Belgium were the first continental side not to lose against the England amateurs (holding them to a 2-2 draw in Brussels in 1910), and the third (after Denmark and the Netherlands) to defeat them (3-1 in Brussels, half a year before winning the 1920 Olympic football tournament they hosted). That earned them matches against the full England team, and after losing twice, and thumping the amateur side 3-0, again in Brussels, in the spring of 1923 (Belgium and Denmark are the only continental countries to have beaten the English gentlemen twice before World War II), they once again made their mark by becoming the first non-British team to hold the English full side to a draw (2-2), just half a year later, in a match played, this time, in Antwerp.
However, after this most promising start, things deteriorated for Hercule Poirot's
compatriots (and contemporaries). After six successive losses (with an overall
goal record of 7-30, thus averaging a 1-5 loss per outing), the rode duivels
did manage to defeat England once (3-2 in Brussels in May 1936), but by then they
were just joining the queue: Spain had been
the first "continentals" to defeat the England full side, in 1929,
France followed in 1931,
Hungary and
Czechoslovakia both did so within a week in 1934, and Austria had done it three
days before the Belgians. Switzerland
and Yugoslavia followed in 1938 and 1939.
Even worse: in the next eleven matches following that win (twelve if one includes
the 1946 Victory International, which the diables rouges do but the English
do not), Belgium failed to win even once (not counting a penalty shoot-out
victory at a friendly tournament in Morocco), only managing four draws in the
process.
On the other hand, Belgium never lost against England in regulation time at a final
tournament (World Cup or European Championship; the 1990 World Cup second round match
was decided by David Platt one minute before the end of extra time) and so it was no
real surprise the red devils finally managed to end that 82-year wait for a win
by beating the three lions twice at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, albeit in two
fairly meaningless matches.
All matches listed are friendlies unless otherwise stated.
Game Date Venue Result Remark
A 1. 18- 4-1908 Brussel Belgium 2-8 England Am
A 2. 17- 4-1909 London England Am 11-2 Belgium
A 3. 26- 3-1910 Bruxelles Belgium 2-2 England Am
A 4. 4- 3-1911 London England Am 4-0 Belgium
A 5. 8- 4-1912 Brussel Belgium 1-2 England Am
A 6. 9-11-1912 Swindon England Am 4-0 Belgium
A 7. 24- 2-1914 Bruxelles Belgium 1-8 England Am
A 8. 17- 2-1920 Brussel Belgium 3-1 England Am
1. 21- 5-1921 Bruxelles Belgium 0-2 England
2. 19- 3-1923 London England 6-1 Belgium
A 9. 5- 5-1923 Brussel Belgium 3-0 England Am
3. 1-11-1923 Antwerpen Belgium 2-2 England
4. 8-12-1924 W. Bromwich England 4-0 Belgium
5. 24- 5-1926 Antwerpen Belgium 3-5 England
6. 11- 5-1927 Bruxelles Belgium 1-9 England
7. 19- 5-1928 Antwerpen Belgium 1-3 England
8. 11- 5-1929 Brussel Belgium 1-5 England
9. 16- 5-1931 Bruxelles Belgium 1-4 England
10. 9- 5-1936 Brussel Belgium 3-2 England
V -. 19- 1-1946 London England 2-0 Belgium [V]
11. 21- 9-1947 Bruxelles Belgium 2-5 England
12. 18- 5-1950 Brussel Belgium 1-4 England
13. 26-11-1952 London England 5-0 Belgium
14. 17- 6-1954 Basel England 4-4 Belgium [World Cup; aet]
15. 21-10-1964 Bruxelles Belgium 2-2 England
16. 25- 2-1970 Brussel Belgium 1-3 England
17. 12- 6-1980 Torino England 1-1 Belgium [European Championship]
18. 26- 6-1990 Bologna England 1-0 Belgium [World Cup; aet]
19. 29- 5-1998 Casablanca England 0-0 Belgium [King Hassan II Tournament; 3-4 pen]
20. 10-10-1999 Sunderland England 2-1 Belgium
21. 2- 6-2012 London England 1-0 Belgium
22. 28- 6-2018 Kaliningrad Belgium 1-0 England [World Cup]
23. 14- 7-2018 St.Peterburg Belgium 2-0 England [World Cup]
24. 11-10-2020 London England 2-1 Belgium [European Nations League]
25. 15-11-2020 Heverlee Belgium 2-0 England [European Nations League]
26. 26- 3-2024 London England 2-2 Belgium
[V] this match (a "Victory International") is official for Belgium but not for England
(and therefore not included in the overviews below)
Total record:
Belgium 35 6 7 22 47-114 19
England 26 16 6 4 74- 33 38
England Amateur 9 6 1 2 40- 14 13
Some more stats:
Pd B D E BG- EG
In Belgium: 19 4 3 12 32- 67
[amateurs] 6 2 1 3 12- 21
[off. England] 13 2 2 9 20- 46
In England: 10 0 1 9 7- 41
[amateurs] 3 0 0 3 2- 19
[off. England] 7 0 1 6 5- 22
Elsewhere: 6 2 3 1 8- 6
[off. England] 6 2 3 1 8- 6
Belgium - List of International Matches
England - List of International Matches
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
(karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 27 Mar 2024
(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2017/24
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.