The football rivalry between Belgium and France is one of the oldest association football rivalries in Europe, dating back the first official match for both teams and the first official football match between independent countries on the European continent in 1904. The rivalry has been dubbed le Match Sympathique in French ("the Friendly Match"); with French journalist calling the encounters "both a neighborhood block party and a deep-seated rivalry" and that "the great elders report that France-Belgium is the mother of all battles."

Background The two sides met on 1 May 1904 for the first official match between them, although in practice unofficial matches had already taken place on both sides of the border. Until the early 1970s, the two national teams met annually for a friendly match.

In major tournaments, the two sides met three times in the World Cup, all French victories. The sides have also met four times in World Cup Qualifiers (1958 and 1982). The sides met twice in the European Championship, both during the knockout stage, and both ended in French victories. In qualifying, the sides met twice for Euro 1968 and Euro 1976.

The sides met in the semi-finals of the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals, with France prevailing 3–2 after overcoming a two-goal deficit.

France has won each of the last seven meetings.

Comparison in major tournaments Key Denotes which team finished better in that particular competition. DNQ: Did not qualify. DNP: Did not participate. TBD: To be determined.

TournamentNotes1930 FIFA World Cup11th7th1934 FIFA World Cup15th9th1938 FIFA World Cup13th6thTournament hosted by France. In the second round, France defeated Belgium 3-1.1950 FIFA World CupWithdrewDNQ1954 FIFA World Cup12th11th1958 FIFA World CupDNQ3rdEuro 1960 4thTournament hosted by France.1962 FIFA World CupDNQEuro 19641966 FIFA World CupDNQ13thEuro 1968DNQ1970 FIFA World Cup10thDNQEuro 19723rdTournament hosted by Belgium.1974 FIFA World CupDNQEuro 19761978 FIFA World CupDNQ12thEuro 19802ndDNQ1982 FIFA World Cup10th4thEuro 19847th1stTournament hosted by France. In the group stage, France defeated Belgium 5–0.1986 FIFA World Cup4th3rdIn the third place match, France defeated Belgium 4–2.Euro 1988DNQ1990 FIFA World Cup 11thDNQEuro 1992DNQ6th1994 FIFA World Cup11thDNQEuro 1996DNQ3rd1998 FIFA World Cup19th1stTournament hosted by France.Euro 200012thTournament jointly hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands.2002 FIFA World Cup14th28thEuro 2004DNQ6th2006 FIFA World Cup2ndEuro 200815th2010 FIFA World Cup29thEuro 20128th2014 FIFA World Cup6th7thEuro 20166th2ndTournament hosted by France.2018 FIFA World Cup3rd1stIn the semifinals, France defeated Belgium 1–0.Euro 20205th11th2022 FIFA World Cup23rd2ndEuro 202410th3rdIn the Round of 16, France defeated Belgium 1–0.2026 FIFA World Cup6th4thEuro 2028TBDTBD

Major encounters 1938 FIFA World Cup

UEFA Euro 1984

1986 FIFA World Cup

2018 FIFA World Cup

2021 UEFA Nations League Finals

UEFA Euro 2024

Matches No. Date Location Competition Result – 23 September 1900 Paris 1900 Olympics (Demonstration tournament) Club Français 6–2 Université de Bruxelles 1 1 May 1904 Brussels Friendly 3–3 2 7 May 1905 7–0 3 22 April 1906 Saint-Cloud 0–5 4 21 April 1907 Brussels 1–2 5 12 April 1908 Colombes 1–2 6 9 May 1909 Brussels 5–0 7 3 April 1910 Gentilly 0–4 8 30 April 1911 Brussels 7–1 9 28 January 1912 Saint-Ouen 1–1 10 16 February 1913 Brussels 3–0 11 25 January 1914 Lille 4–3 12 9 March 1919 Brussels 2–2 13 28 March 1920 Paris 2–1 14 6 March 1921 Brussels 3–1 15 15 January 1922 Colombes 2–1 16 25 February 1923 Brussels 4–1 17 13 January 1924 Paris 2–0 18 11 November 1924 Sint-Jans-Molenbeek 3–0 19 11 April 1926 Paris 4–3 20 20 June 1926 Sint-Jans-Molenbeek 2–2 21 15 April 1928 Colombes 2–3 22 26 May 1929 Rocourt 4–1 23 13 April 1930 Colombes 1–6 24 25 May 1930 Ougrée 1–2 25 7 December 1930 Montrouge 2–2 26 1 May 1932 Brussels 5–2 27 26 May 1933 Colombes 3–0 28 21 January 1934 Brussels 2–3 29 14 April 1935 1–1 30 8 March 1936 Colombes 3–0 31 21 February 1937 Brussels 3–1 32 30 January 1938 Paris 5–3 33 5 June 1938 1938 FIFA World Cup 3–1 34 18 May 1939 Brussels Friendly 2–3 35 24 December 1944 Paris 3–1 36 15 December 1945 Brussels 2–1 37 1 June 1947 Colombes 4–2 38 6 June 1948 Brussels 4–2 39 17 October 1948 Colombes 3–3 40 4 June 1950 Brussels 4–1 41 1 November 1950 Colombes 3–3 42 22 May 1952 Brussels 1–2 43 25 December 1952 Colombes 0–1 44 30 May 1954 Brussels 3–3 45 11 November 1954 Colombes 2–2 46 25 December 1955 Brussels 2–1 47 11 November 1956 Colombes 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification 6–3 48 27 October 1957 Brussels 0–0 49 1 March 1959 Colombes Friendly 2–2 50 28 February 1960 Brussels 1–0 51 15 March 1961 Colombes 1–1 52 18 October 1961 Brussels 3–0 53 25 December 1963 Colombes 1–2 54 2 December 1964 Brussels 3–0 55 20 April 1966 Colombes 0–3 56 11 November 1966 Brussels UEFA Euro 1968 qualification 2–1 57 28 October 1967 Nantes 1–1 58 15 November 1970 Brussels Friendly 1–2 59 12 October 1974 UEFA Euro 1976 qualification 2–1 60 15 November 1975 Paris 1–1 61 29 April 1981 Paris 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification 3–2 62 9 September 1981 Brussels 2–0 63 31 May 1983 Luxembourg City Friendly 1–1 64 16 June 1984 Nantes UEFA Euro 1984 5–0 65 16 June 1986 Puebla 1986 FIFA World Cup 2–4 66 25 March 1992 Paris Friendly 3–3 67 27 March 1996 Brussels 0–2 68 27 May 1998 Casablanca Hassan II Trophy 1–0 69 18 May 2002 Saint-Denis Friendly 1–2 70 18 February 2004 Brussels 0–2 71 15 November 2011 Saint-Denis 0–0 72 14 August 2013 Brussels 0–0 73 7 June 2015 Saint-Denis 3–4 74 10 July 2018 Saint Petersburg 2018 FIFA World Cup 1–0 75 7 October 2021 Turin 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals 2–3 76 1 July 2024 Düsseldorf UEFA Euro 2024 1–0 77 9 September 2024 Décines-Charpieu 2024–25 UEFA Nations League 2–0 78 14 October 2024 Brussels 1–2 79 28 September 2026 2026–27 UEFA Nations League0–1 80 5 October 2026 Saint-Denis 4–1

References