2011–12 in Belgian football
The 2011–12 football season in Belgium, which is the 109th season of competitive football in the country and runs from July 2011 until June 2012. National team football. Men's national football team. The Belgian national team started the 2011–12 season knowing they were still undefeated in 2011, but also knowing that they needed to make up for earlier mistakes during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. With Germany topping the qualifying group with the maximum number of points after seven matches, the battle for second place and the resulting play-offs place was between Belgium  and Turkey. Turkey was one point down, but had a game in hand. On 2 September 2011, all looked fine for the Belgians until the last few minutes, as Rauf Aliyev scored the equalizer for Azerbaijan against Belgium in Baku, while on the same day, Turkey scored a 96th-minute winner against Kazakhstan. Turkey now lead Belgium by one point and had a game in hand. Four days later, Belgium partially recovered mentally by beating the United States in a friendly, while Turkey dropped points away to Austria, only drawing 0–0. Turkey lost second place again as they were beaten  1–3 at home to Germany, while Belgium successfully put Kazakhstan away 4–1. On the last matchday, however, Belgium needed to match the result of Turkey and while Turkey hosted Azerbaijan, Belgium played an away game in Germany, who had won all their matches so far. The miracle did not happen for Belgium as they lost 3–1 and Turkey won 1–0, causing Belgium to miss out on yet another major tournament, still waiting for one since the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The general feeling in Belgium was one of a missed chance, as the Belgian team had shown promising football throughout  the campaign, but often were not able to get or hold on to a needed result. Too many mistakes were made during the campaign, with many citing the 4–4 home draw with Austria, the 1–1 home draw with Turkey and the 1–1 away draw with Azerbaijan, which all should have been won. Coach Georges Leekens, however, not blamed, as his goal was to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. After the unsuccessful Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, Belgium continued with a series of friendlies to bridge the gap until the start of the 2014 World Cup qualification matches in September 2012 . In November, Belgium overpowered Romania in a friendly in Liège, but only won 2–1 before drawing 0–0 with France in Paris. In February, a mediocre match in and against Greece resulted in a 1–1 draw. On 13 May, the Belgian soccer fans were shocked as head coach Georges Leekens decided to quit his position and become the head coach at Club Brugge. Assistant coach Marc Wilmots was persuaded to take over the position as caretaker, while the Royal Belgian Football Association looked for a new candidate. Wilmots led the team in a 2–2 friendly draw at home against Montenegro and  a 1–0 loss against England at Wembley Stadium. In the week following these matches, Wilmots was appointed as the head coach of the national team. Men's national under-21 team. U-21 Championship qualifiers. The Belgium under-21 squad is currently in Group 8 of the qualification process for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. This leaves two matches, home to Norway and home to Iceland to be played in the next season. Promotion and relegation. Team promoted to 2011–12 Belgian Pro League Teams relegated from 2010–11 Belgian Pro League Teams promoted to 2011–12 Belgian Second Division Teams relegated from 2010 -11 Belgian Second Division European Club results. Genk and Standard Liège participated in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, while Westerlo, Club Brugge and Anderlecht started respectively in the second qualifying round, third qualifying round and playoff round of the Europa League.