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Sport in Belgium plays a prominent role in the society.[1] As of 2010, Belgium counted around 17,000 sport clubs with approximately 1.35 million members, or about 13% of the Belgian population.[2] Popular sports in Belgium are, among others:football,cycling,tennis,table tennis,athletics,swimming,basketball,badminton,judo,hockey,rowing,motocross,auto racing,volleyball, andrunning. Belgium has organized the1920 Olympic Games inAntwerp as well as the1972 UEFA European Championship and the2000 UEFA European Championship along with the Netherlands. TheBelgium national football team's best result was a 3rd place at the2018 FIFA World Cup and a second place of the1980 UEFA European Championship. Belgian football clubs have won 3 times theUEFA Cup Winners' Cup and twice theUEFA Cup, plus 3 times theUEFA Supercup.
Belgium has won 44 gold medals at Summer Olympic Games as well as 2 at Winter Olympic Games forfigure skating at the1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz andspeed skating at the2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Among the 44 gold medals at the Summer Olympics, 11 medals were won inarchery, seven in cycling, six in athletics, five inequestrian, three infencing and two each insailing andjudo. Well-known Belgian Olympic champions areHubert Van Innis andEdmond Cloetens (archery),Gaston Roelants andTia Hellebaut (athletics),Patrick Sercu andRoger Ilegems (track cycling),Robert Van de Walle andUlla Werbrouck (judo),Bart Swings (speed skating),Frédérik Deburghgraeve (swimming), andJustine Henin (tennis).
Other well-known Belgian sport champions areRoger Moens,Ivo Van Damme andKim Gevaert (athletics),Bart Veldkamp (speed skating),Ingrid Lempereur (swimming),Gella Vandecaveye,Heidi Rakels andHarry Van Barneveld (judo),Eddy Merckx,Rik Van Looy,Roger De Vlaeminck,Lucien Van Impe,Johan Bruyneel,Johan Museeuw,Axel Merckx andTom Boonen (cycling),Raymond Ceulemans (three-cushion billiards),Jacky Ickx andThierry Boutsen (Formula One),Stefan Everts andGaston Rahier (motocross) andJean-Michel Saive (table tennis),Kim Clijsters (tennis),Sven Nys (cyclo-cross) andVincent Rousseau (running). In team sports, well-known footballers includeJean-Marie Pfaff,Eric Gerets,Enzo Scifo,Michel Preud'homme,Franky Van Der Elst,Luc Nilis andJan Ceulemans and well-known basketball players includeAnn Wauters,Éric Struelens,Axel Hervelle andD. J. Mbenga. FormerInternational Olympic Committee presidentCountJacques Rogge is a Belgian.
As a sub-area of culture in Belgium, sport is now considered to fall under the responsibility of the 3 Belgian communities (theDutch-speaking Community, theFrench-speaking Community and theGerman-speaking Community). With the exception of football and field hockey, all other major sport federations in Belgium are split into 2 major federations (a French-speaking federation and a Dutch-speaking federation).
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TheBelgian Football Association, the governing body of football in Belgium, was founded in 1895[3] and was one of the founding members of theFIFA in 1904.[4] The firstBelgian championship was held in 1895 among the 10 founding teams of the Belgian Football Association, and was won byRFC de Liège. Asecond level was added to the Belgian league in 1905, athird level in 1926 and afourth one in 1952.R.S.C. Anderlecht is the most successful Belgian team both at national (32 Belgian champion titles) and international (6 European titles) levels. Other successful clubs includeClub Brugge K.V. (13 Belgian champion titles),R. Union Saint-Gilloise (11 national titles),Standard Liège (10 national titles) andK.V. Mechelen (4 national titles and 2 European titles). The club with the mostBelgian Cup titles is Club Brugge KV (10) followed by RSC Anderlecht (9) and R Standard Liège (6). The 8 European titles won by Belgian clubs were claimed between 1976 and 1988.
TheBelgium national team playedits first game in 1904 againstFrance. The match ended in a 3–3 draw. Since then, Belgium has qualified for 12 out of 20World Cups, finishing 3rd in 2018, and for 4 out of the 12UEFA European Football Championships in which it entered, finishing second in 1980. At the Summer Olympics, Belgium won the gold medal in 1920 and secured a fourth place in 2008.
The most capped player for Belgium is Ben Spector (108 caps), followed byJan Ceulemans,Axel Witsel (both 96 caps) andTimmy Simons (93 caps). Belgium all-time topscorer isRomelu Lukaku with 48 goals. Other past famous players include goalkeepersJean-Marie Pfaff andMichel Preud'homme,René Vandereycken,Wilfried Van Moer,François andLeo Van der Elst,Raymond Mommens,Franky Van Der Elst,Franky Vercauteren,Luc Nilis,Enzo Scifo,Erwin Vandenbergh,Georges Grün,Lei Clijsters (father of Kim Clijsters),Philippe Albert andMarc Wilmots. Current well-known Belgian players areEden Hazard,Thibaut Courtois,Simon Mignolet,Vincent Kompany,Thomas Vermaelen,Jan Vertonghen,Marouane Fellaini,Romelu Lukaku,Toby Alderweireld,Kevin De Bruyne andChristian Benteke.
Cycling is a very popular sport in Belgium. It is governed by theRoyal Belgian Cycling League, which is split between the Dutch-speaking WBV and the French-speaking FCWB. Many Belgian cyclists have been successful, and some of the greatest cycle races take place in Belgium, especially in road bicycle racing, though other bicycle racing disciplines such asmountain bike racing ortrack cycling also count a number of Belgian champions and races. The best Belgian cyclist of all time,Eddy Merckx, nicknamed the Cannibal, has won theTour de France andGiro d'Italia 5 times each, won theVuelta a España once, theUCI Road World Championship 3 times, had manyclassic cycle race wins and set thehour record, among other achievements. Belgium has been one of the most successful countries in road cycling since the origins of the sport, with one of the oldest races being held in Belgium,Liège–Bastogne–Liège, which was first held in 1892.
At the Olympic Games, Belgium has won four gold medals for road cycling, with two victories for the Belgian men's team in the team time trial (at the1948 and1952 Summer Olympics) and two forAndré Noyelle andGreg Van Avermaet for the individual race. Belgium has had the most World Championship gold medals (25) with 3 victories byRik Van Steenbergen and Eddy Merckx and 2 byGeorges Ronsse,Briek Schotte,Rik Van Looy andFreddy Maertens. Belgian cyclists have also performed very well in the 3grand tours. Ten cyclists have won the Tour de France 18 times between them, making of Belgium the country with the most Tour de France wins behind France. Besides Eddy Merckx,Philippe Thys won the most prestigious tour 3 times whileFirmin Lambot andSylvère Maes won it twice. The last Belgian winner at the Tour de France however wasLucien Van Impe in1976. At the Giro d'Italia, Belgium has had 7 wins, being the second most successful country in terms of wins after Italy.Michel Pollentier andJohan De Muynck (the most recent Belgian to win the Giro in 1978) are with Eddy Merckx the 3 Belgian winners of this tour. Belgium also has had 7 wins at the Vuelta a España, with 2 wins byGustaaf Deloor, the first winner of the race in1935 and1936. The last Belgian winner of the Spanish tour wasRemco Evenepoel in 2022.
Many Belgian cyclists have won one of the fivemonument cycle races. At theTour of Flanders, Belgium counts 68 wins in 96 editions with 3 wins forAchiel Buysse,Eric Leman,Johan Museeuw andTom Boonen.Roger De Vlaeminck holds the record of wins atParis–Roubaix together with Tom Boonen (4), and Belgium is the most successful country in this race with 55 wins in 110 editions.Liège–Bastogne–Liège has been won 59 times out of 98 by Belgian cyclists. Eddy Merckx holds the record of the most individual wins (5). At theGiro di Lombardia, Belgium counts 12 titles in 105 editions, with only Italy performing better.Milan–San Remo was won 7 times by Eddy Merckx, who holds the record of the most wins, and Belgium has won 20 times out of 103, being the second most successful country after Italy in this race. Unlike the grand tours, which have not been won by a Belgian since 1978, cyclists from Belgium are still successful in the monument races. At Paris–Roubaix, Tom Boonen has won 4 times and Johan Museeuw 3 times since 1996, andPeter Van Petegem andJohan Van Summeren have also won the race once each. At the Tour of Flanders, Belgium has 12 wins since 1993, with 3 by Johan Museeuw and Tom Boonen, 2 by Peter Van Petegem andStijn Devolder and 1 byAndreï Tchmil andNick Nuyens. In the other 3 monuments, Belgians has been less successful recently, with Andreï Tchmil being the only Belgian winner of Milan–San Remo (in 1999) sinceFons De Wolf in 1981.Philippe Gilbert has been the only Belgian winner of the Giro di Lombardia since Fons De Wolf in 1980, with wins in 2009 and 2010 and only 4 Belgians have won Liège–Bastogne–Liège sinceJoseph Bruyère in 1978:Eric Van Lancker in 1990,Dirk De Wolf in 1992,Frank Vandenbroucke in 1999 and Philippe Gilbert in 2011.
Among the best-known road races in Belgium are two out of the five monuments of cycling: the Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Other classic one day races in Belgium includeLa Flèche Wallonne,E3 Harelbeke andGent–Wevelgem, all part of theUCI World Tour, as well asParis–Brussels,Omloop Het Nieuwsblad,Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne,Grand Prix de Wallonie andDwars door Vlaanderen. The best-known stage-races in Belgium are theTour of Benelux, created in 2005, theTour of Belgium and theTour of Wallonie. Belgium has currently two professional cycling teams competing in theUCI ProTour:Etixx–Quick-Step andLotto–Soudal.
Inmountain biking,Filip Meirhaeghe won the2002 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and the 2003UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships and was a silver medalist at the2000 Summer Olympics. Inmountain bike trials,Kenny Belaey has won the 26-inch wheel trial World Cup in 2002, 2005 and 2006. Incyclo-cross, Belgian competitors have gained 25 gold medals at theUCI Cyclo-cross Men World Championships since 1950 and 54 medals overall, making it the best country in cyclo-cross, ahead of France with 10 golds out of 34 medals.Erik De Vlaeminck has the most world titles in cyclo-cross with 7 World Cup wins between 1966 and 1973. Other multiple Belgian world champions areRoland Liboton (4 titles),Mario De Clercq (3),Wout van Aert (3),Erwin Vervecken (3),Sven Nys (2), andBart Wellens (2). Intrack cycling,Matthew Gilmore andEtienne De Wilde won the gold medal in the Men's Madison event at the1998 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and the silver medal in the Men's Madison at the2000 Summer Olympics.Roger Ilegems won the gold medal of the Men's points race at the1984 Summer Olympics whilePatrick Sercu held several world records and won the gold medal of the Men's 1 km time trial at the1964 Summer Olympics.
Field hockey has grown in importance over the recent years. As of April 2019the national team for men is ranked first in the world, whilethe national team for women is ranked thirteenth.[5]
Tennis in Belgium is governed by theRoyal Belgian Tennis Federation, which is split into the French-speaking AFT and the Dutch-speaking VTV. Belgium is well known in tennis for the two championsJustine Henin andKim Clijsters, who were bothWTA World No. 1 ranked player in the 2000s. Both players also retired respectively in 2007 and 2008, before they came back to the competition respectively in 2009 and 2010. Clijsters won 41 WTA titles, including threeUS Open titles and theAustralian Open in 2011. Henin won 43 WTA titles, including sevenGrand Slam titles (fourFrench Open titles, two US Open titles and the2004 Australian Open), and a gold medal at the2004 Summer Olympics.
The Belgium team won the2001 Fed Cup and finished runner-up in2006. The currentFed Cup team forBelgium is composed of Kim Clijsters,Yanina Wickmayer,Kirsten Flipkens,Alison Van Uytvanck, andAn-Sophie Mestach. Belgium hosted each year theBelgian Open from 1987 on, which was replaced by theProximus Diamond Games in 2002.
The men's team of Belgium is currently 4th in theITF rankings. Their best results are second places in the1904 International Lawn Tennis Challenge and the2015 Davis Cup. The currentBelgiumDavis Cup team is composed ofXavier Malisse (3ATP titles),Olivier Rochus (2),Steve Darcis (2) andDavid Goffin (4).
Former Belgian tennis champions includeFilip Dewulf (2 ATP titles),Christophe Rochus,Sabine Appelmans (7 WTA titles) andDominique Monami (4 WTA titles).
Athletics in Belgium is governed by three major bodies: theRoyal Belgian Athletics League (the Belgian federal association), theFlemish Athletics Liga (Dutch:Vlaamse Atletiekliga, the Flemish association), and theLigue Belge Francophone d'Athlétisme (the French-speaking association). Belgium has hosted a number of major athletics events, beginning with the1950 European Athletics Championships. It has since hosted theIAAF World Cross Country Championships in1973,1991,2001 and2004, theIAAF World Half Marathon Championships in1993 and2002 and the2000 European Athletics Indoor Championships (at theFlanders Sports Arena).
Belgium hosts a number of prominent annual competitions across all sections of the sport of athletics. TheMemorial Van Damme, Belgium's foremosttrack and field competition, began in 1977 and is now part of theIAAF Diamond League circuit. Two of the meetings in theLotto Cross Cup (an annualcross country running series) are sanctioned by theIAAF andEuropean Athletics. Other significant competitions which are part of the European athletics circuit include theFlanders Indoor meeting inGhent and theKBC Night of Athletics inHeusden. The country has twoAIMS-certifiedmarathons: theAntwerp Marathon and theBrussels Marathon.[6] There is also an annualultramarathon competition called theNacht van Vlaanderen, a 100 km race which has been held annually since 1980. The meeting has also doubled as the European andIAU World Championships on a number of occasions.[7] Other annual races of note are theWarandeloop,Oostende-Brugge Ten Miles,Kust Marathon,Guldensporenmarathon and the20 km of Brussels.
Four Belgian athletes have won Olympic gold medals:Nafissatou Thiam (heptathlon,2016),Tia Hellebaut (high jump,2008),Gaston Roelants (3000 m steeplechase,1964) andGaston Reiff (5000 m,1948). The other Belgian Olympic medalists in athletics areEtienne Gailly (bronze for marathon in 1948), Roger Moens (silver for 800m in1960),Emiel Puttemans (silver for 10,000 m in1972),Karel Lismont (silver for marathon in 1972 and bronze in1976), Ivo Van Damme (silver for 800 m and 1500 m in 1976) and the Belgium Women's 4 × 100 m led by Kim Gevaert (silver in 2008).
Belgium has had threeIAAF World Championships in Athletics medals (all bronze medals) since the creation of this competition in 1983:William Van Dijck for 3000 m steeplechase in1987,Mohammed Mourhit for the 5000m in1999 and the Belgium Women's 4 × 100 m team in2007.
Over the history of theEuropean Athletics Championship, Belgium has had five gold medals, ten silver medals and seven bronze medals. TheGolden Spike is awarded annually to the season's best Belgian male and female athletes.
Basketball is governed by theRoyal Belgian Basketball Federation. Their last tournament was theEuroBasket 2013 inSlovenia, where they won three games. The best result of the Belgium national team was a 4th place at theEuroBasket 1947. TheBasketball League Belgium is the top-flight national division and is played between 8 teams, with the current major clubs beingBC Oostende (12 Belgian champion titles and 11 Belgian Cups),Antwerp Giants (9 national titles[8] and 5 Belgian Cups[9]),Spirou Basket Charleroi (8 national titles and 5 Belgian Cups),Liège Basket (3 national titles and 4 Belgian Cups),Mons-Hainaut (1 Belgian Cup) andVerviers-Pepinster. The clubs of Racing Mechelen (15 national titles and 9 Belgian Cups between 1964 and 1994), Royal IV Brussels (7 national titles and 5 Belgian Cups between 1939 and 1973) and Semailles (6 national titles and 4 Belgian Cups between 1946 and 1958) have been successful but are now defunct. Belgium has organized theEuroBasket 1977. The biggest venues for basketball in Belgium are theSpiroudome inCharleroi (7,560 seats), theCountry Hall Ethias Liège inLiège (5,600), theLotto Arena inAntwerp (5,218) and theSea'Arena inOstend (5,000).
Table tennis in Belgium is governed by theRoyal Belgian Table Tennis Federation, which is split into the French-speaking AFFRBTT and the Dutch-speaking VTTL. The probably best-known Belgian table tennis player isJean-Michel Saive who won his 21st Belgian champion title in 2009.[10] At the international level, a victory at the 1994Table Tennis European Championships,[11] a victory in theEurope Top-12 in 1994[12] and a 2nd place at theWorld Table Tennis Championships in 1993 are his best single results. Jean-Michel also finished 2nd at the team event of the World Championships in 2001. His brotherPhilippe Saive was also a renowned player in Belgium. At the club level, the best known Belgian club is certainlyRoyal Villette Charleroi where the brothers Saive have played, as well asZoran Primorac,Petr Korbel,Dimitrij Ovtcharov,Oh Sang-Eun andVladimir Samsonov among others. La Villette Charleroi has won 1 World Champion title and 7European Club Cup of Champions since 1994, among which 5 victories in the newEuropean Champions League, making it the most successful club in this competition.
Volleyball in Belgium is organized by theRoyal Belgian Volleyball Federation which is split into the Dutch-speaking VVB and the French-speaking AIF. TheBelgium men's national volleyball team best result at theEuropean Volleyball Championship was in2017 (4th on 16) after they lost the bronze medal game against Serbia (2-3). In1987, Belgium finished 7th. Since then, Belgium only reached the finals in2007 and finished 10th. TheBelgium women's national volleyball team best result is a 7th place at the2007 Women's European Volleyball Championship.
TheBelgium men's volleyball League is the highest level championship for men's clubs in Belgium.Noliko Maaseik (12 national titles and 11 Belgian Cups) andKnack Randstad Roeselare (5 national titles and 6 Belgian Cups) are the most successful clubs in the last years. Roeselare is the only Belgian club to have won a European cup, namely theCEV Top Teams Cup in 2002. They also have 2 second places at theChallenge Cup. Maaseik best results at international level are 2 lost finals of theCEV Champions League in 1997 and 1999 and a lost final of the CEV Top Teams Cup in 2008.
In theBelgium women's volleyball Division of Honour, the most successful clubs in the last years areDatovoc Tongeren (7 national titles),Asterix Kieldrecht (4 national titles) andDauphines Charleroi (2 national titles). Kieldrecht is the only club to have a European title (the 2001Women's CEV Top Teams Cup).
Belgium featured a men's national team inbeach volleyball that competed at the2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.[13]
Rugby union is a growing sport in Belgium which, due to the growing mediatisation around the sport, especially during the 2003 and 2007 World Cup, is enjoying a rise in popularity. The game is formally organised by the Belgium Rugby Federation and has a surprisingly long history. Belgium has 57 clubs and 10,071 players according to the International Rugby Board who currently rank Belgium as tier two nation ranked at twenty-sixth in the world.
Rally is popular sport in Belgium and although no money prizes can be won, many talented drivers participate in the Belgian Championships. The rally sport is overseen by the RACB organization. Belgium is known for its technical special stages on narrow tarmac roads and steep ditches.
Belgium was part of the FIA World Rally Championship in both 2021 and 2022.
Known drivers include Bruno Thirry, Freddy Loix, Thierry Neuville and Lyssia Baudet - the latter who made it to the final of the FIA's Beyond Rally Women’s Driver Development Programme.[14] Known co-drivers include Sven Smeets, Stephen Prevot and Martijn Wydaeghe.
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