Belgium recognizes three official languages: Dutch, which is dominant in Flanders; French, spoken in Wallonia; and German, spoken by a distinct community of around 70,000 people along the country’s eastern border.
Much of Belgian public life, including education, health care and the media, is organized separately along these linguistic lines. International sport is a notable exception, providing one of the few occasions when Belgians — regardless of whether they speak Dutch, French or German — rally behind the same flag.
Belgian soccer is “a sharp contrast to how the country is organized politically and culturally” Jeroen Scheerder, professor of sports politics and sports sociology at KU Leuven told POLITICO, adding that aside from chocolate, beer and the King, he struggles to “list any other aspects of life with which people identify to feel like a Belgian … I call it the 90 minutes of nationalism.”
Professor Jef Brouwers, who worked as performance psychologist under former Belgium coach Roberto Martínez between 2015 and 2018, agreed.
“The team is one the few things that cuts through the linguistic barriers,” he said. “You cannot participate as a Flemish athlete or as a Walloon athlete or a Brussels athlete. We have those three governments, but you cannot participate in one of those shirts.”
Roughly half of Belgium’s national soccer team, the Red Devils, are native French speakers, while the other half speak Dutch as their first language. Yet communication has rarely posed a problem because English has become the team’s neutral working language.
“There are French- and Flemish-speaking (players), so it’s the habit, the necessity to speak English … when (the coach) is talking, giving an explanation on the game plan, he will speak in English so that everybody can understand,” Brouwers said.
Language, therefore, has never become a major point of contention within the squad.
“I’m quite sure they don’t even think about the language,” Brouwers said. “It is absolutely not a point of attention.”
Scheerder said the arrangement comes naturally because most Belgian internationals already use English in their club soccer careers.
“Most of (the players) if not all of them are quite familiar with (English). Most of them are playing abroad in international clubs … so its not really an issue or a topic,” he added.
If Belgium’s linguistic divide is not an issue during training and after kick-off, there is one moment when it becomes impossible to ignore: the national anthem.
Belgium has not one but four official versions of “La Brabançonne”: French, Dutch and German versions, as well as a multilingual version that alternates between the three languages. Of course, using English as a neutral language provides no solution here!
Fans watching closely during World Cup matches may notice that the lyrics displayed on stadium screens are shown in three rows — one for each official language.
Players and fans can choose which line to sing, meaning that multiple different versions of the same song are being sung at the same time.
Some players, including Kevin De Bruyne, the superstar from Ghent in Flanders, often do not sing the lyrics at all. Scheerder said this is “not at all a statement” and may even reflect a desire to avoid choosing between Belgium’s different official languages.
So, while the Red Devils may spend 90 minutes speaking the same language as their American opponents on the pitch, they begin the evening with a uniquely Belgian chorus: one anthem, three languages — and no single unified version everyone sings.
