2011–12 in Belgian football

The 2011–12 football season in Belgium, which is the 109th season of competitive football in the country and runs from July 2011 until June 2012.

National team football

Men's national football team

The Belgian national team started the 2011–12 season knowing they were still undefeated in 2011, but also knowing that they needed to make up for earlier mistakes during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. With Germany topping the qualifying group with the maximum number of points after seven matches, the battle for second place and the resulting play-offs place was between Belgium and Turkey. Turkey was one point down, but had a game in hand.

On 2 September 2011, all looked fine for the Belgians until the last few minutes, as Rauf Aliyev scored the equalizer for Azerbaijan against Belgium in Baku, while on the same day, Turkey scored a 96th-minute winner against Kazakhstan. Turkey now lead Belgium by one point and had a game in hand. Four days later, Belgium partially recovered mentally by beating the United States in a friendly, while Turkey dropped points away to Austria, only drawing 0–0.

Turkey lost second place again as they were beaten 1–3 at home to Germany, while Belgium successfully put Kazakhstan away 4–1. On the last matchday, however, Belgium needed to match the result of Turkey and while Turkey hosted Azerbaijan, Belgium played an away game in Germany, who had won all their matches so far. The miracle did not happen for Belgium as they lost 3–1 and Turkey won 1–0, causing Belgium to miss out on yet another major tournament, still waiting for one since the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The general feeling in Belgium was one of a missed chance, as the Belgian team had shown promising football throughout the campaign, but often were not able to get or hold on to a needed result. Too many mistakes were made during the campaign, with many citing the 4–4 home draw with Austria, the 1–1 home draw with Turkey and the 1–1 away draw with Azerbaijan, which all should have been won. Coach Georges Leekens, however, not blamed, as his goal was to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

After the unsuccessful Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, Belgium continued with a series of friendlies to bridge the gap until the start of the 2014 World Cup qualification matches in September 2012. In November, Belgium overpowered Romania in a friendly in Liège, but only won 2–1 before drawing 0–0 with France in Paris. In February, a mediocre match in and against Greece resulted in a 1–1 draw.

On 13 May, the Belgian soccer fans were shocked as head coach Georges Leekens decided to quit his position and become the head coach at Club Brugge. Assistant coach Marc Wilmots was persuaded to take over the position as caretaker, while the Royal Belgian Football Association looked for a new candidate. Wilmots led the team in a 2–2 friendly draw at home against Montenegro and a 1–0 loss against England at Wembley Stadium. In the week following these matches, Wilmots was appointed as the head coach of the national team.

UEFA Euro 2012 qualification

2 September 2011 Azerbaijan  1 – 1  Belgium Tofik Bakhramov Stadium, Baku
21:00 UTC+5 R. Aliyev  86' Report Simons  55' (pen.) Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Lee Probert (England)
7 October 2011 Belgium  4 – 1  Kazakhstan King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
Simons  40' (pen.)
Hazard  43'
Kompany  49'
Yevstigneyev  84' (o.g.)
Report Nurdauletov  86' (pen.) Attendance: 29,578
Referee: Milorad Mažić (Serbia)
11 October 2011 Germany  3 – 1  Belgium Esprit Arena, Düsseldorf
19:00 CET Özil  30'
Schürrle  33'
Gómez  48'
Report Fellaini  86' Attendance: 48,483
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (Norway)

Friendlies

10 August 2011 Slovenia  0 – 0  Belgium Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana
20:45 CEST Report Referee: Marijo Strahonja (Croatia)
11 November 2011 Belgium  2 – 1  Romania Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège
20:45 CET Van Buyten  11'
Cociș  44' (o.g.)
Report Niculae  67' Referee: Saïd Ennjimi (France)
15 November 2011 France  0 – 0  Belgium Stade de France, Paris
20:45 CET Attendance: 60,000
Referee: César Muñiz Fernández (Spain)
29 February 2012 Greece  1 – 1  Belgium Pankritio Stadium, Greece
20:30 CET Salpingidis  9' Summary Chadli  32' Referee: Daniel Stalhammar (Sweden)
25 May 2012 Belgium  2 – 2  Montenegro King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
20:45 CEST Mirallas  25'
Hazard  33' (pen.)
Report Vučinić  6'
Drinčić  75'
Referee: Clement Turpain (France)
2 June 2012 England  1 – 0  Belgium Wembley Stadium, England
18:15 CEST Welbeck  36' Report Referee: Peter Rasmussen (Denmark)

Women's national football team

Euro 2013 qualifying

17 September 2011 Belgium  2 – 1  Hungary Lorzestraat, Dessel
16:00 Wullaert  43'
Demoustier  85'
Report Jakabfi  81' Attendance: 389
Referee: Saša Ihringová (England)
21 September 2011 Iceland  0 – 0  Belgium Laugardalsvollur, Reykjavík
21:30 Report Attendance: 2,968
Referee: Christine Beck (Germany)
26 October 2011 Belgium  0 – 1  Norway Lorzestraat, Dessel
16:00 Report Lund  66' Attendance: 933
Referee: Kateryna Monzul (Ukraine)
19 November 2011 Belgium  5 – 0  Bulgaria Lorzestraat, Dessel
16:00 Zeler  5', 56'
Wiard  14', 43'
Van Gils  70'
Report Referee: Zuzana Kováčová (Slovakia)
23 November 2011 Bulgaria  0 – 1  Belgium Lovech Stadium, Lovech
13:00 Report Demoustier  13' Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)
15 February 2012 Belgium  2 – 2  Northern Ireland Lorzestraat, Dessel
20:00 Zeler  44'
Wullaert  53'
Report O'Hagan  51'
Nelson  83'
Referee: Sandra Braz Bastos (Portugal)
4 April 2012 Belgium  1 – 0  Iceland Lorzestraat, Dessel
19:00 Van Broeck  27'
Philtjens  45+1'
Wullaert  66'
Summary Magnusdottir  79' Referee: Natalia Avdonchenko
19 June 2012 Hungary  1 – 3  Belgium Rohonci Street Stadium, Szombathely
17:00 Dombai-Nagy  19' Report Mermans  13'
Cayman  65'
Wiard  77'
Attendance: 225
Referee: Tanja Schett

Men's national under-21 team

Friendly match

9 August 2011 Belgium  2 3  Turkey Den Dreef, Heverlee, Belgium
Benteke  9', 29' Gülle  60'
Kaplan  70', 87'

U-21 Championship qualifiers

The Belgium under-21 squad is currently in Group 8 of the qualification process for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

1 September 2011 Iceland  2 – 1  Belgium Hlíðarendi, Reykjavík
19:00 Sigurðarson  25', 87' Report Benteke  42' Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (Czech Republic)
6 September 2011 Belgium  4 – 1  Azerbaijan Olympisch Stadion, Antwerp
18:00 Bruno  2'
Mertens  35'
Meunier  81'
Benteke  83'
Report Imamverdiyev  24' Referee: Ivan Kružliak (Slovakia)
10 October 2011 Azerbaijan  2 – 2  Belgium Dalga Arena, Baku
15:00 Imamverdiyev  22'
Özkara  31'
Report De Pauw  40'
De Jonghe  76'
Referee: Marius Avram (Romania)
10 November 2011 Norway  2 – 2  Belgium Viking Stadion, Stavanger
19:00 Pedersen  57'
de Lanlay  70'
Report Bruno  2'
Badibanga  60'
Referee: Ilias Spathas (Greece)
14 November 2011 Belgium  2 – 1  England Stade Charles Tondreau, Mons
20:45 Naessens  72'
El Kaddouri  90+1'
Report Kelly  14' Referee: Harald Lechner (Austria)
29 February 2012 England  4 - 0  Belgium Riverside Stadium
18:00 Lansbury  9', 53'
Caulker  36'
Oxlade-Chamberlain  90+4' (pen.)
Summary Referee: Liran Liany

This leaves two matches, home to Norway and home to Iceland to be played in the next season.

Promotion and relegation

Team promoted to 2011–12 Belgian Pro League

Teams relegated from 2010–11 Belgian Pro League

Teams promoted to 2011–12 Belgian Second Division

Teams relegated from 2010-11 Belgian Second Division


League competitions

Belgian First Division

Belgian Second Division

European Club results

Genk and Standard Liège participated in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, while Westerlo, Club Brugge and Anderlecht started respectively in the second qualifying round, third qualifying round and playoff round of the Europa League.

  • Partizan twice took the lead against Genk in the Third qualifying round, but Genk managed to overcome the deficit with a 2-1 victory at home and a 1–1 draw in Belgrade. After a 2–1 loss in Haifa and a 2–1 win in Genk, Genk needed penalty kicks to get past Maccabi Haifa in the Play-off round. Genk was drawn together with Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea and Valencia and started with a promising 0-0 home draw against Valencia, followed by a 2–0 loss away to Leverkusen. After a 5–0 loss in London, supporters feared the worst when Chelsea came to play in Genk, but surprisingly, Chelsea was held to a 1–1 draw. Hopes were shattered on the next match day however, as Valencia humiliated Genk with a 7–0 victory, thereby eliminating Genk from European football with still one matchday to go. In the final match against already qualified Leverkusen, Genk maintained their unbeaten status at home, drawing for the third time.
  • Unlike Genk, Standard was not able to qualify for the Group Stage of the Champions League, as they lost out 2–1 on aggregate to Zürich, thereby dropping into the Play-off round of the UEFA Europa League, where they were paired with Helsingborgs IF. After both a home and an away win, Standard moved on to Group B of the Group Stage where they were coupled with Copenhagen, Hannover and Vorskla Poltava. After three wins and two draws, Standard qualified for the knockout phase and was sure of winning the group with still one match to go. In the knockout stages, Standard first beat Wisła Kraków on the away goals rule after drawing twice, before being paired again with Hannover 96 in the round of 16. Although Standard kept Hannover to a 2–2 draw at home, they were well beaten 4–0 in the return leg in Germany.
  • Westerlo qualified for the third qualifying round of the Europa League by putting aside TPS Turku, where they lost out 5–1 on aggregate to Young Boys.
  • Starting in the third qualifying round of the Europa League, Club Brugge needed to get past two opponents to qualify for the Group Stage. Club Brugge was twice given an unattractive draw in a far away region, as they first beat Qarabağ from Azerbaijan before eliminating Zestafoni from Georgia. Twice they secured the qualification at home and had trouble in their away match, losing 1–0 in Baku and only drawing 3–3 in Tbilisi. In the Group Stage, both Maribor (at home) and Braga (away) were beaten in the first two matches, before Club Brugge lost 1–2 at home to Birmingham City due to a 99th-minute winner from Chris Wood. After a 2–2 draw in Birmingham and the "miracle of Maribor" (3–4 win in Maribor when they were 3–0 down after 70 minutes), Club Brugge needed only a draw in their final home match against Braga to qualify as group winners. In the knockout stages, they were eliminated by Hannover 96 after losing both legs.
  • Anderlecht qualified relatively easily for the group stage of the Europa League after eliminating Bursaspor 4–3 on aggregate, but their engine only started running properly during the group stage, where they scored a perfect six out of six victories. After putting away AEK Athens 4–1 at home, they stole the points away to Lokomotiv Moscow, winning 0–2. Then followed two wins against Sturm Graz, resulting in an early qualification already after four matchdays. In the last two matches, Anderlecht won away to AEK Athens and managed to finish the group with the maximum number of points after a final 5–3 home win against Lokomotiv. However, Anderlecht were then paired with AZ and lost both legs 1–0 in the round of 32. During the group stage, Anderlecht had equalled three records:
Date Team Competition Round Leg Opponent Location Score Belgian Team Goalscorers
14 July 2011 Westerlo Europa League Qual. Round 2 Leg 1, Away TPS Turku Veritas Stadion, Turku 0-1 Cabeke
21 July 2011 Westerlo Europa League Qual. Round 2 Leg 2, Home TPS Turku Het Kuipje, Westerlo 0-0
26 July 2011 Genk Champions League Qual. Round 3 Leg 1, Home Partizan Belgrade Cristal Arena, Genk 2-1 Vossen, Ogunjimi
27 July 2011 Standard Liège Champions League Qual. Round 3 Leg 1, Home Zürich Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège 1-1 González
28 July 2011 Club Brugge Europa League Qual. Round 3 Leg 1, Home Qarabağ Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges 4-1 Vleminckx, Vázquez, Donk, Dirar
28 July 2011 Westerlo Europa League Qual. Round 3 Leg 1, Away Young Boys Stade de Suisse, Bern 3-1 Brüls
3 August 2011 Genk Champions League Qual. Round 3 Leg 2, Away Partizan Stadion FK Partizan, Belgrade 1-1 Vossen
3 August 2011 Standard Liège Champions League Qual. Round 3 Leg 2, Away Zürich Letzigrund, Zurich 1-0
4 August 2011 Club Brugge Europa League Qual. Round 3 Leg 2, Away Qarabağ Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, Baku 1-0
4 August 2011 Westerlo Europa League Qual. Round 3 Leg 2, Home Young Boys Het Kuipje, Westerlo 0-2
17 August 2011 Genk Champions League Playoff Round Leg 1, Away Maccabi Haifa Kiryat Eliezer Stadium, Haifa 2-1 Barda
18 August 2011 Anderlecht Europa League Play-off Round Leg 1, Away Bursaspor Bursa Atatürk Stadium, Bursa 1-2 Legear, Jovanović
18 August 2011 Club Brugge Europa League Play-off Round Leg 1, Away Zestafoni David Abashidze Stadium, Zestafoni 3-3 Akpala, Refaelov, Hoefkens
18 August 2011 Standard Liège Europa League Play-off Round Leg 1, Home Helsingborgs IF Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège 1-0 Tchité
23 August 2011 Genk Champions League Playoff Round Leg 2, Home Maccabi Haifa Cristal Arena, Genk 2-1 (aet)
(pen 4–1)
Vossen, Buffel
25 August 2011 Anderlecht Europa League Play-off Round Leg 2, Home Bursaspor Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Anderlecht 2-2 Juhász, Jovanović
25 August 2011 Club Brugge Europa League Play-off Round Leg 2, Home Zestafoni Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges 2-0 Akpala (2)
25 August 2011 Standard Liège Europa League Play-off Round Leg 2, Away Helsingborgs IF Olympia, Helsingborg 1-3 Leye, Berrier, Kanu
13 September 2011 Genk Champions League Group Stage Matchday 1, Home Valencia Cristal Arena, Genk 0-0
15 September 2011 Anderlecht Europa League Group Stage Matchday 1, Home AEK Athens Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Anderlecht 4-1 Suárez (3), Jovanović
15 September 2011 Club Brugge Europa League Group Stage Matchday 1, Home Maribor Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges 2-0 Odjidja, Dirar
15 September 2011 Standard Liège Europa League Group Stage Matchday 1, Away Hannover 96 AWD-Arena, Hanover 0-0
28 September 2011 Genk Champions League Group Stage Matchday 2, Away Bayer Leverkusen BayArena, Leverkusen 2-0
29 September 2011 Anderlecht Europa League Group Stage Matchday 2, Away Lokomotiv Moscow Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow 0-2 Suárez, Mbokani
29 September 2011 Club Brugge Europa League Group Stage Matchday 2, Away Braga Estádio Municipal, Braga 1-2 Akpala, Donk
29 September 2011 Standard Liège Europa League Group Stage Matchday 2, Home Copenhagen Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège 3-0 Seijas, Felipe, Kanu
19 October 2011 Genk Champions League Group Stage Matchday 3, Away Chelsea Stamford Bridge, London 5-0
20 October 2011 Anderlecht Europa League Group Stage Matchday 3, Away Sturm Graz UPC-Arena, Graz 0-2 Gillet, Suárez
20 October 2011 Club Brugge Europa League Group Stage Matchday 3, Home Birmingham City Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges 1-2 Akpala
20 October 2011 Standard Liège Europa League Group Stage Matchday 3, Home Vorskla Poltava Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège 0-0
1 November 2011 Genk Champions League Group Stage Matchday 4, Home Chelsea Cristal Arena, Genk 1-1 Vossen
3 November 2011 Club Brugge Europa League Group Stage Matchday 4, Away Birmingham City St Andrew's, Birmingham 2-2 Meunier, Akpala
3 November 2011 Anderlecht Europa League Group Stage Matchday 4, Home Sturm Graz Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Anderlecht 3-0 Gillet, Suárez, De Sutter
3 November 2011 Standard Liège Europa League Group Stage Matchday 4, Away Vorskla Poltava Butovsky Vorskla Stadium, Poltava 1-3 Seijas, Kanu, Tchité
23 November 2011 Genk Champions League Group Stage Matchday 5, Away Valencia Mestalla Stadium, Valencia 7-0
30 November 2011 Club Brugge Europa League Group Stage Matchday 5, Away Maribor Ljudski vrt, Maribor 3-4 Dirar (2), Akpala, Donk
30 November 2011 Standard Liège Europa League Group Stage Matchday 5, Home Hannover 96 Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège 2-0 Tchité, Cyriac
1 December 2011 Anderlecht Europa League Group Stage Matchday 5, Away AEK Athens Olympic Stadium, Athens 1-2 Gillet (2)
6 December 2011 Genk Champions League Group Stage Matchday 6, Home Bayer Leverkusen Cristal Arena, Genk 1-1 Vossen
14 December 2011 Anderlecht Europa League Group Stage Matchday 6, Home Lokomotiv Moscow Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Anderlecht 5-3 Kljestan, Canesin, Wasilewski, Suárez, Gillet
15 December 2011 Club Brugge Europa League Group Stage Matchday 6, Home Braga Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges 1-1 Vleminckx
15 December 2011 Standard Liège Europa League Group Stage Matchday 6, Away Copenhagen Parken Stadium, Copenhagen 0-1 Batshuayi
16 February 2012 Anderlecht Europa League Round of 32 Leg 1, Away AZ AFAS Stadion, Alkmaar 1-0
16 February 2012 Club Brugge Europa League Round of 32 Leg 1, Away Hannover 96 AWD-Arena, Hannover 2-1 Lestienne
16 February 2012 Standard Liège Europa League Round of 32 Leg 1, Away Wisła Kraków Stadion im. Henryka Reymana 1-1 Cyriac
23 February 2012 Anderlecht Europa League Round of 32 Leg 2, Home AZ Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Anderlecht 0-1
23 February 2012 Club Brugge Europa League Round of 32 Leg 2, Home Hannover 96 Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges 0-1
23 February 2012 Standard Liège Europa League Round of 32 Leg 2, Home Wisła Kraków Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège 0-0
8 March 2012 Standard Liège Europa League Round of 16 Leg 1, Home Hannover 96 Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège 2-2 Buyens, Tchité
15 March 2012 Standard Liège Europa League Round of 16 Leg 2, Away Hannover 96 AWD-Arena, Hanover 4-0

Other honours

Competition Winner
Cup Lokeren
Supercup
Third division A Mouscron-Péruwelz
Third division B Dessel Sport
Promotion A Izegem
Promotion B Berchem
Promotion C Cappellen
Promotion D Ciney

European qualification for 2012-13 summary

Competition Qualifiers Reason for Qualification
UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round for Champions Anderlecht 1st in Jupiler League
UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round for Non-Champions Club Brugge 2nd in Jupiler League
UEFA Europa League Play-off Round Lokeren Cup winner
UEFA Europa League Third Qualifying Round Genk 3rd in Jupiler League
UEFA Europa League Second Qualifying Round Gent Europa League Playoff winner

See also

References

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