anly twa squads, tigether wae wurld champion France no tae lose a singl gem. Three draws in the feerst roond – agaunst Netherlands, Mexico an South Korea – proovt no eneuch tae reach the knockoot stage. In 1998 Enzo Scifo an Franky Van Der Elst appearit in thair fowrth Wurld Cups, settin a Belgian record.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup didnae stairt weel fir Belgium, but the team improvt durin the toornament. Captain Marc Wilmots wis notable fir scorin in ev'ry matcha the feerst roond. In the seecond roond thay haed tae play agaunst eventual champions Brazil. Tae the connflumix a the Brazilians themsel, referee Peter Prendergast disallowt a goal bi Marc Wilmots that wid hae gien Belgium a 1–0 lead. Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari declarit efter the tournament that the match agaunst the Reid Deeils haed been the hardest wan fir Brazil tae win. The team did win the toornament's fair-play awaird. Marc Wilmots equallt the record a Enzo Scifo an Franky Van Der Elst bi appearin in 4 Wurld Cup squads, althou he didnae play in his feerst Wurld Cup in 1990. Wilmots scored his 5t World Cup goal agaunst Roushie an aa, which made him Belgium's tap scorer in Wurld Cup Finals matches.

### European Championship
Belgium's performance in the European Championship disnae match its Wurld Cup record. The best result is nae doot the unexpectit seecond place at the 1980 edition in Italy efter a nairae loass (1–2) tae Waist Germany in the finaw. Belgium hosted or co-hosted the event twice, feenishin third in 1972 (when thay wir chosen amongst the fower semi-finalists tae host the event) an bein wan a the major disappointments o the 2000 edition wae a feerst-roond exit. Belgium feerst won agaunst Swaden 2–1 via goals frae Bart Goor in the 43rd meenut an Emile Mpenza in the 46th meenut agaunst Swaden's wan bi Johan Mjallby in the 53rd meenut efter a muck;e awfu error a goalkeepr Filip De Wilde. But then, Belgium loast 2–0 agaunst Italy (goals frae Francesco Totti in the 5t meenut an Stefano Fiore in the 66th minute) an 2–0 agaunst Turkey (twa goals frae Hakan Şükür in the 45th efter anither error a goalkeeper Filip De Wilde, an 70th meenut). In the 83rd meenut o that last group gem, Filip De Wilde e'en endit his Euro 2000, bein sent aff fir attackin Arif Erdem ootside the penalty aurie.

### Olympic Games
Belgium won the Olympic Gowd Medal in 1920

*1900:  **Bronze medal**
*1920:  **Gowd medal**
*1924: 1/16 finals
*1928: 1/4 finals
*2008: **4t Place**

*Note: Fitbaw at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since 1992.*

## Euro 2012 qualifications

## 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

## Current squad
The foalowin players it the squad who wir namit fir the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Serbia an Scotland on 12 an 16 October 2012.

*Caps an goals are correct as of October 16, 2012.*

### Recent call-ups

The foalowin players hae been cawd up fir the team in the last twal months.

## Statistics

### Most capped
*As of 29 march 2022 after Belgium - Burkina Faso*
*See also [[Progression of Belgium association football caps record]].*

***Bold*** *denotes still active players*

### Top scorers
*See an aa [[Progression of Belgium association football goalscoring record]]*

### Youngest players
The tap 10 youngest players who made thair debut for the naitional fitbaw team o Belgium.

## Coaches

## Historical Kits

## See also

* Belgium naitional youth fitbaw team (U-17, U-18, U-19, U20, U21, U23 Squads)
* Belgium weemen's naitional fitbaw team

## References

## External links
*Footbel.be website – Belgian FA offeecial wabsteid
*Footbel.be website –  Belgian national team news wabsteid
*Footbel.be/National team statistics page/ 
*The Red Devils Archive 
*RSSSF archive of results 1904–
*RSSSF  archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
*RSSSF archive of coaches 1904–
*IFFHS Archive:1904–1910