Belgium men's national field hockey team

Belgium

Nickname	Red Lions
Association	Royal Belgian Hockey Association
Confederation	EHF (Europe)
Coach	Michel van den Heuvel
Assistant coach(es)	Steve Bayer
Manager	Eric Pirenne
Captain	Félix Denayer
Home Away
FIH ranking
Current	1 (1 September 2021)
Highest	1 (December 2018 – June 2019, January 2020 – June 2021)
Lowest	14 (2003–04)
Olympic Games
Appearances	15 (first in 1920)
Best result	1st (2020)
World Cup
Appearances	6 (first in 1973)
Best result	1st (2018)
European Championship
Appearances	17 (first in 1970)
Best result	1st (2019)
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 1 1 World Cup 1 0 0 European Championship 1 2 2 Hockey World League 0 1 0 Total 3 4 3 Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo Team 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team 1920 Antwerp Team World Cup 2018 Bhubaneswar European Championship 2019 Antwerp 2013 Boom 2017 Amstelveen 2007 Manchester 2021 Amstelveen Hockey World League 2014-15 Raipur

The Belgian national men's field hockey team represents Belgium in international men's field hockey and is controlled by the Royal Belgian Hockey Association, the governing body for field hockey in Belgium.

Belgium won the Men's Hockey World Cup in 2018, the European Championship in 2019, the 2020-21 FIH Pro League and the gold medal at 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They also won a silver and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 1920 Antwerp Summer Olympics, respectively. They reached eight semi-finals at the European Championship since 1995, including a third place in 2007 and runners-up in 2013 and 2017.

History

Hockey was introduced in Belgium in 1902. The country's first club was founded in 1904. In 1907, several clubs established the Belgian Hockey Association. Belgium played its first international match against Germany, and was one of the founding members of the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

Between 1920 and 1978, Belgium appeared in two of the first three World Cups and in eleven out of thirteen Summer Olympics. After the successful early years (before the 1950s) with three times being among the best five at the Summer Olympics, it would last six decades before Belgium reached the international field hockey top again from the 1990s on.

By the early 2000s, the Royal Belgian Hockey Association started to invest heavily in the youth and modernized its structures. In 2007, Belgium won the bronze medal at the European Championship, a first in the country's history. Belgium also qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics, for the first time in 32 years.

Belgium won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, a second medal after Belgium ended third at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. Two years later Belgium won the 2018 Hockey World Cup. It was the first major international title in the country's history. A year later Belgium won the gold medal at the European Championship which was held in Antwerp. They secured their second consecutive olympic medal through reaching the gold medal match at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Honours

Summer Olympics

First place: 2020

Second place: 2016

Third place: 1920

World Cup

First place: 2018

European Championship

First place: 2019

Second place: 2013, 2017

Third place: 2007, 2021

FIH Pro League

First place: 2020–21

Second place: 2019

Hockey World League

Second place: 2014-15

Champions Challenge

First place: 2011

Third place: 2005

Belgian National Sports Merit Award

Winners: 1959, 2019

Belgian Sportsteam of the Year

Winners: 2012, 2016, 2018, 2019

Tournament history

A red box around the year indicates a tournament played within Belgium.

Summer Olympics

  Gold    Silver    Bronze    Fourth place

In 1920, Belgium's field hockey team won the bronze medal at home, at the Olympic Stadium in Antwerp.

Olympic Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1908	Did not participate
1912	Not held
1920	Bronze medal	3rd	3	1	0	2	6	19
1924	Not held
1928	Fourth place	4th	5	3	0	2	8	12
1932	Did not participate
1936	Group phase	9th	3	0	2	1	5	8
1948	Group phase	5th	4	2	0	2	6	8
1952	Second round	9th	2	1	0	1	6	1
1956	Group phase	7th	3	0	1	2	0	5
1960	Group phase	11th	5	1	1	3	7	9
1964	Group phase	11th	7	2	2	3	10	13
1968	Group phase	9th	8	4	1	3	17	9
1972	Group phase	10th	8	2	1	5	9	16
1976	Group phase	9th	6	3	0	3	11	19
1980	Did not qualify
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008	Group phase	9th	6	2	1	3	12	13
2012	Group phase	5th	6	3	1	2	13	9
2016	Runners-up	2nd	8	6	0	2	29	11
2020	Champion	1st	8	6	2	0	35	13
Total	Best: Champion	15/25	82	36	12	34	174	163

World Cup

Belgium captain Thomas Briels lifting the 2018 World Cup trophy

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place

FIH World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1971	Did not participate
1973	Group phase	8th	5	2	0	3	8	12
1975	Did not participate
1978	Group phase	14th	6	1	2	3	12	18
1982	Did not participate
1986
1990
1994	Group phase	11th	5	0	1	4	6	26
1998	Did not qualify
2002	Group phase	14th	7	0	0	7	7	23
2006	Did not qualify
2010
2014	5th–6th play-off	5th	6	4	0	2	21	13
2018	Winners	1st	7	5	2	0	22	5
2023	Qualified
Total	Best: Winners	7/15	35	13	5	19	76	97

European Championship

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place

European Championship Record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1970	Second round	5th	7	6	0	1	18	7
1974	Group phase	10th	6	2	1	3	7	9
1978	Did not participate
1983	Group phase	8th	7	2	1	4	8	17
1987	Group phase	10th	7	1	3	3	14	21
1991	Group phase	9th	7	4	0	3	14	17
1995	Fourth place	4th	7	3	2	2	12	8
1999	Fourth place	4th	7	4	0	3	19	28
2003	Group phase	6th	7	2	2	3	21	21
2005	Fourth place	4th	5	1	1	3	6	20
2007	Third place	3rd	5	2	2	1	16	14
2009	Group phase	5th	5	3	0	2	22	11
2011	Fourth place	4th	5	2	0	3	14	12
2013	Runners-up	2nd	5	3	1	1	12	6
2015	Group phase	5th	5	3	1	1	20	13
2017	Runners-up	2nd	5	2	1	2	13	9
2019	Winners	1st	5	5	0	0	22	2
2021	Third place	3rd	5	3	1	1	19	10
2023	Qualified
Total	1 title	18/19	100	48	16	36	256	228

FIH Pro League

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place

FIH Pro League record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2019	Runners-up	2nd	16	9	3	4	57	33
2020–21	Winners	1st	14	9	3	2	40	26
Total	Best: Winners	2/2	30	18	6	6	97	59

Hockey World League (defunct)

  Winners    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place

Hockey World League record
Year	Position	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2012–13	5th	Round 2	5	5	0	0	44	6
		Semifinal	6	4	2	0	18	9
		Final	6	1	2	3	9	10
2014–15	2nd	Semifinal	7	5	1	1	21	8
		Final	6	3	1	2	14	9
2016–17	5th	Semifinal	7	6	0	1	37	8
		Final	5	4	0	1	15	5
Total	Best: 2nd	Final	42	28	6	8	158	55

Champions Trophy (defunct)

  Winners    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place

Champions Trophy record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1978 until 2011	Did not participate
2012	First round	5th	6	2	0	4	15	16
2014	Second round	8th	6	1	3	2	13	15
2016	Second round	5th	6	2	2	2	13	15
2018	Second round	5th	6	1	4	1	12	15
Total	Best: 5th place	4/37	24	6	9	9	53	61

Champions Challenge (defunct)

  Winners    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place

Champions Challenge record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2001	5th–6th play-off	6th	6	0	0	6	6	18
2003	Did not participate
2005	Third place	3rd	9	6	2	1	26	17
2007	5th–6th play-off	6th	6	1	1	4	13	21
2009	7th–8th play-off	7th	5	2	0	3	13	9
2011	Winners	1st	6	4	2	0	22	12
2012	Did not participate
2014
Total	Best: Winners	5/8	32	13	5	14	80	77

*Draws include matches decided on a penalty shoot-out.

Team

Current squad

The following 18 players were named on 24 June 2021 for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Caps updated as of 5 August 2021, after the match against Australia.

Head coach: Shane McLeod

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
21	GK	Vincent Vanasch	(1987-12-21) 21 December 1987	252	Rot-Weiss Köln
4	DF	Arthur Van Doren	(1994-10-01) 1 October 1994	205	Bloemendaal
12	DF	Gauthier Boccard	(1991-08-26) 26 August 1991	241	Waterloo Ducks
16	DF	Alexander Hendrickx	(1993-08-06) 6 August 1993	147	Pinoké
23	DF	Arthur De Sloover	(1997-05-03) 3 May 1997	104	Beerschot
25	DF	Loïck Luypaert	(1991-08-19) 19 August 1991	262	Braxgata
7	MF	John-John Dohmen	(1988-01-24) 24 January 1988	416	Orée
14	MF	Augustin Meurmans	(1997-05-29) 29 May 1997	73	Racing
19	MF	Félix Denayer (Captain)	(1990-01-31) 31 January 1990	342	Dragons
22	MF	Simon Gougnard	(1991-01-17) 17 January 1991	299	Dragons
24	MF	Antoine Kina	(1996-02-13) 13 February 1996	87	Gantoise
26	MF	Victor Wegnez	(1995-12-25) 25 December 1995	109	Racing
8	FW	Florent Van Aubel	(1991-10-25) 25 October 1991	254	Dragons
9	FW	Sébastien Dockier	(1989-12-28) 28 December 1989	216	Pinoké
10	FW	Cédric Charlier	(1987-11-27) 27 November 1987	336	Racing
13	FW	Nicolas De Kerpel	(1993-03-23) 23 March 1993	77	Herakles
17	FW	Thomas Briels	(1987-08-23) 23 August 1987	359	Oranje-Rood
27	FW	Tom Boon	(1990-01-25) 25 January 1990	308	Léopold

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the national team in the last 12 months or are part of the current training squad.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Loic Van Doren	(1996-09-14) 14 September 1996	29	Dragons	2021 EuroHockey Championship
GK	Simon Vandenbroucke	(1999-06-06) 6 June 1999	3	Waterloo Ducks	v. Canada, 7 April 2021
DF	Nicolas Poncelet	(1996-09-19) 19 September 1996	21	Amsterdam	v. Netherlands, 30 May 2021
DF	Maxime Van Oost	(1999-12-02) 2 December 1999	4	Waterloo Ducks	v. France, 1 April 2021
DF	Emmanuel Stockbroekx	(1993-12-23) 23 December 1993	162	Orée	v. Spain, 5 February 2021
FW	Tanguy Cosyns	(1991-06-29) 29 June 1991	141	Racing	v. Canada, 7 April 2021
FW	Thibeau Stockbroekx	(2000-07-20) 20 July 2000	7	Oranje-Rood	v. Canada, 7 April 2021
FW	Tommy Willems	(1997-04-13) 13 April 1997	7	Waterloo Ducks	v. France, 1 April 2021
FW	Maxime Plennevaux	(1993-06-14) 14 June 1993	31	Léopold	v. Netherlands, 4 November 2020
FW	William Ghislain	(1999-07-28) 28 July 1999	6	Waterloo Ducks	v. Great Britain, 1 November 2020

See also

• Belgium men's national under-21 field hockey team
• Belgium women's national field hockey team

External links

• Official website
• FIH profile