Bernard Voorhoof (10 May 1910 – 18 February 1974) was a Belgian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, who held the title of the Belgium national team's top scorer for 34 years, netting 30 goals in 61 matches. In 1972, he was joined by

Paul Van Himst Paul Guillaume van Himst (born 2 October 1943) is a Belgian former association football, football player and a Coach (sport), football manager who played as a forward (association football), forward, most notably for R.S.C. Anderlecht. Regarded ...

, who took 81 matches to reach the same goal tally. However, both have since been surpassed by

Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. Lukaku began h ...

and

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Career

Voorhoof commenced his career at Lierse, remaining with the club for an impressive 21 years. During his tenure, he remarkably scored 350 goals across 529 matches and secured two

Belgian First Division 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– ...

titles. Additionally, in the shortened 1940−41 season, he contributed to a third unofficial title. Before retiring at the age of 39 in 1949, he also spent a season with RRFC Montegnée. He was part of Belgium's team at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

, but did not play in any matches. Voorhoof played in the

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

, being one of six known people (five players and one match official) to have appeared in all three of the pre-war World Cups. At the 1934 World Cup held in Italy, Voorhoof scored twice in Belgium's 5−2 defeat to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. These were the first Belgian goals in a FIFA World Cup, as the Belgium national team failed to find the net in 1930. He held the Belgian caps record from 5 May 1938 (when he equalled the total of

Armand Swartenbroeks Armand J. Swartenbroeks (30 June 1892 – 3 October 1980) was a Belgian football (soccer) player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the Belgium team, which won the gold medal in the football tournament. Honours ...

) until 13 April 1958, when his total was surpassed by Vic Mees. He held the Belgian record of goals since 13 March 1938, when he equalled the total of Robert De Veen, until

equalled his tally of 30 international goals for Belgium on 17 June 1972.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Voorhoof goal.''

Honours

Lierse *

: 1931–32, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42 Records * Former Belgium's most capped player: 1938–1958 (61 caps) * Former Belgium's national record goalscorer: 1940–2017 (30 goals)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Voorhoof, Bernard 1910 births 1974 deaths Belgian men's footballers Belgium men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Olympic footballers for Belgium Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics 1930 FIFA World Cup players 1934 FIFA World Cup players 1938 FIFA World Cup players Lierse S.K. players R.R.F.C. Montegnée players Footballers from Lier, Belgium 20th-century Belgian sportsmen