Belgium women's national football team

Belgium

Nickname(s)	Belgian Red Flames
Association	Belgian Football Association (KBVB/URBSFA)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Ives Serneels
Captain	Aline Zeler
Most caps	Femke Maes (84)[1]
Top scorer	Tessa Wullaert (28)
Home stadium	King Baudouin Stadium
FIFA code	BEL
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	26 (26 August 2016)
Highest	26 (March and December 2014, June and August 2016)
Lowest	35 (November 2010, March 2011)
First international
France 1–2  Belgium (Reims, France; May 30, 1976)
Biggest win
Belgium 11–0  Azerbaijan (Tubize, Belgium; June 19, 2010)  Belgium 11–0  Greece (Leuven, Belgium; September 13, 2014)
Biggest defeat
Spain 9–1  Belgium (Alginet, Spain; February 29, 2004)  Norway 8–0  Belgium (Oslo, Norway; September 26, 1992)
UEFA Euro
Appearances	1 (first in 2017)

The Belgium women's national football team (nicknamed Belgian Red Flames) represents Belgium in international women's football. It is controlled by the Royal Belgian Football Association, the governing body for football in Belgium. Their home stadium is King Baudouin Stadium and their current coach Ives Serneels. During most of its history the team has had poor results, but has shown improvement in the Euro 2013 and 2015 World Cup Qualifiers, to qualify in 2016 for their first major tournament: the Euro 2017.

History

Early days (1976–1984)

Belgium played its first match against France on May 30, 1976 at Stade Auguste Delaune in Reims, France. The game ended in a 2–1 victory. A year after this debut, the Belgian team played against Switzerland and France, tying both matches, 2–2 and 1–1 respectively. They played the same teams again the next year, this time beating both with 1–0 and 2–0. Another victory followed against Yugoslavia with 1–0. The team's first defeat however came at the hands of England: 3–0, which was followed by a 2–0 loss against France and a 2–2 tie against the Netherlands. In the following years, Belgium kept playing mostly against European teams.

First tournaments (1984–1989)

Belgium participated in qualifications for the first time for the 1984 European Competition for Women's Football. They were sorted in Group 4 with the Netherlands, Denmark and West Germany. The campaign started off well with a 3–2 victory over the Netherlands, but continued with a 1–0 loss against Denmark and a 1–1 draw against West Germany. Despite having a neutral goal difference at this point, the Belgian team ended up last in the group after a 5–0 defeat against the Netherlands and draws against their other two opponents, 2–2 against Denmark and 1–1 against West Germany.

Their second attempt at qualifying was for the 1987 European Competition, where they were joined in Group 3 by France, the Netherlands again and Sweden. Their games against France were one win and one loss, both 3–1. Their matches against their two other opponents however were all defeats: 3–1 and 3–0 against The Netherlands, and 5–0 and 2–1 against Sweden. This resulted in Belgium again ending last in the group.

Belgium finally came close to qualifying for the tournament in its next iteration, in 1989. They played in Group 4 against four other teams: Czechoslovakia, France, Spain and Bulgaria. Among the eight games, they won two, drew four and lost two, with 7 goals for and 4 against. This earned them third place in the group of five, which did not suffice for qualification.

Stagnation (1990–2011)

The Belgian team suffered a series of poor results from 1990 to 2011. They never won even half of their matches in any of the qualification campaigns during this period, except for one. This notable exception was the 2003 Women's World Cup qualifiers, where they won five games and suffered only one loss. Scotland however had achieved the same result and with better goal difference, leaving Belgium second in their group. This is nevertheless Belgium's best performance at the World Cup qualifiers so far (as of 2015), although it was followed by their worst: they lost all eight games in the next iteration (2007). At the UEFA Women's Euro qualifications, their best performances during this period were at the 1995 edition and the 2009 edition, both times losing 'only' half of their matches and drawing one.

Improvements (2011–present)

An era of victories began with the arrival of manager Ives Serneels in 2011, who led the team during good qualification campaigns for Euro 2013 and 2015 World Cup, both times ending third in the group (just short of qualifying). Between both campaigns, the Belgian female football team adopted the nickname "Belgian Red Flames".^[2] Following the improvements, the RBFA invested in more growth in 2015, targeting qualification for Euro 2017.^[3] After a successful start in their qualifications group, the team were invited to play at the 2016 Algarve Cup in Portugal, one of the most prestigious women's international football events. The team eventually finished second in their Euro 2017 qualifications group (after England), which was enough to earn them their first ever qualification to a continental or world championship.

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the Euro 2017 qualification matches against Serbia and England on 15 and 20 September 2016, respectively. ^[4]
Caps and goals are correct as of 20 September 2016 after the qualifier against England.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Justien Odeurs	30 May 1997	17	0	Jena
12	GK	Diede Lemey	7 October 1996	0	0	Anderlecht
	GK	Sofie Van Houtven	3 August 1987	21	0	Ladies Genk
3	DF	Heleen Jaques	20 April 1988	64	1	Anderlecht
5	DF	Lorca Van De Putte	3 April 1988	49	2	Kristianstads DFF
19	DF	Imke Courtois	14 March 1988	10	0	Standard
22	DF	Laura Deloose	19 June 1993	11	1	Anderlecht
23	DF	Elien Van Wynendaele	19 February 1995	8	0	Gent
6	MF	Tine De Caigny	9 June 1997	19	7	Vålerenga
7	MF	Elke Van Gorp	12 May 1995	17	5	Gent
11	MF	Janice Cayman	12 October 1988	56	15	Western New York Flash
14	MF	Lenie Onzia	30 May 1989	24	4	FC Twente
15	MF	Sara Yuceil	22 June 1988	13	2	Olympique de Marseille
17	MF	Lien Mermans	27 September 1990	39	7	Ladies Genk
20	MF	Julie Biesmans	4 May 1994	42	2	Standard
	MF	Kassandra Missipo	3 February 1998	1	0	Gent
	MF	Charlotte Tison	21 April 1998	0	0	Anderlecht
	MF	Nicky Van Den Abbeele	21 February 1994	16	0	Anderlecht
	MF	Anaelle Wiard	23 March 1991	16	5	Anderlecht
2	FW	Davina Philtjens	26 February 1989	44	4	Ajax
9	FW	Tessa Wullaert	19 March 1993	46	28	Wolfsburg
10	FW	Aline Zeler (captain)	2 June 1983	81	26	Standard
13	FW	Tine Schryvers	11 March 1993	4	2	Vålerenga

Recent call-ups

The following footballers have been selected for Belgium in the past 12 months, but are not part of the current squad.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Nicky Evrard	26 May 1995	13	0	Gent	v.  Estonia on 3 June 2016
GK	Lisa Lichtfus	28 December 1999	0	0	Standard	v.  Estonia on 3 June 2016
DF	Maud Coutereels	21 May 1986	56	6	Standard	v.  Estonia on 12 April 2016
DF	Laura De Neve	9 October 1994	6	0	Anderlecht	v.  Russia on 9 March 2016
DF	Jody Vangheluwe	15 July 1997	0	0	Gent	v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina on 27 October 2015
DF	Britt Vanhamel	29 December 1995	0	0	Anderlecht	v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina on 27 October 2015
MF	Cecile De Gernier	25 May 1986	28	5	White Star	v.  Estonia on 12 April 2016
MF	Silke Demeyere	20 June 1992	4	0	Lille	v.  Estonia on 3 June 2016
MF	Audrey Demoustier	17 March 1985	40	4	Standard	v.  Serbia on 30 November 2015
MF	Justine Vanhaevermaet	29 April 1992	5	0	Lierse	v.  Serbia on 30 November 2015
MF	Davinia Vanmechelen	30 August 1999	0	0	Standard	v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina on 27 October 2015
MF	Marlies Verbruggen	8 January 1988	41	2	Anderlecht	v.  Estonia on 12 April 2016
FW	Jana Coryn	26 June 1992	10	0	Lille	v.  Estonia on 3 June 2016
FW	Lola Wajnblum	22 January 1996	1	0	Anderlecht	v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 September 2015

Staff

Manager	Ives Serneels
Assistant manager	Tamara Cassimon
Goalkeeping coach	Sven Cnudde
Fitness coach	Cédric Lehance
Physiotherapist	Fabienne Van De Steene

Current campaign

UEFA Euro

The Belgian Red Flames finished second in Group 7 during the Euro 2017 qualifiers. This has earned them their first ever spot to the final tournament, which will be held in The Netherlands in July–August 2017.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	England	8	7	1	0	32	1	+31	22	Final tournament		—	1–1	7–0	1–0	5–0
2	Belgium	8	5	2	1	27	5	+22	17			0–2	—	1–1	6–0	6–0
3	Serbia	8	3	1	4	10	21	−11	10			0–7	1–3	—	0–1	3–0
4	Bosnia and Herzegovina	8	3	0	5	8	17	−9	9			0–1	0–5	2–4	—	4–0
5	Estonia	8	0	0	8	0	33	−33	0			0–8	0–5	0–1	0–1	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Competitive record

Belgium has not yet featured at the World Cup, but has reached the end stage of the Euro 2017 tournament. Their best qualification rounds before that were for 2003 World Cup, 2013 Euro and 2015 World Cup.

FIFA Women's World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1991	Did not qualify									6	1	0	5	1	12
1995										6	2	1	3	15	13
1999										8	0	1	7	6	23
2003										6	5	0	1	13	9
2007										8	0	0	8	8	25
2011										8	3	1	4	18	13
2015										10	6	1	3	34	11
Total	–	0/7	–	–	–	–	–	–		52	17	4	31	95	105
* Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

UEFA Women's Championship

UEFA Women's Championship record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1984	Did not qualify									6	1	3	2	7	12
1987										6	1	0	5	6	17
1989										8	2	4	2	7	4
1991										6	1	0	5	1	12
1993										4	1	2	1	1	8
1995										6	2	1	3	15	13
1997										Belgium and 17 other nations were not part of a proper qualification group
2001										Belgium and 16 other nations were not part of a proper qualification group
2005										8	1	0	7	5	39
2009										8	3	1	4	7	15
2013										10	6	2	2	18	8
2017	Qualified									8	5	2	1	27	5
Total	–	1/12	–	–	–	–	–	–		70	26	15	32	94	133
* Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Algarve Cup

Belgium was invited to play at the 2016 Algarve Cup in Portugal and ended fifth out of eight teams. The teams were divided into two groups; after the group stage, placement matches were played among the equally ranked teams from both groups. Belgium ended third in Group A, and won the placement match against Russia (third place in Group B) with 5–0.^[5]

Iceland  v  Belgium

2 March 2016	Iceland	2–1	Belgium	Lagos Municipal Stadium, Lagos
15:00	Jónsdóttir  5' Brynjarsdóttir  90+2'	Report	Cayman  42'	Referee: Ledya Tafesse (Ethiopia)

Canada  v  Belgium

4 March 2016	Canada	1–0	Belgium	VRS António Sports Complex, Vila Real de Santo António
15:00	Clarke  87'	Report		Referee: Sandra Braz (Portugal)

Denmark  v  Belgium

7 March 2016	Denmark	1–2	Belgium	Albufeira Municipal Stadium, Albufeira
18:30	Sandvej  90+3'	Report	Sørensen  43' (o.g.) Cayman  86'	Referee: Aye Thein (Myanmar)

Belgium  v  Russia

9 March 2016	Belgium	5–0	Russia	VRS António Sports Complex, Vila Real de Santo António
14:00	Wullaert  18' Cayman  42', 73' Schryvers  51' Coutereels  61' (pen.)	Report		Referee: Marianela Araya Cruz (Costa Rica)

Records

Femke Maes

As of 12 April 2016:

• Belgium's biggest win is 11–0, both against Azerbaijan on 19 June 2010 and against Greece on 13 September 2014.
• Belgium's highest FIFA rank was 26 (in March and December 2014).
• The Red Flame with the most caps is Femke Maes, who featured in the national team 84 times (7061 minutes played).
• The highest number of goals scored by a single player is 28. This record is held by Tessa Wullaert.

References

1. "Alle Belgian Red Flames" (in Dutch). Royal Belgian Football Association. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
2. Van Lindt, Aernout (20 Sep 2013). "Belgian Red Flames: eerst de naam, dan de hype?" (in Dutch). Vrouwenvoetbalkrant. Retrieved 5 Mar 2016.
3. "Belgians invest in women's game from grassroots up, targeting EURO2017". insideworldfootball.com. 12 January 2015.
4. "National Women's Team selection". RBFA. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
5. "Fixtures and Results – Algarve Cup". FPF. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.

External links

• Official website
• FIFA profile
• List of international players, belgianfootball.be