The following article is a summary of the 2017–18 football season in Belgium, which is the 1145th season of competitive football in the country and runs from July 2017 until June 2018.
National teams
Belgium national football team
Belgium qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup following a 1–2 win in and against Greece on 3 September 2017. Being seeded, Belgium was then paired with England, Panama and Tunisia in Group G.
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2018 FIFA World Cup
Group stage
Knockout stage
Friendlies
Belgium women's national football team
Belgium made their debut at the UEFA Women's Euro tournament in 2017, being eliminated in a group with Denmark and Netherlands, who would both go on to play the final. The team also played the first six of their eight qualification matches for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, starting strongly with three wins.
UEFA Women's Euro 2017
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
2018 Cyprus Cup
Friendly
Men's football League season Promotion and relegation The following teams had achieved promotion or suffered relegation going into the 2017–18 season. LeaguePromoted to leagueRelegated from leagueFirst Division A Antwerp WesterloFirst Division B Beerschot Wilrijk Lommel UnitedFirst Division Amateur Division Eendracht Aalst Berchem Sport Châtelet Knokke Coxyde Hasselt Sprimont Comblain WS BrusselsSecond Division Amateur Division City Pirates Durbuy Ingelmunster Pepingen Rebecq Ronse RWDM47 Sint-Lenaarts Turnhout Vosselaar Charleroi Fleurus Couvin-Mariembourg Givry Grimbergen Halle Menen Namur Woluwe-ZaventemThird Division Amateur Division Bilzen Waltwilder Binche Braine Habay Herentals Heur-Tongeren Hoeilaart Kampenhout Melsele Spy Stekene Stockay Termien Ternesse Visé Wingene Arlon Berlare Betekom Helchteren Racing Mechelen Profondeville Sint-Gillis Waas Warnant Zele
Belgian First Division A
Regular season
Belgian First Division B
Belgian First Amateur Division
Belgian Second Amateur Division
Division A
Division B
Division C
Belgian Third Amateur Division
Division A
Division B
Division C
Division D
Cup competitions CompetitionWinnerScoreRunner-up2017–18 Belgian CupStandard Liège1–0Genk2017 Belgian Super CupAnderlecht2–1Zulte Waregem
Transfers
UEFA competitions Champions Anderlecht qualified directly for the group stage of the Champions League, while runners-up Club Brugge started in the qualifying rounds. As cup winner, Zulte Waregem qualified directly for the group stage of the Europa League, while Gent and Oostende started in the qualifying rounds.
Overall, Belgian football clubs performed very poorly during the 2017–18 season, as both Club Brugge, Gent and Oostende failed to qualify for the group stages. Anderlecht only managed to win one match in the Champions League and although Zulte Waregem scored 7 points in their Europa League group they were also eliminated, causing all Belgian teams to be eliminated from European football before the winter break.
Anderlecht was drawn in group B of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League together with giants Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich and looked to be battling it out with Celtic for the third place. Anderlecht lost the first 5 matches before winning 0–1 in Glasgow, but as they needed to overcome an earlier 0–3 home loss to become third, they were eliminated. Club Brugge first failed to qualify for the group stage of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League after losing out to İstanbul Başakşehir before being eliminated by AEK Athens in the Play-off round. In the same manner as Anderlecht but in the Europa League rather than the Champions League, Zulte Waregem had also qualified directly for the group stage and failed to progress. Zulte Waregem also faced strong competition, being drawn against Lazio, Nice and Vitesse. Following 1–5 and 2–0 losses against Nice and Lazio respectively, they managed to obtain four points from their two duels with Vitesse. On the fifth matchday, an away loss to Nice meant elimination from the competition, but they finished the competition in style, with a 3–2 home win against Lazio. Gent, who reached the round of 16 of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, now immediately lost out to minnows Rheindorf Altach in the second qualifying round. Oostende entered European football for the first time in the history of the club. They were drawn against French giants Marseille and held them to a 0–0 draw at home. As they head earlier lost 4–2 in Marseille, they were also eliminated.
DateTeamCompetitionRoundLegOpponentLocationScoreBelgian Team Goalscorers26 July 2017Club BruggeChampions LeagueQual. Round 3Leg 1, Home İstanbul BaşakşehirJan Breydel Stadium, Bruges3–3Dennis, Denswil (2)27 July 2017GentEuropa LeagueQual. Round 3Leg 1, Home Rheindorf AltachGhelamco Arena, Ghent1–1Coulibaly27 July 2017OostendeEuropa LeagueQual. Round 3Leg 1, Away MarseilleStade Vélodrome, MarseilleSiani , Musona2 August 2017Club BruggeChampions LeagueQual. Round 3Leg 2, Away İstanbul BaşakşehirBaşakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium, Istanbul3 August 2017GentEuropa LeagueQual. Round 3Leg 2, Away Rheindorf AltachTivoli-Neu, InnsbruckMilićević 3 August 2017OostendeEuropa LeagueQual. Round 3Leg 2, Home MarseilleVersluys Arena, Ostend0–017 August 2017Club BruggeEuropa LeaguePlay-off roundLeg 1, Home AEK AthensJan Breydel Stadium, Bruges0–024 August 2017Club BruggeEuropa LeaguePlay-off roundLeg 2, Away AEK AthensOlympic Stadium, Athens12 September 2017AnderlechtChampions LeagueGroup StageMatchday 1, Away Bayern MunichAllianz Arena, Munich14 September 2017Zulte WaregemEuropa LeagueGroup StageMatchday 1, Home NiceRegenboogstadion, WaregemLeya Iseka27 September 2017AnderlechtChampions LeagueGroup StageMatchday 2, Home CelticConstant Vanden Stock Stadium, Anderlecht28 September 2017Zulte WaregemEuropa LeagueGroup StageMatchday 2, Away LazioStadio Olimpico, Rome18 October 2017AnderlechtChampions LeagueGroup StageMatchday 3, Home Paris Saint-GermainConstant Vanden Stock Stadium, Anderlecht19 October 2017Zulte WaregemEuropa LeagueGroup StageMatchday 3, Home VitesseRegenboogstadion, Waregem1–1Kashia 31 October 2017AnderlechtChampions LeagueGroup StageMatchday 4, Away Paris Saint-GermainParc des Princes, Paris2 November 2017Zulte WaregemEuropa LeagueGroup StageMatchday 4, Away VitesseGelreDome, ArnhemDabo , Kaya22 November 2017AnderlechtChampions LeagueGroup StageMatchday 5, Home Bayern MunichConstant Vanden Stock Stadium, AnderlechtHanni23 November 2017Zulte WaregemEuropa LeagueGroup StageMatchday 5, Away NiceAllianz Riviera, NiceHämäläinen5 December 2017AnderlechtChampions LeagueGroup StageMatchday 6, Away CelticCeltic Park, GlasgowŠimunović 7 December 2017Zulte WaregemEuropa LeagueGroup StageMatchday 6, Home LazioRegenboogstadion, WaregemDe Pauw, Heylen, Leya Iseka
European qualification for 2018–19 summary CompetitionQualifiersReason for QualificationUEFA Champions League Group StageClub Brugge1st in Belgian First Division AUEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round for Non-ChampionsStandard Liège2nd in Belgian First Division AUEFA Europa League Group StageAnderlecht3rd in Belgian First Division AUEFA Europa League Third Qualifying RoundGent4th in Belgian First Division AUEFA Europa League Second Qualifying RoundGenkEuropa League Playoff winner
Managerial changes This is a list of changes of managers within Belgian professional league football (Belgian First Division A and Belgian First Division B): Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position Replaced by Date of appointment Waasland-Beveren Čedomir JanevskiMutual consent End of 2016–17 season Pre-season Philippe Clement 24 May 2017 Club Brugge Michel Preud'homme End of 2016–17 season Ivan Leko 8 June 2017 Kortrijk Karim Belhocine Replaced End of 2016–17 season Yannis Anastasiou 20 May 2017 Standard Liège José Jeunechamps (caretaker) Caretaker replaced End of 2016–17 season Ricardo Sá Pinto 11 June 2017 Sint-Truiden Ivan Leko Signed by Club Brugge 8 June 2017 Tintín Márquez 22 June 2017 Antwerp Wim De Decker Demoted to assistant coach 16 June 2017 László Bölöni 16 June 2017 Westerlo Jacky Mathijssen Mutual consent 21 June 2017 Vedran Pelić 21 June 2017 Sint-Truiden Tintín MárquezSacked 7 August 2017 8th Jonas De Roeck 10 August 2017 Lokeren Rúnar Kristinsson 9 August 2017 15th Peter Maes 9 August 2017 Roeselare Arnauld Mercier 12 September 2017 5th Dennis van Wijk 28 September 2017 Anderlecht René Weiler 18 September 2017 9th Nicolás Frutos (caretaker) 18 September 2017 Oostende Yves Vanderhaeghe 19 September 2017 16th Adnan Čustović 19 September 2017 OH Leuven Dennis van Wijk Replaced 22 September 2017 4th Nigel Pearson 22 September 2017 Gent Hein Vanhaezebrouck Mutual consent 27 September 2017 14th Yves Vanderhaeghe 4 October 2017 Anderlecht Nicolás Frutos Caretaker replaced 3 October 2017 7th Hein Vanhaezebrouck 3 October 2017 Lierse Frederik VanderbiestSacked 6 October 2017 7th William Still 11 October 2017 Cercle Brugge José Riga 16 October 2017 3rd Franky Vercauteren 16 October 2017 Mechelen Yannick Ferrera 23 October 2017 15th Tom Caluwé (caretaker) 23 October 2017 Mechelen Tom Caluwé (caretaker) Caretaker replaced 1 November 2017 16th Aleksandar Janković 1 November 2017 Eupen Jordi Condom Sacked 6 November 2017 16th Claude Makélélé 6 November 2017 Kortrijk Yannis Anastasiou 8 November 2017 15th Glen De Boeck 8 November 2017 Tubize Sadio Demba 13 November 2017 Closing tournament: 6thOverall: 8th Philippe Thys 13 November 2017 Lierse William Still Did not possess correct UEFA diploma to remain manager 2 December 2017 Closing tournament: 1stOverall: 3rd David Colpaert 2 December 2017 Westerlo Vedran Pelić Replaced 5 December 2017 Closing tournament: 8thOverall: 7th Bob Peeters 5 December 2017 Genk Albert Stuivenberg Sacked 10 December 2017 9th Philippe Clement 19 December 2017 Waasland-Beveren Philippe Clement Signed for Genk 19 December 2017 7th Sven Vermant 5 January 2018 Roeselare Dennis van Wijk Sacked 19 January 2018 Closing tournament: 7thOverall: 5th Jordi Condom 25 January 2018 Mechelen Aleksandar Janković 24 January 2018 15th Dennis van Wijk 24 January 2018 Excel Mouscron Mircea Rednic 14 February 2018 12th Frank Defays 14 February 2018 Waasland-Beveren Sven Vermant 9 May 2018 Regular season: 12thEuropa League POs: 6th Dirk Geeraerd (caretaker) 9 May 2018
See also 2017–18 Belgian First Division A 2017–18 Belgian First Division B 2017–18 Belgian First Amateur Division 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division 2017–18 Belgian Third Amateur Division 2017–18 Belgian Cup 2017 Belgian Super Cup
Notes
References
Reports