Soccer, the golden generation
Soccer is, of course, very popular in the kingdom! Especially when the national Red Devils team is out and about. What's more, in recent years, results have been coming in for this attractive team. Led by coach Roberto Martinez, the team, after a quarter-final finish at the 2014 Brazil World Cup, reached the top of the FIFA world rankings in 2015 during the qualifiers for the Euro, held in France the following year. A competition in which they also reached the quarter-finals, before going out in disappointment to Wales. Finally, at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the Red Devils made it all the way to the semi-finals after a superb run. Ultimately beaten by France, the Belgians left the competition bitter, feeling that they had been outplayed by Les Bleus. But they bounced back to finish third, beating England. At Euro 2020, they lost to Italy in the quarter-finals. It has to be said that the Belgian team has some great players in its ranks. These include goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Real Madrid nugget Eden Hazard, Manchester City prodigy Kevin de Bruyne, Borussia Dortmund defender Thomas Meunier, Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku (on loan from Chelsea) and Fenerbahçe's Michy Batshuayi... 2022 saw the decline of this aging golden generation, who were eliminated in the first round of the World Cup in Qatar. Following this disappointment, captain Eden Hazard announced his retirement from the national team. The future remains to be built for the Red Devils.
Cycling, a tradition
Belgium is a land of cycling tradition: many Belgian champions have left their mark on the sport, including five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx, multiple world champion Johan Museeuw, and more recently Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert. Today, Wout van Aert (26) and Remco Evenepoel (22) are the figureheads of Belgian cycling. The former has the distinction of being a cyclo-cross champion who transitioned to road cycling, always practicing both at the same time (silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, several times Belgian champion, several victories at the Tour de France 2022 and green jersey at the finish). Remco Evenepoel, one of cycling's great hopefuls who suffered a serious injury following a crash at the Tour of Lombardy, is back and in 2022 has won the great Liège-Bastogne-Liège classic, the San Sebastian Classic and the Tour of Spain. To cap off an exceptional year, Remco also became Belgian time trial champion and, finally, world road cycling champion.
With such champions, it's hardly surprising that cycle touring is one of the best ways to get around this small country. The whole of the region (and especially Flanders) is served by a network of routes designed for family outings or more sporting excursions into the Ardennes or the Fens.
During the season (from late winter to early autumn), countless cycle races are organized throughout the kingdom. The best-known are Liège-Bastogne-Liège (run at the end of April), the Tour of Flanders (created in 1913) and the Tour of Belgium (relaunched in 2002 after a 12-year hiatus). To get an idea of the sport's popularity in the country, watch the Franco-Belgian film starring Benoît Poelvoorde, Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert.
In tennis, long live the champions!
During the first decade of the 2000s, the Kingdom of Belgium dominated the world of women's tennis with two champions, one Flemish and one Walloon: Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.
In 2001, Kim Clijsters became the first Belgian to reach the French Open final, and in 2003 she became worldno. 1 . Following several health problems, however, she put an end to her career in 2007, before returning between 2009 and 2012, after giving birth to a baby girl. A thunderous comeback with victories at the US Open (2009, 2010) and Australian Open (2011). For the record, in early 2011, she became the world'sfirst tennis mother!
Her eternal rival and compatriot Justine Henin, meanwhile, has won the French Open four times (in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007) and a gold medal at the Athens Olympic Games. She topped the world rankings for 117 weeks between 2003 and 2008, the year her career came to an end.
Belgian tennis is currently a little more discreet. On the women's side, it's Élise Mertens who is flying the flag for Belgian tennis (she reached world No. 12 in 2018 and world No. 1 in 2021). On the men's side, it's Steve Darcis and above all David Goffin (world No. 7 in 2017) who have been making waves in recent years.
A coastline to explore
The sand yacht is one of the images of Épinal des plages du Nord. In Flanders, the 65 km of coastline consists of a beautiful continuous sandy beach. It is therefore the opportunity to try this famous gliding sport, on an extraordinary site where the north-west wind favours this practice. La Panne, close to the French border, is particularly well known by aficionados. In addition, it is possible to take advantage of the Belgian coast to practice other water sports, such as windsurfing, surfing, kite-surfing..
Inland too, there is plenty to do
Climbing. It is no coincidence that Belgium is nicknamed the "flat country": indeed, the highest point in the kingdom is located at the Signal de Botrange and culminates at 694 m! But don't let that stop you! If there are no mountains to climb, there are some very impressive rocks in the kingdom. For example, the Freyr massif in Dinant, the Neviau rocks in the Namur region, or the Sy massif in the Ourthe valley, attract climbing enthusiasts.
Canoe and kayak. To rest your legs, why not take advantage of the beautiful landscapes that Belgian rivers cross? In the Ardennes, in particular, you will find many kayak hire points for paddling on the Lesse, the Lomme or the Ourthe. Beautiful trips in perspective!
Caving. Finally, Belgium also attracts caving enthusiasts. It must be said that the Ardennes massif, which is relatively low, is an area literally mined by caves and networks of underground rivers. A karstic environment favourable to speleology, but also to other extreme sports such as underground diving. The Grotte Sainte-Anne in Wallonia is one of the great classics of Belgian caving.
