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Association football is the most popular sport in Belgium, which has been played since the end of the 19th century. The national association was founded in 1895 with the intention of bringing some order and organization to the sport. The first match of the Belgium national team was played on 1 May 1904, a 3–3 draw against France. Traditionally, the clubs Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Standard Liège are the three most dominant domestic teams, all of them also having played and/or won one or more UEFA competitions final(s). National style Both the national football team and the top Belgium division have a reputation for physical play. This came as a result of a lack of technically skilled foreign players allowed to play in Belgium due to legal restrictions. This changed after the Bosman ruling which forced the liberalization of the football player market in Europe. In response, Belgian clubs began to buy unknown players from Eastern Europe, South America and Africa. Thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belgian Pro League
The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023–24 season until 2025–26 when it will expand to 18 teams from 2026–27 onwards, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Challenger Pro League. Seasons run from late July to late March, with teams playing 30 matches each in the regular season, and then entering Play-offs I (also known as the ''Championship Playoff'', ''title playoffs'' or ''Champions' play-offs''), Play-offs II (also known as the ''Europa League playoff'' or ''Europe play-offs'') or Play-offs III (also known as the ''Relegation play-offs'') according to their position in the regular season. Play-offs I are contested by the top-six clubs in the regular season, with each club playing each other twice. The teams finishing in 15th and 16th place are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Challenger Pro League
The Challenger Pro League, previously known as 1B Pro League is the second-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 2016, replacing the Belgian Second Division. From the season 2016–17 until 2019–20, the competition was named ''Proximus League'', after the main sponsor Proximus Group, Proximus. History The Belgian First Division B was created in 2016 as the successor of the Belgian Second Division following an overhaul of the Belgian football league system which saw the number of professional clubs reduced to 24 and the number of teams at the second level of the football pyramid to 8. During Belgian Second Division era from 1973 to 2016, the second division winner and the play-off winner promote to the first division. From 2016 on, the second division winner is no longer guaranteed promotion. The league is div ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Club Brugge KV
(), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional Association football, football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They play in the Belgian Pro League, the top domestic league in Belgian football. One of the most decorated clubs in Football in Belgium, Belgian football, Club Brugge has been crowned List of Belgian football champions, Belgian league champions 19 times, second only to major rivals R.S.C. Anderlecht, Anderlecht, and shares the Jan Breydel Stadium with city rival Cercle Brugge K.S.V., Cercle Brugge, with whom they contest the Bruges derby. Throughout its long history, "Club" has enjoyed much European football success, reaching two European finals and three European semi-finals. Club Brugge is the only Belgian club to have played the final of the European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) as of November 2024, losing to Liv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UEFA Super Cup
The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originally the Super Competition, and later the European Super Cup. It was renamed the UEFA Super Cup in 1995 UEFA Super Cup, 1995, following a policy of rebranding by UEFA. From 1972 to 1999, the UEFA Super Cup was contested between the winners of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League and the winners of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, European/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. After the discontinuation of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, it has been contested by the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the winners of the UEFA Cup, which was renamed the UEFA Europa League in 2009. The current holders are Champions League winners Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, who defeated Europa League winners Atalanta BC, Atalanta 2–0 in 2024 UEFA Super Cup, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antolín Alcaraz
Antolín Alcaraz Viveros (born 30 July 1982) is a Paraguayan former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back. He rarely settled with a team in his early career, before signing in 2003 with S.C. Beira-Mar, Beira-Mar and remaining with the club five seasons, after which he joined Club Brugge KV, Club Brugge. He then spent five years in the Premier League, in service of Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic and Everton; after one year in Spain with UD Las Palmas, Las Palmas, he returned to his country. Alcaraz represented Paraguay national football team, Paraguay at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2010 World Cup and the 2011 Copa América, helping them to the final of the later tournament. Club career Early years and Beira-Mar Hailing from a humble background, Alcaraz worked throughout his teenage years as a Construction worker, builder's assistant in his hometown of San Roque González de Santa Cruz in the Par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daniel Amokachi
Daniel Owefin Amokachi (; born 30 December 1972) is a Nigerian football manager and former professional player. As a player he was a forward who notably played in the Premier League for Everton and was part of their 1995 FA Cup winning team, he also played top flight football in both Belgium and Turkey with extended spells at Club Brugge and Beşiktaş. Whilst with Brugge in 1992 he scored the club's first goal in the UEFA Champions League. He also had a brief spell with Ranchers Bees, Colorado Rapids and Nasarawa United. He was capped 44 times by Nigeria, scoring 13 goals. His spell in international football saw him win the African Cup of Nations in 1994 and a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. He was also present in his nations squads for 1994 FIFA World Cup and 1998 FIFA World Cup. Upon retiring, Amokachi moved into coaching and has spent time as manager of Nasarawa United, Enyimba, Ifeanyi Ubah and JS Hercules. He has also spent two spells as assistant coach of Nigeria, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Pierre Papin
Jean-Pierre Roger Guillaume Papin (; born 5 November 1963) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a forward. He is the head coach of Championnat National 3 club Marseille B. He won the Ballon d'Or in 1991. Papin was included in the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest living footballers, published in 2004 for the centenary of the FIFA, signed by Pelé. He was named one of the best European footballers on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the UEFA in 2004. He is famous in particular for his first-time strikes from distance, his overhead kicks, and his volleys, which are known as ''Papinades''. The nickname of JPP was given to him by supporters and journalists. Trained at Jeumont, Papin signed his first professional contract in 1984 at Valenciennes. Recruited by Brugge, he won the Belgian Cup and went on to be selected for the French team for the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Signed by Marseille, he experienced the pinnacle of his career as he won ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yaya Touré
Gnégnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently an assistant coach for the Saudi Arabia national team. Touré aspired to be a striker during his youth and has played centre-back, including for Barcelona in the 2009 UEFA Champions League final. However, he spent the majority of his career as a box-to-box midfielder for club and country, where he has been regarded as one of the world's best players in his position. One of the greatest African players of all time, Touré was voted African Footballer of the Year for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Touré began his playing career at Ivorian club ASEC Mimosas, where he made his debut at age 18. His performances attracted attention from Europe. He had stints with Beveren, Metalurh Donetsk, Olympiacos and Monaco before moving to Barcelona in 2007. He played over 100 matches for the club and was part of the historic Barcelona team that w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bosman Ruling
''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association, and direct effect of article 39 (now article 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) of the Treaty of Rome. The case was an important decision on the free movement of labour and had a profound effect on the transfers of footballers—and by extension players of other professional sports—within the European Union (EU). The decision banned restrictions on foreign EU players within national leagues and allowed players in the EU to move to another club at the end of a contract without a transfer fee being paid. The ruling was made in a consolidation of three separate legal cases, all involving Belgian player Jean-Marc Bosman: * '' Belgian Football Association v Jean-Marc Bosman'' * '' R.F.C. de Liège v Jean- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UEFA Competitions
UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. The term was established in 1971 by the confederation to differentiate the men's football competitions under its administration, the first in history being held at a pan-European stage, from other international competitions carried out in the continent between 1960s and 1990s, such as the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, UEFA Intertoto Cup#History, International Football Cup and Karl Rappan Cup, Cup of the Alps, Balkans Cup and the restructured Mitropa Cup (as well as some which had already been discontinued by late 1950s such as the Latin Cup). All these tournaments were organised by private bodies and/or at least two national associations and concerning one of more regional areas of Europe, not being recognised by UEFA for historic-statistical purpo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard Liège
Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won the Belgian league on ten occasions, most recently in 2007–08 and 2008–09. They have been in the top flight without interruption since 1921, longer than any other Belgian side. They have also won eight Belgian Cups, and in 1981–82 they reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, which they lost 2–1 against Barcelona. Standard players are nicknamed ''les Rouches'' because of their red jerseys. The French word for red, ''rouge'', when pronounced with a Liège accent, sounds like ''rouche''. In March 2022, Standard Liège was acquired by US-based private investment firm 777 Partners. In October 2024 it was announced that 777 Partners were declared bankrupt by a London court, making the future ownership unclear. Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
