Belgium’s Euro 2024 qualifying match with Sweden, which was abandoned at half-time, will end as a 1-1 draw and will not be repeated, UEFA has confirmed.
Monday night’s match at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels was interrupted at half-time when news filtered through that two Swedish supporters had been shot dead in a terrorist attack.
Their fans were locked in the stadium until 4 a.m. while the players were taken to the airport under a police escort to return home.
It was initially unclear whether the teams would have to play the remainder of the match, but UEFA have now confirmed it will be a 1-1 draw.
In a statement, UEFA said: ‘Regarding the European qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden which was abandoned at half-time at the request and agreement of the two teams, following the terrorist attack that killed two Swedish supporters in Brussels on 16 October.
Belgium’s Euro 2024 qualifying match with Sweden, which was abandoned at half-time, will end as a 1-1 draw and will not be repeated, UEFA has confirmed
Swedish supporters were held in the stadium by Belgian police until 4 a.m. after the attack
Victor Lindelof had called for the qualifying match not to be completed during his post-match speech
‘The UEFA Executive Committee has today decided that: the match will be abandoned and the half-time result (1-1) will be confirmed as final, each team will be awarded one point, with the Group F standings updated accordingly and a any suspension is considered served and some yellow cards remain valid.
‘In order to make the said decision, the Executive Committee took note that it had proven impossible to play the remainder of the match the following day.
‘Given the circumstances, both the Royal Belgian Football Association and the Swedish Football Association have explicitly expressed their wish not to play the remaining playing time and to regard the score at half-time (1-1) as final.
‘The result of this match will not affect Group F qualification as Belgium is already mathematically qualified for the UEFA EURO 2024 final tournament (along with Austria) and Sweden is mathematically eliminated.
‘The respective matches do not allow a date to be used in the upcoming international period in November, when the preliminary group stage of the competition is to be completed, followed by the draw for the play-offs and the final tournament.’
When the match was stopped, the score was 1-1. Viktor Gyokeres gave Sweden a fifteen-minute lead, but Romelu Lukaku brought Belgium level just after the half hour.
Police then shot dead the gunman – a 45-year-old Tunisian national, dubbed Abdesalem L by Belgian media – in a café in the Schaarbeek district on Tuesday morning.
Sweden and Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof had said at the time that there was ‘no reason to finish the match’ as Belgium has already qualified for Euro 2024 and Sweden cannot make it to the tournament in Germany.
“Belgium is already qualified and we don’t have the opportunity to go to the European Championship, so I see no reason to (replay the match),” Lindelof said.
According to Belgian newspaper Le Soir, the Belgian Football Association put no pressure on their Swedish counterparts to complete the match – even if it meant sacrificing a top placing for Euro 2024.
Manu Leroy, acting secretary general of the Belgian Football Association, said: ‘We want to show our respect for what happened. It’s important to be big in a situation like this, and we will be.”
He added that the ‘best solution’ would have been to formally finish the match at 1-1.
Hakan Sjostrand, general secretary of the Swedish Football Association, added: ‘We will have a dialogue with the Belgian Football Association and UEFA. It (finishing the match) is completely secondary.
“They have to deal with this, hopefully in a sensible and good way.”
Lindelof posted a photo of the traveling Swedish fans in the stadium on his Instagram account on Tuesday.
He wrote: ‘I am shocked and devastated by the terrible incidents in Brussels with the cold-blooded attacks on our fellow Swedes.
‘I have no words for the cruelty and inhumanity, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families and friends of those affected.
‘At the same time, my thoughts go out to all the supporters in Belgium last night. No one should ever go to a football match and feel unsafe supporting their team.”
The Swedish team headed home after being held at the stadium until well into the early hours, while Lindelof returned to his wife Maja and two children in Manchester.
Maja wrote on her Instagram account alongside a photo of her husband: ‘There are no words. My thoughts go out to everyone involved yesterday. To the victims and their families. To all Swedish fans. To Sweden.’
She added, “And I just want you home now.”
Leroy announced the news of the attack before the match, but qualifying for the 2024 European Championship was allowed to start after the police and security services were consulted.
The shooting took place on Boulevard d’Ypres, five kilometers from the stadium, and sparked an overnight manhunt as the terror threat to the city was raised to maximum levels.
At a press conference Tuesday morning, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the motive behind the attack was that the victims were Swedish.
“The perpetrator specifically targeted Swedish supporters who were in Brussels to attend the match against Belgium,” he said.
‘Two Swedish fans have died. A third person is recovering from serious injuries.”
De Croo added that the attack was carried out by someone who wanted to sow “fear and division in our free society.” However, he warned that “terrorists must understand that they will never succeed.
“Terrorism will never defeat us and we are fighting this battle together with our Swedish friends.”
The Belgian Prime Minister added that security in Brussels has been increased and will be strengthened in places related to Swedish citizens.
A video posted online showed a man in a fluorescent jacket claiming a link to Islamic State and saying in Arabic that he had carried out a “revenge attack.”
In it, he boasted that he had killed “infidels” after posting on Facebook earlier in the day referring to the stabbing of a Palestinian boy in the US by his mother’s landlord.
Belgian Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne told the press conference that the suspect was a 45-year-old Tunisian man who applied for asylum in Belgium in November 2019 and was known to the police for human smuggling and illegal stay in Belgium.
Amid disturbing scenes, UEFA released a statement confirming the cancellation, which happened at half-time during the match at the King Baudouin Stadium. Swedish fans were asked to remain in the ground for their own safety.
It read: ‘Following a suspected terrorist attack in Brussels this evening, after consultation with the two teams and local police, it has been decided that the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden will be abandoned. Further communication will take place in due course.”
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