Politics

Belgium’s Red Devils get royal pep talk

Published

3 hours ago

July 10, 2026

Belgium’s Red Devils received some regal encouragement Thursday evening as King Philippe dropped by the team’s hotel less than 24 hours before its World Cup quarterfinal against Spain. He’s also the latest European royal to make a pilgrimage to this summer’s tournament.

According to Belgian news agency Belga, the king joined the squad for dinner before posing for a team selfie later shared on the official Belgian Red Devils X account, alongside coach Rudi Garcia. Philippe, who earlier in the tournament also joined Garcia, captain Youri Tielemans and striker Romelu Lukaku for a video call, kept his message short.

“A few days ago, my daughter and I watched you at 2 a.m. It was magnificent,” he told the players. “I have only one message for you: You must win. And I am confident that you will. But it will depend on you.” Soccer federation boss Pascale Van Damme presented the monarch with a signed Belgium shirt.

Philippe joins an increasingly crowded royal supporters’ club. Spain’s King Felipe VI, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, and Norway’s Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus have all turned up to cheer on their national teams, while elected leaders have been thinner on the ground.

Portugal’s prime minister attended matches and faced blowback, while Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney recently had to fend off criticism that his own World Cup trip amounted to a taxpayer-funded “jolly.”

Belgium and Spain kick off at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, with a place in the semifinals against France at stake.

Politics

How Trump radicalized the Belgians

Published

40 minutes ago

July 10, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

BRUSSELS — President Donald Trump’s interference with FIFA’s disciplinary measures ahead of the U.S.-Belgium match had unintended consequences: He fired up the Belgians.

After limping through the group stage and first knockout round, Belgium cleaned the floor with the U.S. in the round of 16, after Trump intervened to help overturn a suspension for America’s key attacker, Folarin Balogun.

The Belgian squad wasted no time in trolling Trump after the match, as a viral clip from the team dressing room showed the players jiving like the U.S. president to his favorite campaign rally anthem: Y.M.C.A. by the Village People.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, a notorious soccerphobe, was then asked about Trump and the suspension saga during a key NATO military summit in Ankara.

“We didn’t speak about football,” De Wever said. “Football is, as they say, the most important of the non-important subjects, but it is still non-important, so I didn’t raise it,” he added, paraphrasing a remark widely attributed to soccer nut Pope John Paul II.

The Belgian national soccer team social media crew was blunter in its victorious post-match summary: “Overturn this,” it noted pointedly.

Politics

Belgian airline needles Spain ahead of World Cup quarterfinal

Published

1 hour ago

July 10, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Red Devil-themed Jupiler beer cans, football-shaped Leonidas chocolates and sticker collectables at the Delhaize supermarket — Belgium is all on its World Cup run.

Even the country’s flag carrier, Brussels Airlines, has gotten in on the act.

In a tongue-in-cheek gesture, Brussels Airlines is flying its Trident aircraft, painted in the colors and bearing the emblems of Belgium’s national football teams, to Spanish destinations including Madrid and Barcelona ahead of Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal between Belgium and Spain.

Asked about the move, Brussels Airlines declined to elaborate, saying via email: “We did not provide any comments, as we think the joke speaks for itself :).”

The specially designed aircraft features a trident in reference to the Red Devils, Belgium’s men’s national football team, alongside flames representing the women’s team, the Red Flames.

According to Brussels Airlines, the design was intended to highlight both teams because “it’s high time that the women’s team gets as much attention as the men’s team.”

Iberia, Spain’s national airline, also has a specially designed aircraft that flew the country’s national football team across the Atlantic. Instead of tridents and flames, it features an image of Spain’s squad alongside the slogan: “A team takes off. A country flies.”