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|World cup apps = 12 |World cup first = 1930 |World cup best = Fourth place, 1986 |Regional name = European Championship |Regional cup apps = 5 |Regional cup first = 1972 |Regional cup best = Runners-up, 1980 |medaltemplates = }} The Belgian national football team has officially represented Belgium in association football since 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian team's supervising body, the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA). Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938 and 1970 to 2002, have alternated with major difficulties in qualifying. Most of Belgium's home matches are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. Belgium's national team have participated in three quadrennial major football competitions. They appeared in the end stages of twelve FIFA World Cups and four UEFA European Football Championships, and won the 1920 Olympic football gold medal. Other notable performances are victories over four reigning world champions—, , and —between 1954 and 2002. Belgium has longstanding football rivalries with their Dutch and French counterparts, having played both teams nearly every year from 1905 to 1967. The squad has been known as ''the Red Devils'' since 1906, and its supporters' group is named 1895. Football gained popularity in Belgium in the late 19th century. In 1900, the idea came up to create a team with Belgium's best football players. After winning four games at the three Olympic football tournaments in the 1920s, the team failed to win matches at any major tournament finals in the next four decades. Around 1970, striker Paul Van Himst—the most-praised Belgian footballer of the 20th century—played for the national team; their fortunes revived and they took third place at Euro 1972. The Belgian national squad experienced two golden ages with many gifted players. The first period lasted from the 1980s to the early 1990s, with the team finishing as runners-up at Euro 1980 and fourth in the 1986 World Cup. The second golden generation emerged under guidance of Marc Wilmots in the early 2010s. This group reached the 2014 World Cup quarter-finals and qualified for Euro 2016. They topped the FIFA World Rankings for the first time in November 2015. ==History== (詳細はJosephites College of Melle with a leather ball on 26 October 1863. Initially, association football was an elitist pastime, but during the following decades it supplanted rugby as Belgium's most popular football sport. On 1 September 1895, ten clubs for football, athletics, cricket and cycling founded the Belgian sports union UBSSA;〔 a year later UBSSA organised the first annual league in Belgian football. On 11 October 1900, Beerschot AC honorary president Jorge Díaz announced that Antwerp would host a series of challenge matches between Europe's best football teams. After some organisational problems, on 28 April 1901, Beerschot's pitch hosted its first tournament: the Challenge F. Vanden Abeele, between a Belgian A-squad and a Dutch B-team. Belgium won 8–0, and also beat Netherlands in all three follow-up games (1–0, 2–1, 6–4).〔See: * , * .〕 FIFA does not recognise these results because Belgium fielded some English players. On 1 May 1904, the Belgians played their first official game, against France at the Stade Vivier d'Oie in Uccle; the teams drew 3–3, leaving the Évence Coppée Trophy unclaimed.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=UEFA )〕 Twenty days later, the football boards of both countries and five other nations founded FIFA.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=FIFA )〕 At that time, the Belgian squad was chosen by a committee drawn from the country's six-or-seven major clubs. In 1905, Belgium and the Netherlands began competing for cup trophies in the biannual Low Countries derby. After a 1905 match, a Dutch reporter wrote that three Belgian footballers "work() as devils". A year later Léopold FC manager Pierre Walckiers nicknamed the players "Red Devils", inspired by the colour of their jerseys and the achievement of three consecutive victories in 1906.〔 In 1910, Scottish former footballer William Maxwell became the first manager of the Red Devils.〔 Two years later, UBSSA began governing football only and was renamed UBSFA.〔 During the First World War, the national team played only unrecognised friendlies in (and against) France.〔(【引用サイトリンク】website=eu-football.info )〕 Three Belgian international players died in the war. In 1920, in their first official Olympic appearance, the Red Devils won the gold medal on home soil after a controversial final in which their Czechoslovak opponents left the pitch.〔 After fair results in the three 1920s Summer Olympics (four wins in seven games),〔〔〔 Belgium lost all of their matches at the first three FIFA World Cup final tournaments over the following decade.〔〔〔 According to historian Richard Henshaw "the growth of () in Scandinavia, Central Europe, and South America left Belgium far behind". Although international football events were largely suspended in the 1940s because of World War II, the traditional derby against the Netherlands was kept alive with unofficial matches. Belgium qualified for only one of eight major tournaments during the 1950s and 1960s: the 1954 World Cup.〔 The day before the tournament began, the Belgian, French and Italian football boards founded UEFA. Two bright spots in these decades were wins against World Cup holders: 2–0 over West Germany in 1954 and 5–1 over Brazil in 1963.〔 The combination of failure in competitive games and success in exhibition matches gave the Belgians the mock title of "world champion of the friendlies", as Pelé confirmed. The team's performance improved during the early 1970s, under manager Raymond Goethals. As the ''White Devils'', Belgium had their first victories at World and European Championships in 1970 and 1972.〔〔 At Euro 1972, their first Euro appearance, they finished third. In 1973, the denial of a match-winning goal in their last 1974 World Cup qualifier cost Belgium the finals. The next two attempts to reach the finals of a major tournament were also unsuccessful. Belgium's most successful period began with a second-place finish at UEFA Euro 1980,〔 and the 1980s and early 1990s are generally considered to be their first golden age. Between 1982 and 2002, the national team qualified for six consecutive World Cup final stages and mostly progressed to the second round. Managers Guy Thys, Paul Van Himst and Robert Waseige guided the Belgian team past the first round.〔 In addition to individual FIFA recognitions, the team reached the semi-finals of the 1986 World Cup.〔 Although Belgium qualified for the World Cup finals in 1990 and 1994 by placing well in their continental qualification groups,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=World Cup 1990 finals )〕〔 they struggled through two-legged play-offs to qualify for the 1998 and 2002 World Cups as they did in 1986.〔〔〔 After reaching the Euro 1980 final, the squad were unsuccessful at the continental level, with early exits from their Euro appearances in 1984 and 2000.〔〔 During the late 1990s, they played three friendly tournaments in Morocco, Cyprus〔(【引用サイトリンク】website=FootballDatabase.eu )〕 and Japan, sharing the 1999 Kirin Cup with Peru in the latter. Although the greatest talents of the Belgian national team during this golden age were retired from international football by 2000,〔 in 2002 Belgium defeated reigning world champions France 1–2,〔 and made the World Cup round of 16.〔 After the 2002 World Cup, the team weakened with the loss of more veterans. Robert Waseige also left, and was succeeded as coach by Aimé Anthuenis. After that World Cup, Belgium failed to qualify for the final stages of five consecutive major tournaments and went through an equal number of head coaches.〔 Anthuenis' contract ended after the team missed out Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, and the RBFA fired his successor René Vandereycken after failing to qualify for Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. Assistant coach Franky Vercauteren took over in the interim, awaiting the arrival of new permanent coach Dick Advocaat. At the 2007 European U-21 Championship, a promising new generation was maturing; Belgium's squad qualified for the following year's Summer Olympics in Beijing, where the Young Red Devils squad finished fourth.〔 These players used mostly defensive skills next to a strong midfield. Seventeen of them appeared in the senior national team,〔 albeit without bringing the seniors immediate success. At the 2009 Kirin Cup, Belgium finished in second (and last) place, and they lost 2–1 against the 125th FIFA-ranked team of Armenia in September 2009;〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=FIFA )〕 hereafter, caretaker Vercauteren resigned to make way for Advocaat. The veteran Dutch coach remained only six months before he left to coach Russia. Georges Leekens succeeded him in May 2010, but unexpectedly left for Club Brugge in May 2012. Under him, the Red Devils narrowly missed the Euro 2012 play-offs. Marc Wilmots, assistant manager since 2009, became the caretaker. After two matches as interim coach, Wilmots agreed to fully replace Leekens.〔 Under him the team's performance improved; during their 2014 World Cup qualifiers they rose to a then-high of fifth in the FIFA World Rankings in October 2013. By 2013, some foreign media saw the Belgian squad as another golden generation. Belgium finally qualified for the 2014 World Cup as unbeaten group winners. At the World Cup finals, with a four-game winning streak the young squad earned a place in the quarter-finals, for the second time in Belgium's history.〔 Wilmots extended his managerial contract through the 2018 World Cup in June 2014. Belgium qualified for Euro 2016 with a match to spare in October 2015, and took the top spot in the FIFA rankings for the first time in November 2015. In the 2018 World Cup qualifying allocation, they were seeded first in their group.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=FIFA World Cup qualifying draw format )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Belgium national football team」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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