Belgium at the FIFA World Cup goal. Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Belgium at the FIFA World Cup Belgium have appeared in the finals tournament of the FIFA World Cup on 13 occasions, the first being at the first FIFA World Cup in 1930 where they finished in 11th place. The inaugural FIFA World Cup final was officiated by Belgian referee John Langenus. Traditionally, Belgium's greatest rival is the Netherlands. The two countries have met each other twice in the history of the FIFA World Cup, with one win for Belgium (USA 1994) and one tie (France 1998). The team that has played the most
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup World Cup runners-up. So did Spain, who were ranked second in the FIFA World Rankings at the time. They were replaced by Turkey, who came third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Five bids came before the deadline at 1 May 2002. Australia, Portugal and the United States put in single bids, while South Africa–Egypt and France–Switzerland put in joint bids. The France–Switzerland bid never materialized. The host was selected on 24 September 2002, during a meeting of FIFA's Executive Committee. The matches were played in: For a list of all squads that appeared in the tournament, see "2003 FIFA