From spring chicken Origi to first (and last) day of school for 34-year-old: eleven Devilish facts to show off | Red Devils

At the World Cup, Divock Origi came on after 58 minutes for Romelu Lukaku in the first group match against Algeria on June 17, 2014. Origi became the youngest Belgian ever at a World Cup. He was 19 years, 1 month and 30 days old and did better than Emile Mpenza (19 years, 11 months and 9 days on June 13, 1998 against the Netherlands at the World Cup in France). Five days later, he made history again. On June 22, 2014, he came on for Romelu Lukaku again in the 59th minute against Russia (1-0). Two minutes before the end, he scored the winning goal and became the youngest Belgian goalscorer at a World Cup at the age of 19 years, 2 months and 4 days.

Dany Verlinden is the oldest debutant ever in the national team. On March 25, 1998, the Club Brugge goalkeeper was 34 years, 7 months and 10 days old when he played his first and only international match against Norway. It was a preparation match for the 1998 World Cup, which Verlinden experienced as the third goalkeeper behind Filip De Wilde and Philippe Vande Walle. It was also his only international match.

In 1990 Lei Clijsters experienced his second World Cup. On June 17, 1990, he made it 0-1 in the 1-3 group match against Uruguay. At the age of 33 years, 7 months and 11 days, he is the oldest Belgian goalscorer in a World Cup finals.

On October 10, 2016, Christian Benteke scored a hat-trick in the World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar. There was a double historical touch to that triple. He scored his first goal after 7.5 seconds, which is the fastest ever goal in a World Cup qualifying match. He bettered Davide Gualtieri’s 8.4 seconds from 1993 with San Marino against England. In addition, Benteke became the fastest goalscorer for Belgium ever.

Long before Johan Cruijff and Jesper Olsen did it for Ajax in 1982, Red Devils André Piters and Rik Coppens wrote football history on June 5, 1957 against Iceland in the preliminary round of the 1958 World Cup. In the 44th minute, Coppens made it 7-1 on a penalty kick . He converted it in a special way: Coppens did not shoot directly at goal, but set up a one-two with Piters before kicking the ball in. It was the first and only time that Belgium scored in such a way for the time being.

With 68 goals, Romelu Lukaku is the all-time top scorer of the Red Devils. He set a number of World Cup related records. He scored the most goals in final rounds of European and World Cups: 11 (1 at the 2014 World Cup, 2 at the 2016 European Championship, 4 at the 2018 World Cup and 4 at the 2020 European Championship). Not a single Belgian managed to score in four tournaments in a row. He scored the most goals in one World Cup (4 in 2018) and one European Championship (4 in 2020). With five goals in a World Cup final round divided between 2014 and 2018, he did just as well as Marc Wilmots in 1998 and 2002. In the preliminary round of the 2018 World Cup, he scored eleven goals, which is unprecedented for a Belgian striker.

Eight fathers and sons once played in the national team: André and Louis Saeys, Ivan and Guy Thys, Leopold and Marcel Dries, Honoré and Maurice Martens, Jan and Gert Verheyen, Alfons and Filip Haagdoren, Jos and Koen Daerden and Erwin and Kevin Vandenbergh. Of those eight duos, only the Verheyens both experienced a World Cup.

As captain, Wilfried Van Moer helped qualify for the 1982 World Cup in Spain. In the final round, Belgium played its first group match against world champion Argentina on June 13, 1982. National coach Guy Thys chose Guy Vandersmissen, 12 years his junior, over Van Moer for a place in the starting eleven. He then came on in the other two group matches against El Salvador and Hungary before playing his 57th and last international match against Poland on June 28, 1980 as captain. Van Moer was 37 years, 3 months and 27 days old: no Belgian player has ever been active at a World Cup at an older age.

Simon Mignolet was there at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups and the 2016 and 2020 European Championships, but he did not get to play, because he remained on the bench 12 times at the World Cups and 9 times at the European Championships. That could have been 10 times, but at the European Championship 2020 he dropped out after the 1/8th finals against Portugal on June 27, 2021 with a knee injury before Belgium was eliminated by Italy in the quarter-finals.

Enzo Scifo played at the World Cups of 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998. Only Franky Van der Elst did as well, but Scifo surpassed everyone with the games played at a World Cup. That was 17.

On February 28, 2001, Bob Peeters made a flawless hat-trick in the World Cup qualifying match against San Marino (10-1). Between the 76th and 89th minute he made it 8-0, 9-0 and 10-0. No other substitute has ever scored more in a national team match.

On November 13, 2016, Timmy Simons captured his 94th and final cap. In the 88th minute of the World Cup qualifying match against Estonia, he came on for Axel Witsel. He had joined the squad less than 24 hours earlier after the failure of Christian Kabasele. The late call-up was a welcome surprise for Simons. Moreover, he conquered a place in the history books with his substitution, because at the age of 39 years, 11 months and 2 days, he became the oldest Red Devil ever.

On July 20, 1930, Gerard Delbeke celebrated his debut in the national team against Paraguay at the World Cup in Uruguay. It remained with that one international match, making him the only Red Devil to win his only cap at a World Cup finals. Besides him, six more players made their debut at a World Cup: Henri De Deken (1930), François De Vries (1934), Denis Houf (1954), Jeng Van den Bosch (1954), Guy Vandersmissen (1982) and Jacky Munaron (1982) went him beforehand.

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