Belgium women's national football team

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. The next year, they faced the same opposition once more and won both games by scores of 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.

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.

In attempting to qualify for the 1989 tournament they did better. 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.

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 was nevertheless Belgium's best performance at the World Cup qualifiers until 2019 when they went out in the play-offs. 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.

An era of victories began when Ives Serneels replaced Anne Noë as manager in 2011. Serneels led the team to improved 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 was invited to play at the 2016 Algarve Cup in Portugal, one of the most prestigious women's international football events.

Belgium finished second in their Euro 2017 qualifications group (after England), which was enough to earn them their first ever qualification for a major tournament. At the European championship Belgium secured a 2–0 upset win over Norway during the group stage. However, after losing 1–0 to Denmark and 2–1 to the Netherlands, they finished third in their group and did not advance to the knockout rounds.

Belgium performed well in UEFA World Cup Qualifying for the 2019 World Cup and secured second place in Group 6 behind Italy. As a result, they qualified for the UEFA Play-offs as they were one of the top 4 ranked second place teams. Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark were the other teams in the play-off. Belgium faced Switzerland in their play-off semi-final, after two legs the aggregate score was 3–3, but Switzerland advanced on away goals. The Netherlands went on to defeat Switzerland in the play-off final to claim the final UEFA qualifying spot at the 2019 World Cup.[4]
In 2019, Belgium also finished third during the 2019 Cyprus cup after defeating Austria on penalties.[5]

In 2022, Belgium won the Pinatar Cup, a friendly tournament held in Spain, beating Russia on penalties.[6] Euro 2022 was a success for Belgium, who managed to get out of the first round and reach the quarter-finals for the first time in their second appearance at the continental finals. The Red Flames finished 2nd in Group D behind France, the group's favorite against whom they conceded a narrow defeat (1–2), but ahead of Iceland and Italy after a 1–1 draw against the former and a 1–0 victory against the latter (an outgoing quarter-finalists of the 2019 World Cup), in the last match. All this combined with the lack of a victory for the Icelandic women against the French, who were already assured a finish in first place of the group, in the other match (1–1). This historic qualification was made possible in part by the performance of Belgian goalkeeper Nicky Evrard, who saved two penalties in each of the first two games (against Iceland and France). Belgium faced Sweden in the quarter-finals, the winner of group C and silver medalist at the Olympic games in Tokyo.[7] The Belgians lost by a score of 0–1 at the end of the match and saw their journey end at this stage of the competition.[8]

At the start of the qualifying campaign for the 2015 World Cup in Canada, the team earned their first and current nickname: the "Belgian Red Flames".[2] Prior to that, they were simply known as "Rode Duivelinnen" (Red Devil Ladies).[9]

On September 19, 2022 the RBFA presented new home kits. This was the first time that a unified look was presented for all Belgian national teams. It replaces the one-off black home shirt which was released earlier in support of women's football in Belgium.[10]
The kit comes with a red base, and black and yellow details representing the Belgian flag. The jersey features a dynamic graphic print of flames on both sleeves, hinting at the team's nickname "Red Flames".

The team plays their home matches mostly at Den Dreef but occasionally at other stadiums in Belgium.

As of 28 September 2022[11]

Role	Name
Head coach	Ives Serneels
Assistant coach	Kris Van Der Haegen
Goalkeeping coach	Jan Van Steenberghe[12]
Performance analyst	Niels Leroy
	Hanne Nielandt
	Arne Jaspers
Nutritionist	Gino Devriendt
Mental coach	Steffi Van Ranst
Team doctor	Karolien Lemmens
	Kris Vanderlinden
Physiotherapist	Fabienne Van De Steene
	Jan Van der Jeugt
Manager women's football	Katrien Jans

• Albert Bers (1976–1991)
• Marc Van Geersom (1991–1994)
• Johan Bol (1994–1999)
• Anne Noë (1999–2010)
• Ives Serneels (2011–)

The following players were named for the 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League matches against Netherlands and Scotland on 22 and 26 September 2023..[13]

As of 22 February 2023

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Nicky Evrard	(1995-05-26) 26 May 1995	59	0	OH Leuven
12	1GK	Diede Lemey	(1996-10-07) 7 October 1996	7	0	Fortuna Sittard
	1GK	Lisa Lichtfus	(1999-12-29) 29 December 1999	0	0	Dijon
18	2DF	Laura De Neve	(1994-10-09) 9 October 1994	59	2	Anderlecht
22	2DF	Laura Deloose	(1993-06-19) 19 June 1993	74	4	Anderlecht
19	2DF	Sari Kees	(2001-02-17) 17 February 2001	15	2	OH Leuven
2	2DF	Davina Philtjens	(1989-02-26) 26 February 1989	115	10	Sassuolo
	2DF	Amber Tysiak	(2000-01-26) 26 January 2000	20	5	West Ham United
8	3MF	Féli Delacauw	(2002-04-04) 4 April 2002	13	0	Fortuna Sittard
16	3MF	Marie Detruyer	(2004-01-13) 13 January 2004	2	0	OH Leuven
23	3MF	Kassandra Missipo	(1998-02-03) 3 February 1998	45	0	FC Basel
	3MF	Chloe Vande Velde	(1997-06-06) 6 June 1997	26	2	ADO Den Haag
10	3MF	Justine Vanhaevermaet	(1992-04-29) 29 April 1992	42	6	Reading
14	4FW	Jassina Blom	(1994-09-03) 3 September 1994	20	8	UDG Tenerife
11	4FW	Janice Cayman	(1988-10-12) 12 October 1988	132	48	Lyon
6	4FW	Tine De Caigny	(1997-06-09) 9 June 1997	81	39	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
7	4FW	Hannah Eurlings	(2003-01-01) 1 January 2003	24	6	OH Leuven
25	4FW	Welma Fon	(2002-06-01) 1 June 2002	1	0	Standard Liège
17	4FW	Jill Janssens	(2003-10-03) 3 October 2003	11	0	OH Leuven
5	4FW	Sarah Wijnants	(1999-10-13) 13 October 1999	26	2	Anderlecht
9	4FW	Tessa Wullaert	(1993-03-19) 19 March 1993	117	71	Fortuna Sittard
		Jarne Teulings
		Shari Van Belle
Notes INJ = Withdrew due to injury

The following players have been called up in the past 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Femke Bastiaen	(2001-04-11) 11 April 2001	0	0	PSV	2023 Arnold Clark Cup
DF	Charlotte Tison	(1998-04-21) 21 April 1998	13	0	Anderlecht	v.  Armenia, 6 September 2022
DF	Michelle Colson	(1998-09-19) 19 September 1998	1	0	Anderlecht	2023 Arnold Clark Cup
DF	Fran Meersman	(2002-10-15) 15 October 2002	3	0	KAA Gent	2023 Arnold Clark Cup
DF	Jody Vangheluwe	(1997-07-15) 15 July 1997	14	0	Club YLA	2023 Arnold Clark Cup
MF	Marie Minnaert	(1999-05-05) 5 May 1999	31	3	Anderlecht	v.  Portugal, 6 October 2022
MF	Valesca Ampoorter	(2004-03-05) 5 March 2004	1	0	OH Leuven	2023 Arnold Clark Cup
MF	Julie Biesmans	(1994-05-04) 4 May 1994	100	3	PSV	2023 Arnold Clark Cup
FW	Davinia Vanmechelen	(1999-08-30) 30 August 1999	50	10	Club YLA	v.  Portugal, 6 October 2022
FW	Elena Dhont	(1998-03-27) 27 March 1998	30	3	FC Twente	2023 Arnold Clark Cup
FW	Ella Van Kerkhoven	(1993-11-20) 20 November 1993	23	13	OH Leuven	2023 Arnold Clark Cup
Notes RET = Retired from the national team PRE = Preliminary squad

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.[14]

Belgium has been invited to the Cyprus Cup four times, as of 2019. Their first appearance was in 2015. They were sorted into group C that year, with Mexico, Czech Republic and South Africa, and ended last in the group. They also lost the placement match (after penalties) against South Korea, resulting in the last place of all 12 teams. In 2017 Belgium finished third in Group A with Switzerland, North Korea and Italy, and eventually reached seventh place out of 12 after winning the placement match against Austria.[15]

Belgium was also invited to play the tournament in 2018, in a group with Austria, Czech Republic and Spain. They ended second in the group behind eventual winner Spain, and fifth overall (out of 12) after winning the placement match against South Africa. Belgium returned to the Cyprus Cup in 2019. They were in Group C with Austria, Slovakia and Nigeria.[5] Belgium finished in third place after defeating Austria on penalties in the third place match.

Belgium were crowned Pinatar Cup champions in 2022. Belgium beat Russia in the final after taking the game to penalties.[16]

• Cyprus cup

3rd: 2019

• Pinatar Cup

Champions: 2022