Belgium EURO 2020 Preview - History and Expectations

Published on 29 Feb 2020 | Last updated on 01 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 5 minutes

The Belgian national team is among the greats at the upcoming European Football Championship in 2020. The Red Devils won the 2018 World Cup bronze medals in Russia, beating England in third place. Now the Belgian nation will expect an even higher ranking than the Euro 2020 team. Belgium has an incredible team that is filled with star players, so anything other than the title of the tournament will not be well received by supporters of the national team. In the group stage of the tournament, the team will argue with the teams of Russia, Denmark, and Finland and are not expected to have any problems continuing to the eliminations.

Check out our preview of Belgium at the 2020 European Championships and what we can expect from the Red Devils.

Belgium European Championships - History and successes

Belgium does not have a rich history of European finals. The Red Devils have only competed five times in the European Championships and their best achievement was second in 1980 at the Championship in Italy. Belgium's debut at the Euro Finals was hosted in 1972 when they finished third. It is also the second-best achievement of the country. At the last European Championship, Belgium was eliminated in the 1/4 finals of the finals in France. In his other two appearances, the Belgian team failed to overtake the group stage - in 1984 and in 2000 Belgium's total balance of Euro finals was 7 wins, 2 draws, and 8 losses by a goal difference of 22-25.

The Road to Euro 2020

The Belgium team could not be more convincing in the European qualifications by winning all 10 matches and qualifying first in their qualifying group. The selection of Roberto Martinez recorded a bunch of devastating wins, the most impressive being the 9:0 win over San Marino, 6:1 over Cyprus, and 4:0 against Scotland in Glasgow. Against the second-best team in the group - Russia, the Belgian team recorded two wins with a score of 4:1 in Moscow and 3:1 in Brussels. Belgium has scored as many as 40 goals in their 10 games - an average of 4 in a match, keeping 7 dry nets.

Euro 2020 fixtures

Belgium is in Group B of Euro 2020 with the teams of Denmark, Finland, and Russia.

• June 12, 9:00 pm: Belgium - Russia / Krestovsky Stadium, St. Petersburg /
• June 17, 6:00 pm: Denmark - Belgium / Parken Stadium, Copenhagen /
• June 21, 9:00 pm: Finland - Belgium / Krestovsky Stadium, St. Petersburg /

Belgium squad for the European Football Championship 2020

Belgium is one of the teams with the best composition of Euro 2020. In almost every post the competition is murderous and Roberto Martinez has to make a difficult choice who to trust. The titleholder is Tibo Courtois, who has a strong season in Real Madrid and will be credited with Euro 2020. In defense, Martinez will almost certainly bet on Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Jason Denayer, and Thoma Munier. In defense, Martinez can also rely on Thomas Vermaelen, Thorgan Hazard, and Timothy Castagne. Kevin de Broyne will lead the Belgian midfield, together with Axel Witsel, Janick Carasco, Musa Dembele, Yuri Tillemans, and Dennis Praet in the area. The Belgium attack is one of the strongest in the world with players such as Eden Hazard, Dries Mertens, Romelu Lukaku, Divok Origi, and Michy Batshuayi.

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Simon Mignolet (Club Brugge), Mats Selz (Strasbourg)
Defenders: Jan Vertonghen (Benfica), Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur), Thomas Vermaelen (Vissel Kobe), Dedryck Boyata (Hertha Berlin), Jason Denayer (Lyon)
Midfielders: Leander Dendoncker (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Timothy Castagne (Leicester City), Thomas Meunier (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Nacer Chadli (Istanbul Basaksehir), Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid), Youri Tielemans (Leicester City), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Dortmund), Axel Witsel (Borussia Dortmund), Dennis Praet (Leicester City), Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge)
Forwards: Dries Mertens (Napoli), Romelu Lukaku (Internazionale), Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace), Michy Batshuayi (Crystal Palace), Eden Hazard (Real Madrid), Jeremy Doku (Rennes), Leandro Trossard (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Source: www.fourfourtwo.com

The Big Star: Kevin De Bruyne

The selection for Belgium's big star comes down to Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne, and we believe that at Euro 2020 this will be Man City's footballer. Azar had a poor season with Real Madrid and was plagued with injuries while De Broyne performed at a very high level for City. The 28-year-old has 74 games for the Belgian national team and 19 goals. De Bruyne has an incredible look at the game and can assist for a goal from any position. He is able to mark as he has proven many times, so it will be a major threat to any rival of the Belgians.

Expectations for Belgium at Euro 2020

We expect the Belgium team to win their group. The Red Devils did well in the qualifiers, beating Russia, and are unlikely to have problems at Euro 2020 against this rival, and their other rivals are also completely overcome for the Belgium class. We are almost convinced that Roberto Martinez's selection will reach the semifinals of the tournament. We expect the Belgian team to take the medal in the second consecutive big forum. Of course, there are a number of reasons to believe that Belgium can win Euro 2020 and achieve its greatest success at the European finals.

Odds for Belgium

As we already mentioned a couple of times, Belgium is not in a hard group. This is our personal view, but maybe the bookmakers are thinking the same way. They are giving a very low probability to win the group and go through the 1/8 finals. Belgium is one of the top 5 favorites for winning the European title in 2020. Here are the current odds for the "Red devils":

To win Euro 2020	7.00
To win Group B	1.72