Belgium national football B team

Belgium B
Nickname(s) The Red Devils
Association Royal Belgian Football Association (KBVB/URBSFA/KBFV)[upper-alpha 1]
Home stadium N/A
First colours
Second colours
First international
Belgium Belgium B 2–1  Luxembourg
(Arlon, Belgium; 4 May 1924)
Biggest win
Belgium Belgium B 8–0  Luxembourg
(Charleroi, Belgium; 9 May 1954)
Biggest defeat
Belgium Belgium B 0–6 France B France
(Charleroi, Belgium; 7 December 1930)

Belgium B is a secondary football team that occasionally served as support for the Belgium national football team. At times they have played against the full national team of Luxembourg (these matches are considered A-internationals by the Luxembourg FA);[1][2] they have also played matches against 'B' or U-23 teams from other football associations. Since the team's first use in 1924, there have been at minimum 104 games; most of them against Luxembourg, but also against English,[3] French,[4] Italian,[5] Norvegian,[6] Portuguese,[7] and Swiss teams.[8] The last recorded match dates from February 2000 (a 1–1 draw against France A').

This team is assumed to have been always different from the Belgian U-21 team (the "Espoirs"). However, it is not well documented whether this is the same Belgian team that played qualifiers for the Summer Olympics until 1988; neither is it clear if or when age restrictions (e.g. under-25) have been applied, but this seems likely as the Belgian B-team goals in the 1996 and 2000 games against France A' were respectively made by a midfielder (Johan Walem) and an attacker (Wesley Sonck) who were both under the age of 25 at that moment.[4]

Match Record

[1][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Note: this record may not be exhaustive.

      Wins > Losses       Ex aequo       Losses > Wins

Opponents Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD Win % Points/game[upper-alpha 2]
England England U-23 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0.00 0.00
France France A' 3 0 2 1 3 4 -1 0.00 0.67
France France B 12 4 4 4 15 18 -3 33.33 1.33
Italy Italy B 2 0 2 0 4 4 0 0.00 1.00
 Luxembourg 75 57 11 7 244 106 +138 76.00 2.43
Norway Norway U-23 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0.00 1.00
Portugal Portugal B 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2 50.00 1.50
Switzerland Switzerland B 8 4 1 3 18 13 +5 50.00 1.63
Totals 104 66 22 16 287 147 +140 63.46 2.12

Notes

  1. ↑ The acronyms KBVB, URBSFA and KBFV come from the organisation's respective Dutch, French and German names: Koninklijke Belgische Voetbalbond, Union royale belge des sociétés de football association and Königliche Belgische Fußballverband.
  2. ↑ According to the "three points for a win" standard

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Courtney, Barrie. "Luxembourg - List of Unofficial International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 Jul 2014.
  2. ↑ "Luxembourg national football team match results". eu-football.info. Retrieved 9 Jul 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Courtney, Barrie. "England - U-23 International Results- Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 Jul 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Garin, Erik. "France - B/A'-Team - International Results 1922-2001". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 Jul 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Testero, Giampaolo. "Italy B - International Results". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 Jul 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Aarhus, Lars. "U23 national team record (1998-2014)". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 Jul 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Teixeira, Jorge Miguel. "Selecção B - Lista de Jogos" (in Portuguese). RSSSF. Retrieved 16 Jul 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Garin, Erik. "Switzerland - International Matches B-Team 1932-1993". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 Jul 2014.