Belgium’s game against Sweden was abandoned at half time on Monday night
UEFA have confirmed that Belgium’s abandoned game against Sweden will not be replayed and the score at half time will stand as the final result.
News emerged that two people had been shot dead in central Brussels in what was described as an act of terrorism.
The two victims were both wearing Swedish football shirts, reported Sky News, ahead of the nation’s Euro qualifier match against Belgium.
A third Swedish man was seriously injured in the attack, with all three victims in their 60s and 70s.
The shooting took place 5km from the stadium just moments before the game began.
At the time of the announcement the gunman was still at large in the Belgian capital while the game was ongoing. As news filtered through, the game was stopped at half time, with the score level at 1-1 and all spectators were told to remain inside the King Baudouin Stadium until they were allowed to leave.
Following an overnight manhunt for the gunman, it was reported that he had been shot dead by Belgian police in a cafe in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
BREAKING: The Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden hasn't resumed after half-time.
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 16, 2023
The players decided they did not want to continue the game, because of the tragic shooting that had taken place in the capital tonight. pic.twitter.com/qh7SM8GFvt
Question marks then began to arose regarding the outcome of the rest of the game but on Thursday, UEFA confirmed that the fixture would not be replayed.
They said: “With regard to the European Qualifier match between Belgium and Sweden abandoned at half-time upon request and agreement of the two teams, following the terrorist attack that killed two Swedish supporters in Brussels on 16 October, the UEFA Executive Committee decided today that:
• The match is abandoned and the result at the half-time interval (1-1) is confirmed as final
• Each team is awarded one point with the Group F standings to be updated accordingly
• Any suspension is considered served and single yellow cards remain valid
“To take the mentioned decision, the Executive Committee took note that it had proved impossible to play the remaining part of the match on the following day; both the Royal Belgian Football Association and the Swedish Football Association, given the circumstances, explicitly expressed their desire not to play the remaining match time and to consider the result at the half-time interval (1-1) as final; the result of this match does not impact the qualification of Group F since Belgium is already mathematically qualified to the UEFA EURO 2024 final tournament (together with Austria) and Sweden is mathematically eliminated; the respective fixtures do not allow any date to be used in the upcoming November international window, when the preliminary group stage of the competition must be concluded, to be followed by the play-off draw and final tournament draw.”
Related links:
- Euros qualifier abandoned after two fans shot dead
- Ireland need to lose to the Netherlands to qualify for Euro 2024
- First team eliminated from 2026 World Cup
