During the national player career of forward Paul Van Himst, the most-praised Belgian footballer of the 20th century, Belgium finished in third place as hosts at UEFA Euro 1972.

[3][4] 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.

[5] After some organisational problems, on 28 April 1901, Beerschot's pitch hosted its first tournament, in which a Belgian selection and a Dutch team made up of players from third-level sides led by ex-footballer Cees van Hasselt contested the Coupe Vanden Abeele.

[6][9] On 1 May 1904, the Belgians played their first official match, against France at the Stade du Vivier d'Oie in Uccle; their draw left the Évence Coppée Trophy unclaimed.

[22] Although World War II hindered international football events in the 1940s, the Belgian team remained active with unofficial matches against squads of other allied nations.

[24] Dutch journalists considered the draw of the 1954 Belgian team in their opener against England to be the most surprising result of that match day, even more than Switzerland's victory over the Italian "football stars".

[66] Belgium qualified for UEFA Euro 2016 with a match to spare in October 2015,[67] and took the top spot in the FIFA World Ranking for the first time in November 2015,[68] to stay first for five months.

[71] In the 2018 World Cup qualifying allocation, they were seeded first in their group,[72][73] and made the final tournament under Spanish manager Roberto Martínez, becoming the first European team besides hosts Russia to do so.

[82] In February 2023, it was announced that Domenico Tedesco has been appointed as the new head coach of the Belgian national team, replacing Roberto Martinez on a contract lasting until the end of Euro 2024.

[e][98][100] The first live coverage of a Belgian sporting event occurred on 3 May 1931, when journalist Gust De Muynck commentated on the football match between Belgium and the Netherlands on radio.

[102] During Belgium's tournament appearances in the 1980s and the early 1990s, Rik De Saedeleer crowned himself the nation's most famous football commentator with his emotional and humorous reports.

[102][104][105] In April 2014, the VRT started transmitting a nine-piece, behind-the-scenes documentary about the national team filmed during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, titled Iedereen Duivel (Everybody Devil).

[108] The premise was that small groups of international players would do a favour in return for each of the five comprehensive chores their supporters completed ("colour Belgium red", "gather 500,000 decibels", etc.

[118] In August 2013, the national team supported four social projects through the charity fund Football+ Foundation, by playing an A-match with a plus sign on the shoulders of their jerseys and auctioning the shirts.

[121] Ex-Red Devil Dimitri Mbuyu—the first black Belgium player (in 1987)[50][122]—was engaged as godfather, and other foreign, current, and former footballers who played in the Belgian top division participated.

[125] A year later Léopold FC manager Pierre Walckiers nicknamed the players Red Devils, inspired by their jersey colour, and the achievement of three successive victories in 1906.

When the World Cup semi-finalists appeared on the balcony of Brussels Town Hall, the adjoining Grand Place square was filled with an ecstatic crowd that cheered as though their squad had won a major tournament.

[139] Just before the kick-off of a 2014 World Cup home qualifier, Belgium's footballers saw a first tifo banner, sized 10.5 by 11.5 metres (34 by 38 ft) depicting a devil in the national colours.

[19] They have met 18 times in major tournament campaigns, and have played at least 35 friendly cup matches: in Belgium for the Coupe Vanden Abeele, and in the Netherlands for the Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad-Beker.

[171] Under Marc Wilmots, Belgium reached the top FIFA ranking spot in 2015, which earned him the title of Best Coach of the Year at the 2015 Globe Soccer Awards.

[30][39][40] Since Raymond Goethals' stint in the 1970s, a key strength of the Belgian squad has been their systematic use of the offside trap,[179] a defensive tactic that was already intensively applied in the 1960s by Anderlecht coach Pierre Sinibaldi.

[186] Three days later, Charles De Ketelaere, Jérémy Doku, Malick Fofana and Joaquin Seys all dropped out due to injury or not being fully fit, with Samuel Mbangula, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Killian Sardella and Arthur Vermeeren called up to replace them.

[193] Other outstanding Belgian strikers in the interwar period were former top scorer Bernard Voorhoof and "Belgium's football grandmaster" Raymond Braine,[50][194] considered "one of the greatest players of the era".

[41][182] During the 10 years from 2002 to 2012 in which Belgium failed to qualify for major tournament, another golden generation matured, many of whom gained both prime individual and team awards in foreign European top clubs and competitions.

[44] In the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Belgium dominated periods of their second-round match against England;[221] Enzo Scifo and Jan Ceulemans hit the woodwork.

[222] David Platt's volley in the final minute of extra time, described as "nearly blind" by Richard Witzig,[223] avoided an apparently goalless draw and led to the sudden elimination of the Belgians.

In the second round, they faced eventual World Cup winners Brazil; Belgium lost 2–0 after Marc Wilmots' headed opening goal was disallowed due to a "phantom foul" on Roque Júnior, as Witzig named it.

However, Japan, which displayed a very open and offensive game, did not withdraw sufficiently in defense and left a lot of opportunities to Belgium who[230][231][232] turned the tide and eventually won (3–2) with goals from Jan Vertonghen and late substitutes Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli.

[235] Belgium lost to France 0–1 in the semi-finals, as France displays a style of play opposite to that of Japan by basing themselves above all on a rigorous defense, the possession left to the adversary and fast counter-attacks (which aroused criticisms from certain Belgian players on the French style of play[236]); but rebounded to win 2–0 in their second victory over England in the tournament to secure third place and the best ever World Cup result for the Belgian national team.

[242] Forward Robert Coppée converted a disputed early penalty, and the action in which attacker Henri Larnoe doubled the score was also a matter of debate.