Belgium are gearing up for a 15th FIFA World Cup™ campaign and a fourth straight appearance on the global game’s greatest stage. After having punched their ticket to the 2026 extravaganza – the first edition under the expanded 48-team format – the Red Devils will be out to emulate or better their exploits at the 2018 event in Russia, where they clinched the final podium place. Should the Western Europeans repeat that feat, it would go a long way towards erasing the miserable memories of Qatar 2022, where they sensationally crashed out after the group stage.
Belgium head coach: Rudi Garcia
When he was handed the reins of the Belgian national team in January 2025 following the dismissal of Domenico Tedesco, Rudi Garcia was tasked with steadying the ship and engineering an upturn in fortunes. The French tactician’s maiden foray into national-team football began with the small matter of a two-legged UEFA Nations League play-off showdown against Ukraine in March. After his charges were on the wrong side of an ominous-looking 3-1 humbling in the teams’ first meeting, Garcia and his troops had it all to do back in Genk. Roared on by a partisan crowd and with two-goal hero Romelu Lukaku at his battering-ram best, the Belgians breezed to a barnstorming 3-0 triumph to retain their League A status.
That morale-boosting victory injected a feel-good factor amongst the Belgian squad on the back of Tedesco’s rather underwhelming reign. A number of months later, Garcia delivered on his main objective by securing the team’s place at the FIFA World Cup 2026™. Although he may be somewhat of a rookie on the international stage, Garcia boasts a wealth of managerial experience in the club game. One of the crowning moments of his coaching career came when he led Lille to a Ligue 1 and Coupe de France double in the 2010-11 season. He subsequently enjoyed spells in charge of Roma, Marseille and Lyon and was appointed the Red Devils’ chief following a short stint in the Napoli dugout.
Belgium’s World Cup 2026 fixtures and group
FIFA World Cup 2026 match schedule
How Belgium qualified for World Cup 2026
The Belgians topped Group J of the UEFA preliminaries. Garcia oversaw five wins and three draws in his side’s eight outings, with the team assuring themselves of a spot in North America in their group-stage curtain-closer against Liechtenstein, in which they strolled to a 7-0 success.
Belgium’s World Cup history
Belgium’s first World Cup
The Red Devils cut their teeth on the global stage at the inaugural instalment of FIFA’s flagship men’s event back in 1930. The Belgians bowed out after the group stage following a 3-0 defeat to USA and a 1-0 reverse at the hands of Paraguay. Despite failing to hit the heights, Hector Goetinck’s charges could take comfort from being amongst the tournament trailblazers who laid the foundations for the nation’s subsequent appearances at the global showpiece.
Belgium’s last World Cup
Roberto Martinez’s men flattered to deceive at the FIFA World Cup 2022™ as they failed to negotiate their way out of Group F. The Belgians opened their campaign with a lacklustre 1-0 victory over a profligate Canadian team, with Michy Batshuayi’s clinical finish separating the sides. However, the fancied Europeans failed to build on that triumph in their second outing, in which another laboured performance yielded a 2-0 defeat to Morocco. In the must-win
match-up against Croatia, Martinez’s out-of-sorts side could only manage a scoreless stalemate, a result that meant that the 2018 finalists progressed at their expense. The desperately disappointing showing on Arab soil proved to be the latest in a series of what-might-have-been campaigns for those of a Belgian persuasion, with the sense of frustration heightened by the fact that it spelt the end of the road for the nation’s fabled golden generation.
Belgium’s World Cup top scorers
Prolific poachers Marc Wilmots and Romelu Lukaku top Belgium’s World Cup scoring charts with five goals apiece. Former attacking ace Wilmots achieved his haul in just eight outings across four editions of the tournament. After barely featuring at the 1990 and 1994 editions, the then Schalke sharpshooter bagged a brace in his side’s 2-2 draw against Mexico at the 1998 World Cup in France before netting in all three group-stage matches in Japan and Korea Republic four years later.
His country’s all-time leading marksman, Lukaku has registered five times in 12 appearances on the game’s ultimate stage. The Antwerp-born baller opened his account at the 2014 event in Brazil, where, after entering the fray at the start of extra time, he finished smartly past the imperious Tim Howard to put Belgium a couple of goals to the good in their 2-1 victory over the USA at the round-of-16 stage. On Russian soil in 2018, he notched four times in six appearances, plundering doubles in the Red Devils’ opening two matches, against Panama and Tunisia.
Belgium’s record World Cup appearance maker
Erstwhile string-pulling midfield maestro Enzo Scifo is widely regarded as one of the most talented Belgians to have graced the beautiful game. An immensely gifted engine-room orchestrator, Scifo was blessed with immaculate technique and jaw-dropping vision that enabled him to tip even the most fiercely contested of encounters in his side’s favour at the drop of a hat. After earning his maiden cap as a fresh-faced 18-year-old, Scifo leads the way in his country’s World Cup appearance standings, having featured no fewer than 17 times across the four editions contested between 1986 and 1998.
The Anderlecht academy graduate shone particularly brightly at Mexico 1986, with his dazzling displays guiding Belgium to the semi-finals and earning him recognition as the competition’s outstanding young player. Four years later, he once again played an instrumental role as the Red Devils enjoyed a run to the last 16, with his long-range humdinger in the group-stage clash with Uruguay proving to be one of the tournament’s standout strikes. Scifo called time on his international career after France 1998, bowing out with 84 caps and 18 goals to his name.
Belgium’s memorable World Cup moments
The Belgium squad at the 1986 edition of the global showpiece etched their names into the nation’s footballing folklore by earning a groundbreaking fourth-place finish on Mexican soil. Despite succumbing 2-1 to the hosts in their curtain-raiser, the Belgians bounced back to squeeze past Iraq by the same scoreline before sharing a 2-2 draw with Paraguay that was enough to take them through as one of the best third-placed teams.
In a topsy-turvy last-16 tussle with the Soviet Union, in which they twice trailed, the Red Devils limped into the quarter-finals, running out 4-3 winners after extra time. Next up for Scifo and Co was a showdown with Spain, whom they ultimately overcame on penalties after the sides had served up a 1-1 stalemate after 120 minutes of rip-roaring action. The Belgians’ bid to garner global glory was cut short in the semi-final showdown against a Diego Maradona-inspired Argentina, with the eventual champions easing to a 2-0 victory courtesy of a brace from their talismanic skipper. In the contest for third place, France handed the Red Devils a dose of the blues as they powered to a 4-2 win after extra time.
For over three decades, the fourth-place finish secured by Belgium’s class of 1986 was the country’s best showing on the World Cup stage, with the Belgian faithful made to wait until the 2018 tournament to witness their side eclipse that feat.
After waltzing their way through the group stage with signature swagger, Martinez’s marvels headed into the round of 16 in fine fettle. However, in the battle for a quarter-final berth with Japan, the star-studded Europeans found themselves 2-0 down with 52 minutes on the clock and staring down the barrel before conjuring up a colossal comeback that was completed in the dying seconds. In the last-eight encounter with formidable five-time titlists Brazil, the red-hot Belgians sent shockwaves reverberating through the tournament, courtesy of a statement 2-1 win that owed much to their collective strength and Thibaut Courtois’ heroics between the sticks.
The semi-finals proved a step too far for Belgium, who came up agonisingly short against eventual winners France in a 1-0 reverse. However, they dusted themselves down and signed off on a high after getting the better of England – for the second time at the tournament – in the bout for bronze, with that third-place finish representing the nation’s finest hour on the game’s grandest stage.
