Throughout their history, the Belgium national team have played at 24 home locations in 12 urban areas,[1] most often in the country's Capital Region, Brussels. The national King Baudouin Stadium, with a capacity of 50,024 people,[2] is the usual playing ground nowadays. At this location, the majority of the Red Devils' home matches took place. Other stadiums (with a smaller capacity) are normally assigned as home ground in case a rather small audience is to be expected or when the national stadium is in repair.
History
edit
Belgium's first official match in 1904 was a home game, at the Stade du Vivier d'Oie in Uccle.[3] Before their first official match in the national Jubilee Stadium in Brussels in 1931, the Red Devils made 67 home appearances in the current urban areas of Antwerp, Brussels, Liège, Seraing and Verviers. In that era, Antwerp and its surroundings often hosted the Belgian home matches (32 times), mostly explained by the frequent confrontations against the national team of Antwerp's neighbouring country Netherlands, and the 1920 Olympics football tournament held at the Olympisch Stadion (the "Kiel").
From 1931 on, the large majority of the home games have been played in the stadium at the Heysel plain in Brussels. Inaugurated as "Jubilee Stadium" in 1930 with an unofficial match against Netherlands,[4] and renamed "Heysel Stadium" in 1946, it underwent a drastical transformation in 1995. From then on, the stadium was named after the late King Baudouin I. Also over the totality of home games since 1904, the location of the current King Baudouin Stadium accounts for the majority of home games played. In May 2013, it was announced that the King Baudouin Stadium would be demolished to create place for housing and that a new stadium would arise nearby at the Heysel.[5] In December of that year the involved parties agreed that this new stadium would no longer contain an athletic track as is currently the case.[6] However, the plans for the new stadium were shelved when no building permit for it was awarded.[7]
Some Belgian home stadiums have served as background for major tournaments when they hosted the 1920 Olympics (including its football tournament) and the 1972 and 2000 European Championships. In September 2014 Brussels was assigned as one of the 13 host cities for the 2020 European Championship, with an upcoming new stadium ("Eurostadium") as venue for four tournament matches.[8] However, the UEFA later awarded the games to the Wembley Stadium when delays were causing uncertainty whether the new stadium in Brussels would be completed in time.[9]
List of home stadiums
editSome stadiums were given different names at different times; only the official name at the last time the national team played is mentioned below. Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only;[A] unofficial games can be found here.
| Number of matches |
Stadium | City area (town/quarter) | First international | Opponent | Last international | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 219 | King Baudouin Stadium | Brussels* (City of Brussels) | 11 October 1931 |  Poland
|
19 November 2023 |  Azerbaijan
|
| 40 | Bosuilstadion | Antwerp (Deurne) | 1 November 1923 |  England
|
12 October 1988 |  Brazil
|
| 28 | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium | Brussels* (Anderlecht) | 27 October 1965 |  Bulgaria
|
29 March 2022 |  Burkina Faso
|
| 19 | Stade Maurice Dufrasne | Liège (Sclessin) | 2 January 1927 |  Czechoslovakia
|
31 August 2017 |  Gibraltar
|
| 15 | Olympisch Stadion | Antwerp (Kiel) | 29 August 1920 |  Spain
|
7 September 2005 |  San Marino
|
| 12 | Edmond Machtens Stadium | Brussels* (Sint-Jans-Molenbeek) | 21 May 1921 | England
|
22 April 1995 |  United States
|
| 10 | Beerschot Stadion | Antwerp (Kiel) | 30 April 1905 |  Netherlands
|
15 March 1914 | Netherlands
|
| 7 | Stade du Vivier d'Oie | Brussels* (Uccle) | 1 May 1904 |  France
|
9 March 1919 | France
|
| 6 | Den Dreef | Leuven (Heverlee) | 11 November 2020 |  Switzerland
|
15 November 2023 |  Serbia
|
| 5 | Longchamps | Brussels* (Uccle) | 18 April 1908 | England
|
17 July 1920 | England
|
| 5 | Albert Dyserynck Stadion | Bruges (Sint-Andries) | 22 October 1966 | Switzerland
|
1 June 1974 |  Scotland
|
| 4 | Parc Duden | Brussels* (Forest) | 6 March 1921 | France
|
11 May 1929 | England
|
| 4 | Stade Vélodrome de Rocourt | Liège (Rocourt) | 15 April 1922 |  Denmark
|
14 May 1939 | Switzerland
|
| 4 | Stade du Pays de Charleroi | Charleroi | 23 February 1946 |  Luxembourg
|
4 September 2004 |  Lithuania
|
| 4 | Jan Breydel Stadium | Bruges (Sint-Andries) | 23 August 1989 | Denmark
|
14 November 2017 |  Japan
|
| 3 | Jules Ottenstadion | Ghent (Gentbrugge) | 11 June 2003 |  Andorra
|
9 February 2011 |  Finland
|
| 3 | Cristal Arena | Genk (Waterschei) | 24 May 2006 |  Turkey
|
28 March 2009 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
| 2 | Stadion aan de Broodstraat | Antwerp (Kiel) | 20 February 1912 | Switzerland
|
23 November 1913 |  Germany
|
| 2 | Stade du Panorama | Verviers | 2 November 1913 | Switzerland
|
7 November 1971 | Luxembourg
|
| 2 | Stade du Pont d'Ougrée | Seraing (Ougrée) | 13 December 1925 |  Austria
|
25 May 1930 | France
|
| 1 | Cointe | Liège (Cointe) | 23 April 1911 | Germany
|
23 April 1911 | Germany
|
| 1 | Rue du Forest | Brussels* (Forest) | 30 April 1911 | France
|
30 April 1911 | France
|
| 1 | Regenboogstadion | Waregem | 9 October 1968 | Finland
|
9 October 1968 | Finland
|
| 1 | Daknamstadion | Lokeren (Daknam) | 20 September 1978 |  Norway
|
20 September 1978 | Norway
|
| 385 | 24 locations | 12 urban regions | 1 May 1904 | France |
19 November 2023 | Azerbaijan
|
- *"Brussels" does not refer to the City of Brussels, but the entire Brussels Capital Region. The towns between brackets are independent municipalities within this region.
Notes
edit- ^ Note that the home friendly against Luxembourg at the Cristal Arena on 26 May 2014 is not FIFA-recognised due to an excessive number of substitutions.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b "Belgium national football team match results". eu-football.info. Retrieved 5 Sep 2013.
- ^ "First Division Clubs in Europe Address List 2011/2012" (PDF). UEFA.
- ^ "Belgium v France − a 109-year-old rivalry". UEFA. 13 Aug 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-06-25.
- ^ Stokkermans, Karel (6 Mar 2014). "The "Derby der Lage Landen"". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- ^ Sels, Geert (25 May 2013). "Koning Boudewijnstadion wordt afgebroken". De Standaard (in Dutch).
- ^ Verschueren, Rogier (2 Dec 2013). "Nationaal stadion zonder atletiekpiste op Heizel". De Standaard (in Dutch).
- ^ Van Thillo, Jorn (30 January 2018). "Schauvliege weigert vergunning voor Eurostadion" [Shauvliege refuses permit for Eurostadium]. De Standaard (in Flemish). Retrieved 2018-11-05.
- ^ "Wembley to stage UEFA EURO 2020 final". UEFA. 19 Sep 2014.
- ^ "Euro 2020: Wembley to host seven matches after Brussels loses right to host games". BBC Sport. 7 December 2017.
- ^ "Belgium - List of International Matches". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2 Sep 2013.
- ^ "Rules & Governance - Law 3: The number of players". The Football Association. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 25 Oct 2014.