Belgium

Belgium, nicknamed The Red Devils, are one of Europe's oldest footballing nations and co-founders of FIFA. Despite never winning a major senior title, they reached number one in the FIFA world rankings in 2015 and claimed third place at the 2018 World Cup — their best-ever World Cup finish.

Belgium played their first official international on 1 May 1904, drawing 3–3 with France in Uccle, and were among the founding members of FIFA later that year. They enjoyed early continental prestige with Olympic gold at the 1920 Antwerp Games, but struggled to replicate that success at World Cups through much of the twentieth century.

A first golden generation emerged in the 1980s: Belgium reached the 1980 European Championship final (lost 2–1 to West Germany) and the 1986 World Cup semi-finals, establishing themselves as a genuine European force. After a fallow period in the late 1990s and 2000s, the side climbed back under Marc Wilmots and then Roberto Martínez, peaking at number one in the FIFA rankings in November 2015 — the first time a team had topped the rankings without having won a World Cup or a continental championship.

The peak of the current generation came at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where Belgium finished third — defeating England in the play-off — in what was widely hailed as the best result in the country's history. Despite boasting world-class players across the pitch throughout the 2010s and early 2020s, Belgium have yet to convert their individual talent into a major international title.