The male Belgian national (association) football team has been under the supervision of 26 different permanent managers and two caretakers since 1910. Before 1910 and in 1919, a committee of the RBFA presided by Édouard de Laveleye selected the players. Initially supervised by foreigners, it would take until 1930 for team Belgium to be officially led by a Belgian (Hector Goetinck).
As of 1 December 2022, coach Roberto Martínez is the most successful (permanent) manager that Belgium has ever had in statistical terms, with an average of 2.26 points per match. He achieved third place at the 2018 World Cup and kept Belgium in the number one spot on the FIFA World Ranking for over three years. With this he outperformed the coach that previously brought Belgium successes at international tournament end stages, Guy Thys, who led his team to the 1980 European Championship final and six years later to the semi-finals of the World Cup in Mexico.
Managers ManagerTenureWin %Major tournaments**Selection committee (1)—19811042.111.32 SO 1908 (1)1910–191323113947.831.57 SO 1912191440040.000.00Selection committee (2)—1914–191910100.001.00 (2)1920–19285618102832.141.14 SO 1920 – Winners 🥇 SO 1924 – Round 21928–19301152445.451.55 SO 1928 – Quarter-finals (1)1930–193431751922.580.84 WC 1930 – Round 1 WC 1934 – Round 1193530120.000.331935–193932871725.000.97 WC 1938 – Round 1 SO 1936 (2)1939–19400000Selection committee (3)—1940–194300001944–1946822425.001.001947–1953441891740.911.43 WC 19501953–19541356238.461.62 WC 1954 – Group stage1955–195717421123.530.82ct19571100100.003.001957–1958612316.670.83 WC 19581958–19686828112941.181.40 EC 1960, WC 1962, EC 1964, WC 1966, EC 19681968–1976442581156.821.89 WC 1970 – Group stage EC 1972 – Third place 🥉 WC 1974, EC 1976 (1)1976–19891014524*3244.551.57 WC 1978 EC 1980 – Runners-up 🥈 WC 1982 – Round 2 EC 1984 – Group stage WC 1986 – Fourth place EC 19881989–1990623133.331.50 (2)1990–19911344530.771.23 WC 1990 – Round of 16 EC 19921991–1996361951252.781.72 WC 1994 – Round of 16 EC 19961996522140.001.60 (1)1997–1999291010*934.481.38 WC 1998 – Group stage1999–2002341611747.061.74 EC 2000 – Group stage WC 2002 – Round of 162002–2005291271041.381.48 EC 2004, WC 20062005–2009301071333.331.23 EC 2008, WC 2010ct200950140.000.202009–2010530260.001.80 (2)2010–20121987442.101.63 EC 20122012–201649338867.352.18 WC 2014 – Quarter-finals EC 2016 – Quarter-finals2016–20228056131170.002.26 WC 2018 – Third place 🥉 NL Finals 2019 EC 2020 – Quarter-finals NL Finals 2021 – Fourth place WC 2022 – Group stage NL Finals 2023 2023–202524126650.001.75 EC 2024 – Round of 16 NL Finals 2025 2025–202620126260.002.10 WC 2026 – Quarter-finals2026–0000Totals 866 385 184 297 44.46 1.55 26 out of 50 tournaments * Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.** Abbreviations: SO = Summer Olympics, WC = FIFA World Cup, EC = UEFA European Championship, NL = UEFA Nations League(1), (2) first term, second termct caretaker manager Last updated: Spain v. Belgium, 10 July 2026. Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only.
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