Belgium national under-21 football team

The Belgium national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Belgium and is controlled by the Belgian Football Association. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. Their biggest successes were winning the 2007–09 International Challenge Trophy and reaching the European Championship semi-finals in 2007 in the Netherlands. Thanks to the latter achievement, Belgium qualified for the football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Their current home stadium is Den Dreef in Leuven.

Belgium U-21

Nickname(s)	Jonge duivels (Young demons) Jeunes diables (Little devils) Junge Teufels (Young Devils)
Association	Royal Belgian Football Association
Head coach	Gill Swerts
Captain	Aster Vranckx
Most caps	Jean-François Gillet (36)
Top scorer	Loïs Openda (13)
Home stadium	Den Dreef
First colours Second colours
First international
France 1–1 Belgium (Amiens, France; 3 September 1976)
Biggest win
Belgium 8–0 Luxembourg (Mechelen, Belgium; 3 June 2007)
Biggest defeat
Czech Republic 7–0 Belgium (Prague, Czech Republic; 24 April 2001)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	4 (first in 2002)
Best result	Semi-finals (2007)

UEFA U-21 Championship Record

Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1978	Did not qualify
1980
1982
1984
1990
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002	Group stage	3	1	0	2	2	4
2004	Did not qualify
2006
2007	Semi-finals	4	1	2	1	3	4
2009	Did not qualify
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019	Group stage	3	0	0	3	4	8
2021	Did not qualify
2023	Group stage	3	0	2	1	3	4

Results and fixtures

Belgium are currently competing for qualification to the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The table below shows their current standing in the qualification group.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Belgium	10	8	2	0	23	5	+18	26	Final tournament		—	1–1	0–0	3–0	3–2	2–1
2	Sweden	10	6	2	2	19	8	+11	20			0–3	—	0–1	1–0	4–1	3–0
3	Turkey	10	5	2	3	14	10	+4	17			1–2	0–3	—	0–0	4–0	4–2
4	Hungary	10	3	2	5	12	14	−2	11			0–3	2–2	1–2	—	4–0	2–1
5	Cyprus	10	2	1	7	8	23	−15	7			0–2	0–1	2–1	0–2	—	2–1
6	Malta	10	1	1	8	8	24	−16	4			0–4	0–4	0–1	2–1	1–1	—

Source: UEFA

Results

Belgium v Malta

27 March 2017	Belgium	2–1	Malta	Heverlee, Belgium
20:00 CET	R. Mmaee 43' Cools 54'	Report	69' Grech	Stadium: Den Dreef Referee: Rob Harvey (Republic of Ireland)

Belgium v Turkey

5 September 2017	Belgium	0–0	Turkey	Heverlee, Belgium
20:00 CET		Report		Stadium: Den Dreef Referee: Fabio Verissimo (Italy)

Belgium v Sweden

6 October 2017	Belgium	1–1	Sweden	Heverlee, Belgium
19:00 CET	Vanlerberghe 30'	Report	61' Dagerstål	Stadium: Den Dreef Referee: Nikola Dabanović (Montenegro)

Cyprus v Belgium

10 October 2017	Cyprus	0–2	Belgium	Larnaca, Cyprus
16:00 CET		Report	51' Lukebakio 90+3' Bastien	Stadium: AEK Arena - Georgios Karapatakis Referee: Kirill Levnikov (Russia)

Belgium v Cyprus

9 November 2017	Belgium	3–2	Cyprus	Heverlee, Belgium
19:00 CET	Mbenza 15' Dimata 45+2' Leya Iseka 90+2'	Report	49' Papageorgiou 75' Fragkou	Stadium: Den Dreef Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania)

Turkey v Belgium

14 November 2017	Turkey	1–2	Belgium	Istanbul, Turkey
15:00 CET	Okutan 5'	Report	Merih Demiral 45+2' (o.g.) Schrijvers 87'	Stadium: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium Referee: Tomasz Musiał (Poland)

Belgium v Hungary

26 March 2018	Belgium	3–0	Hungary	Heverlee, Belgium
19:00 CET	Schrijvers 19' Lukebakio 64' Dimata 72' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Den Dreef Referee: Erez Papir (Israel)

Malta v Belgium

7 September 2018	Malta	0–4	Belgium	Ta'Qali, Malta
16:00 CET		Report	Dimata 11' Schrijvers 18' Lukebakio 59' Leya Iseka 69'	Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Roomer Tarajev (Estonia)

Hungary v Belgium

11 September 2018	Hungary	0–3	Belgium	Budapest, Hungary
17:00 CET		Report	Dimata 20', 73' (pen.) Schrijvers 86'	Stadium: Szusza Ferenc Stadion Referee: Tiago Martins (Portugal)

Sweden v Belgium

16 October 2018	Sweden	0–3	Belgium	Kalmar, Sweden
17:00 CET		Report	Dimata 29', 40' Lukebakio 65'	Stadium: Fredriksskans Referee: Frank Schneider (France)

Romania v Belgium

15 November 2018	Romania	3–3	Belgium	Cluj-Napoca, Romania
18:00 CET	Drăguș 45' (pen.) Olaru 90' Ciobanu 90+1'	Report	Cools 35' Leya 56' Mbenza 58'	Stadium: Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Iulian Călin (Romania)

Poland v Belgium

16 June 2019	Poland	3–2	Belgium	Reggio Emilia, Italy
18:30	Żurkowski 26' Bielik 52' Szymański 79'	Report	Leya Iseka 16' Cools 84'	Stadium: Mapei Stadium–Città del Tricolore Attendance: 2,534 Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

Spain v Belgium

19 June 2019	Spain	2–1	Belgium	Reggio Emilia, Italy
18:30	Olmo 7' Fornals 89'	Report	Bornauw 24'	Stadium: Mapei Stadium–Città del Tricolore Attendance: 2,738 Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia)

Belgium v Italy

22 June 2019	Belgium	1–3	Italy	Reggio Emilia, Italy
21:00	Verschaeren 79' Mbenza  90+3'	Report	Barella 44' Cutrone 53' Chiesa 89'	Stadium: Mapei Stadium–Città del Tricolore Attendance: 20,075 Referee: Srđan Jovanović (Serbia)

Current squad

• Players born in or after 2002 are eligible for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following players were called up for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Scotland and Spain on 17 and 21 November 2023, respectively.

Note: Names in italics denote players that have been called up to the senior team.

Caps and goals correct as of 21 November 2023.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Maarten Vandevoordt	(2002-02-26) 26 February 2002	16	0	Genk
12	1GK	Senne Lammens	(2002-07-07) 7 July 2002	5	0	Antwerp
2	2DF	Hugo Siquet	(2002-07-09) 9 July 2002	18	0	Cercle Brugge
3	2DF	Jorne Spileers	(2005-01-21) 21 January 2005	4	0	Club Brugge
4	2DF	Koni De Winter	(2002-06-12) 12 June 2002	18	0	Genoa
5	2DF	Killian Sardella	(2002-05-02) 2 May 2002	11	1	Anderlecht
16	2DF	Zeno Van Den Bosch	(2003-07-06) 6 July 2003	0	0	Antwerp
17	2DF	Nathan Ngoy	(2003-06-10) 10 June 2003	0	0	Standard Liège
22	2DF	Fedde Leysen	(2003-07-09) 9 July 2003	2	0	Union Saint-Gilloise
23	2DF	Tuur Rommens	(2003-03-26) 26 March 2003	2	0	Westerlo
6	3MF	Arne Engels	(2003-09-08) 8 September 2003	8	2	FC Augsburg
8	3MF	Mario Stroeykens	(2004-09-29) 29 September 2004	5	0	Anderlecht
10	3MF	Eliot Matazo	(2002-02-15) 15 February 2002	17	0	Antwerp
11	3MF	Luca Oyen	(2003-03-14) 14 March 2003	4	0	Genk
14	3MF	Marco Kana	(2002-08-08) 8 August 2002	12	0	Kortrijk
15	3MF	Cisse Sandra	(2003-12-16) 16 December 2003	0	0	Excelsior
7	4FW	Malick Fofana	(2005-03-31) 31 March 2005	5	0	Lyon
9	4FW	Lucas Stassin	(2004-11-29) 29 November 2004	5	0	Westerlo
13	4FW	Samuel Mbangula	(2004-01-16) 16 January 2004	2	0	Juventus
18	4FW	Kazeem Olaigbe	(2003-01-02) 2 January 2003	5	3	Cercle Brugge
19	4FW	Youssuf Sylla	(2002-12-19) 19 December 2002	4	0	Charleroi
20	4FW	Romeo Vermant	(2004-01-24) 24 January 2004	2	0	Westerlo

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up and remain eligible.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Tobe Leysen	(2002-03-09) 9 March 2002	0	0	OH Leuven	v. Scotland, 17 November 2023
DF	Ignace Van Der Brempt	(2002-04-01) 1 April 2002	15	1	Hamburger SV	v. Hungary, 17 October 2023
DF	Richie Sagrado	(2004-01-30) 30 January 2004	0	0	OH Leuven	v. Kazakhstan, 11 September 2023
DF	Zeno Debast	(2003-10-24) 24 October 2003	4	0	Anderlecht	2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
DF	Ameen Al-Dakhil	(2002-04-01) 1 April 2002	4	0	Burnley	2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
DF	Daan Dierckx	(2003-02-24) 24 February 2003	0	0	Standard Liège	v. Turkey, 3 September 2021
MF	Jarne Steuckers	(2002-02-04) 4 February 2002	0	0	Sint-Truiden	v. Hungary, 17 October 2023
MF	Aster Vranckx (captain)	(2002-10-04) 4 October 2002	12	0	VfL Wolfsburg	v. Hungary, 17 October 2023
MF	Mandela Keita	(2002-05-10) 10 May 2002	8	0	Antwerp	v. Kazakhstan, 11 September 2023
MF	Arthur Vermeeren	(2005-02-07) 7 February 2005	1	0	Atlético Madrid	v. Kazakhstan, 11 September 2023
MF	Christiaan Ravych	(2002-07-30) 30 July 2002	0	0	Cercle Brugge	v. Kazakhstan, 11 September 2023
MF	Roméo Lavia	(2004-01-06) 6 January 2004	1	0	Chelsea	v. Czech Republic, 23 March 2023
MF	Anouar Ait El Hadj	(2002-04-20) 20 April 2002	4	0	Genk	v. Denmark, 29 March 2022
MF	Tibo Persyn	(2002-03-13) 13 March 2002	0	0	FC Eindhoven	v. Turkey, 3 September 2021
FW	Anthony Descotte	(2003-08-03) 3 August 2003	4	0	Utrecht	2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
FW	Ken Nkuba	(2002-02-21) 21 February 2002	4	0	Genk	v. Czech Republic, 23 March 2023
FW	Johan Bakayoko	(2003-04-20) 20 April 2003	3	0	PSV Eindhoven	v. Czech Republic, 23 March 2023
FW	Jérémy Doku	(2002-05-27) 27 May 2002	6	1	Manchester City	v. France, 26 September 2022

Statistics

Most capped players

  Highlighted names denote a player still playing or available for selection.

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Jean-François Gillet	1996–2002	36	0
2	Thomas Chatelle	1999–2003	28	4
	Maarten Martens	2003–2007	28	7
4	Faris Haroun	2004–2008	24	4
5	Siebe Schrijvers	2016–2019	23	4
6	Tom De Mul	2004–2008	21	4
	Wout Faes	2017–2020	21	0
	Gunter Van Handenhoven	1997–1999	21	1
9	Jonathan Blondel	2002–2007	20	4
	Éric Deflandre	1992–1995	20	1

Last updated: 22 June 2019
Source: Belgian Football Federation

Top goalscorers

  Highlighted names denote a player still playing or available for selection.

#	Player	Career	Goals	Caps	Average
1	Loïs Openda	2019–2023	13	18	0.72
2	Kevin Vandenbergh	2003–2005	12	14	0.86
3	Cédric Roussel	1997–1999	10	12	0.83
4	Wesley Sonck	1997–1999	8	11	0.73
5	Michy Batshuayi	2012–2014	7	13	0.54
	Landry Dimata	2016–2018	7	12	0.58
	Maarten Martens	2003–2007	7	28	0.25
	Ronny Martens	1978–1984	7	14	0.5
	Sven Vermant	1993–1995	7	8	0.88
	Jeanvion Yulu-Matondo	2005–2008	7	17	0.41

Last updated: 20 March 2019
Source: Belgian Football Federation

Honours

• International Challenge Trophy

Winners (1): 2007–09

Runners-up (1): 2005–06

See also

• Belgium national football team
• Belgium national under-19 football team
• Belgium national under-17 football team
• European Under-21 Football Championship

References and external links

• UEFA Under-21 website, complete results archive
• The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, full record of U-21 and U-23 Championships