Belgium takes on Israel in the opening match of the new UEFA Nations League campaign on Friday, starting their most recent chase for some elusive hardware.
The Red Devils, who are playing in Hungary owing to security concerns, will look to get off to a strong start as they take on Italy and France in League A Group 2.
Fans of Belgium suffered more this summer when their team lost to France in the first round of the Euro 2024 elimination competition. There are still concerns that current coach Domenico Tedesco can lead a good team that contends for championships.
Tedesco will be hoping to move past his first tournament as head coach and guarantee his team a top-two berth in Group 2 of the Nations League’s premier category, since the Red Devils failed to impress in the group stage either.
That would ensure a spot in the quarterfinals of the recently expanded competition; third place would imply a relegation playoff; fourth place would mean automatic relegation.
With just four goals conceded, Belgium easily qualified for the Euros. However, after placing second behind the Netherlands in the previous Nations League season, they were not able to advance to the finals.
They finished fourth overall in the 2021 edition, which is their best finish to date.
They need to beat that number in the upcoming season, therefore it’s imperative that they don’t make a mistake this week.
Tedesco will be under increased pressure to defeat underdogs Israel after failing to mend his split with Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The Belgians’ next two games are in France and Italy.
Israel will not have history on their side in
Debrecen’s Nagyerdei Stadion, having previously lost four out of their four games against their opening opponents, giving up ten goals and scoring just one.
After winning a group that included
Iceland, Albania, and initially, Russia, in 2022, they were promoted from League B and placed in an extremely challenging group.
The Sky Blue and Whites were also present in the Euro 2024 playoff semi-finals, where they were defeated 4-1 by Iceland. Despite their consistent improvement, they have yet to make it to the major finals after more than 50 years without one.
Ran Ben Shimon’s team is back in Nations
League action this season after losing 3-0 to Hungary and winning 4-0 against
Belarus in summer friendlies. The team will strive to snap that wait by qualifying for the
2026 World Cup.
Due to the ongoing war in the Middle East, games in Israel cannot be held. Therefore, on Monday, they will play again in Hungary, hosting Italy in Budapest.