The Best Soccer Players From Belgium
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Vote up the best Belgian football players of all time.
- 1Age: 32Kevin De Bruyne (born 28 June 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and the Belgian national team. His playing style has frequently led to the media, coaches, and colleagues ranking him among the best players in Europe, and has often been described as a "complete" footballer. He was ranked the fourth-best footballer in the world by The Guardian in 2017.De Bruyne began his career at Genk, where he was a regular player when they won the 2010–11 Belgian Pro League. In 2012, he joined English club Chelsea, where he was used sparingly and then loaned to Werder Bremen. He signed with Wolfsburg for £18 million in 2014, and in 2015 he was named Footballer of the Year in Germany. Later that year, he joined Manchester City for a club record £54 million. In four seasons with City, De Bruyne has appeared in over 170 matches and won two Premier League titles, three League Cups and one FA Cup. He had a significant role in City's quest to become the first Premier League team to attain 100 points in a single season in the 2017–18. Additionally, De Bruyne has been named Manchester City's Player of the Year, twice, in 2016 and 2018. De Bruyne made his full international debut in 2010, and has since earned 70 caps and scored 16 goals for Belgium. He was a member of the Belgian squads that reached the quarter-finals both at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and at UEFA Euro 2016. In 2018 he represented Belgium at the FIFA World Cup, winning the third place play-off match against England.More Kevin De Bruyne
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- 2Age: 33Eden Michael Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Spanish club Real Madrid and captains the Belgium national team. Known for his creativity, dribbling and passing, he is considered one of the best players of his generation. Hazard made his senior debut for the Belgium national team in November 2008, aged 17, in a friendly match against Luxembourg. Nearly three years after his debut, Hazard scored his first international goal against Kazakhstan in October 2011. He has since earned over 110 caps, and was a member of the Belgian squad which reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016, and UEFA Euro 2020. At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he captained Belgium to third place which was their best finish in history, receiving the Silver Ball as the second-best player of the tournament. Since 2015, he has been the captain of the team, which coincided with the time Belgium became world’s number onMore Eden Hazard
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- 3Age: 38Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian retired professional footballer who played as a centre back and is currently the manager of Belgian club RSC Anderlecht. He most notably played for Manchester City for 11 seasons, whom he captained for eight seasons. He also represented the Belgium national team for 15 years, whom he captained for 7 years.More Vincent Kompany
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- 4Age: 32Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois (born 11 May 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Belgium national team. He is considered by many to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Courtois made his senior international debut in October 2011, becoming the youngest goalkeeper to represent Belgium. He has since earned over eighty caps and appeared at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016, the 2018 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2020; he was awarded the Golden Glove in 2018 as the best goalkeeper of the tournament, with Belgium finishing third.More Thibaut Courtois
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- 5Age: 31Romelu Menama Lukaku Bolingoli (born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Inter Milan and the Belgium national team. A Belgian international, Lukaku has played 98 games for his country, and scored 64 goals, making him Belgium's all-time top goalscorer. Lukaku made his senior international debut for Belgium in 2010, at age 17, and has since represented his country at four major tournaments, including two FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships. At the 2018 World Cup, Lukaku led Belgium to a third-place finish by finishing as the joint second-highest goalscorer, and won the Bronze Boot.More Romelu Lukaku
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- 6Age: 80Paul Van Himst (born 2 October 1943) is a retired Belgian football forward and a football manager. Now retired, he still supports R.S.C. Anderlecht, his former team.
- 7Age: 37Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen (born 24 April 1987) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Primeira Liga club Benfica and the Belgium national team. Mainly a central defender, he can also play as a left-back. Vertonghen made his international debut for Belgium in 2007 and his 131 caps (including three unofficial games, according to FIFA rules) are the most in the history of the national team. He was part of Belgian squads that came fourth at the 2008 Olympics and reached the quarter-finals of both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2016, as well as finishing in third place at the 2018 World Cup.More Jan Vertonghen
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Jean-Marie Pfaff
Age: 70Jean-Marie Pfaff (born 4 December 1953 in Lebbeke) is a Belgian former football goalkeeper who spent most of his professional career with Beveren and Bayern Munich. Pfaff was capped 64 times playing for Belgium, and participated at the 1982 FIFA World Cup and 1986 FIFA World Cup tournaments.More Jean-Marie Pfaff- #137 of 159 onThe Best Soccer Goalies of All Time
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- 9Age: 37Dries Mertens (born May 6, 1987), nicknamed Ciro, is a Belgian professional soccer player who plays as a striker or winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team. Mertens made his Belgium debut in 2011 and has since made over 100 appearances for the national team. He was also part of the nation's squads at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016, the 2018 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2020, helping them to a third-place finish at the 2018 tournament. In 2016, he was named Belgian Footballer of the Year.
- 10Age: 58Vincenzo "Enzo" Daniele Scifo (Italian pronunciation: [ˈɛntso ˈʃiːfo]; born 19 February 1966) is a retired Belgian football midfielder who is regarded as one of Belgium's greatest ever footballers. He has also managed the Belgium national under-21 football team and several Belgian club sides. He played for clubs in Belgium, France and Italy, where he won several domestic titles. At international level, he was a member of the Belgian national team, for which he appeared in four FIFA World Cups, being one of three Belgian players ever to do so.
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Mousa Dembélé
Age: 36Mousa Sidi Yaya Dembélé (born 16 July 1987) is a Belgian retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He was regarded as one of the best box-to-box midfielders in Europe due to his excellent dribbling skills and ability to maintain possession. Dembélé started his career at Belgian Pro League team Germinal Beerschot before spells at Eredivisie sides Willem II and AZ in the Netherlands. He won the league title and the Johan Cruyff Shield with the latter in 2009. Dembélé transferred to Premier League side Fulham in 2010 before joining Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £15 million in August 2012. He was ranked 91st in The Guardian's list of the 100 best current footballers in 2012. Dembélé accumulated 82 caps for the Belgium national team from 2006 to 2018. - 12
Toby Alderweireld
Age: 35Toby Albertine Maurits Alderweireld (born 2 March 1989) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or right-back for Qatari club Al-Duhail and the Belgium national team. Alderweireld began his professional career at Dutch club Ajax, where he won honours including three consecutive Eredivisie titles. In 2013, he moved to Atlético Madrid, where he won La Liga and reached the UEFA Champions League final in his first season. After a year on loan at Southampton, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 2015 and once again reached the Champions League final in 2019. A full international since 2009, Alderweireld has earned over 110 caps for Belgium and represented the country at the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, and the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020. - 13
Marouane Fellaini
Age: 36Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui (born 22 November 1987) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chinese club Shandong Luneng Taishan and former of the Belgium national football team. Fellaini He is best known for his career at Everton and Manchester United, He is widely considered to be one of the best Premier League players of his generation. A full international for the Belgium national team from 2007 until his retirement in March 2019, Fellaini amassed 87 caps and 18 goals for The Red Devils. He represented the team at the 2008 Olympics, the 2014 World Cup, Euro 2016, and the 2018 World Cup, helping Belgium to third place in the latter tournament. - 14Age: 35Axel Laurent Angel Lambert Witsel (born 12 January 1989) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Belgian national team. Witsel broke into Belgium's first team as a right-winger, and can also play attacking midfielder, though his natural position is as a central midfielder. Witsel made his senior international debut in 2008 and earned his 100th cap for Belgium on 15 November 2018. He represented the country at the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, and the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020, helping them to third place in the 2018 tournament.More Axel Witsel
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- 15Age: 67Jan Anna Gumaar Ceulemans (born 28 February 1957 in Lier, Belgium) is a former Belgian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, Ceulemans was well known for his stamina, aerial ability and technique. He was also known for his power, imposing frame and natural authority.He is his country's fourth most capped player with 96 international appearances. Most of his time with Belgium took place under the guidance of Guy Thys. This period saw the Belgium squad record some of their finest results, which include reaching the final of Euro 80 and fourth place at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
- 16Age: 70Eric Maria Gerets (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈeːrɪk ˈxeːrəts], born 18 May 1954) is a Belgian football manager and former footballer. He started his playing career as an amateur for his local team AA Rekem, before achieving success with Standard Liège and PSV. At his peak he was regarded as one of the top right-backs in Europe. The combination of his warrior's heart, beard and dark long hair earned him the nickname "The Lion (of Flanders)". Considered one of the greatest players in Belgian football history, he is famous for having captained PSV to their first and only European Cup win in 1988. As a coach, he is best known for his advocacy of systems thinking. He is also one of six managers – along with José Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Giovanni Trapattoni, Tomislav Ivić and Ernst Happel – to have won domestic league championships in at least four countries.
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Wilfried Van Moer
Age: 79Wilfried van Moer (born 1 March 1945, Beveren-Waas) is a former Belgian football player who won the Belgian Golden Shoe three times, first in 1966 while at Antwerp then in 1969 and in 1970 while at Standard Liège. Prior to 1966 Van Moer played with Beveren. He went back to his first club after a spell at Beringen in the early 1980s. He played 57 times and scored 9 goals for the national team between 1966 and 1982, starting in a 1-0 friendly win against Switzerland on 22 October 1966. Van Moer was in the team for the 1970 and 1982 World Cups and for the Euro 1980 in which Belgium finished second. - 18Age: 55Marc Robert Wilmots (born 22 February 1969) is a Belgian international former footballer who is currently the manager of the Iran national football team. During his club career as attacking midfielder, he won trophies with KV Mechelen, Standard Liège and Schalke 04. He has also been a politician, having sat in the Senate for four years for the Mouvement Réformateur party.
- 19Age: 65Michel Georges Jean Ghislain Preud'homme (born 24 January 1959), commonly known as Michel Preud'homme, is a former Belgian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and is the current manager of Standard Liège in the Belgian Pro League. He was considered one of the world's best and most consistent goalkeepers during his career; he was the first winner of the Yashin Award as the best goalkeeper at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. On club level, Preud'homme played for Standard Liège, Mechelen and Benfica. With Mechelen, he won the Belgian Cup in 1987, the Cup Winner's Cup and the European Super Cup in 1988 and the Belgian league title in 1989. He also won the Portuguese Cup with Benfica in 1996. He retired as a player in 1999, aged 40. For Belgium, Preud'homme was capped 58 times, from 1979 to 1995. Other than the 1994 World Cup, he also played in the 1990 tournament.
- 20Age: 36Radja Nainggolan (born 4 May 1988) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Belgian club Royal Antwerp. Nicknamed "Ninja," he spent his entire professional career in Italy until signing for Royal Antwerp, representing Piacenza, Cagliari, Roma and Inter Milan and making over 400 Serie A appearances. He was named four consecutive times in the Serie A Team of the Year. A Belgium international for eight years, Nainggolan played 30 times for his country (scoring six goals) and represented it at Euro 2016.More Radja Nainggolan
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- 21Age: 30Yannick Ferreira Carrasco (born 4 September 1993) is a Belgian footballer who plays for Spanish club Atlético Madrid and the Belgium national team as a winger and wing-back.
- 22Age: 27Youri Marion A. Tielemans (born 7 May 1997) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Leicester City and for the Belgium national team. Tielemans began his career at Anderlecht, where he made 185 official appearances and scored 35 goals across four seasons. He won the league title twice and in 2017 was chosen as the Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year. He is the youngest Belgian to play in the UEFA Champions League, making his debut in the competition at the age of 16 years and 148 days. After two years at Monaco in Ligue 1, he joined Leicester in 2019, initially on loan and then for an estimated fee of £32 million. He scored the only goal of the 2021 FA Cup Final. Tielemans represented Belgium at several youth levels and before gaining his first cap for the national team in November 2016, aged 19. He was part of the squad that came third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
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Leandro Trossard
Age: 29Leandro Trossard (born 4 December 1994) is a Belgian footballer who plays for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Belgian national team. - Jérémy Doku (born 27 May, 2002) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Rennes and the Belgium national team.
- 25Age: 46Daniel Van Buyten (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdaːnijɛl vɑm ˈbœytə(n)]; born 7 February 1978) is a Belgian former footballer who played as a centre back. Nicknamed "Big Dan", Van Buyten was known for his uncompromising style of play, exploiting both his physical strength and aerial ability. Beginning at Charleroi as a striker, Van Buyten's career took off when he converted to a centre back, playing for a series of top flight clubs, including Marseille, Manchester City, Hamburger SV and Bayern Munich. Throughout his career, Van Buyten was also a regular starter for the Belgium national team, amassing 83 caps in an international career that spanned 13 years and which included participation at two FIFA World Cup. Van Buyten became the first-ever Belgian winner of the UEFA Champions League when Bayern Munich claimed the European crown in 2013.
- 26Age: 29Divock Okoth Origi (born 18 April 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club AC Milan and the Belgium national team. Origi began his career at Lille, and scored on his professional debut for them in 2013. A year and a half later, he was signed for £10 million by Liverpool, who loaned him back to Lille for the 2014–15 Ligue 1 season. Origi made his international debut for Belgium in 2014 and was part of their team which reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, during which he became the youngest goalscorer in Belgian World Cup history as a 19 year old.
- 27Age: 32Thomas Meunier (born 12 September 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Belgium national team.
- 28Age: 63Franky Van der Elst (born 30 April 1961) is a Belgian retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, and is a manager, currently employed as assistant manager at Oostende. During a 21-year professional career he played mainly with Club Brugge, being regarded as a legend there and briefly coaching the team in the 2000s. Also, he was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers, in March 2004.Van der Elst won 86 caps for the Belgium national team, representing the country in four World Cups and retiring at nearly 40 years of age.
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Lorenzo Staelens
Age: 60Lorenzo Jules Staelens (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈloːrɛnzoː ˈstaːləns]; born 30 April 1964) is a retired Belgian footballer and currently unemployed manager after being released in March 2019 by Knokke. Having started his career as a defensive midfielder, he finished it as sweeper at nearly 40, and scored more than 100 goals overall. Staelens appeared for the Belgian national team in three World Cups, adding the Euro 2000 tournament played on home soil. - 30Age: 57Luc Gilbert Cyrille Nilis (born 25 May 1967), nicknamed Lucky Luc, is a former Belgian football striker. He enjoyed a successful career in his native Belgium and, in particular, in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven. However, his playing days came to an end in the 2000–01 season after breaking his leg in a match with his club Aston Villa following a clash with Ipswich Town goalkeeper Richard Wright.
