Soccer is one of the most unifying sports in the world, as displayed in Belgium’s game against Sweden yesterday. It’s just amazing how people without prior knowledge or connections can come together and hug it out when their teams score goals. As a soccer fan, that’s one of the best feelings in the world.
Sadly, bad things happen in the sport, too. Safety has always been a major concern for the sport, and that was on display yesterday as both Belgium and Sweden refused to come out for the second half of the qualifying game after news broke about two Swedish people being shot dead in Brussels.
Belgium’s Euro 2024 qualifier vs Sweden game was suspended
Belgium, who were without Eden Hazard following his retirement from football, and Sweden were tied 1-1 at half-time, but news broke out that the game had been interrupted, and it was eventually abandoned due to safety reasons. Both teams learned at half-time that a gunman had killed two people in the Belgian capital, leading to safety concerns that led to the suspension of the match.
It was a play for pride for Sweden in the match, as the result of the game would have had little impact on their European Championship qualifying campaign. Belgium, on the other hand, had already secured qualification, which made the match less important for them as well.
FA from both teams quickly put out words about the incident, sending the affected families and their loved ones condolences. “Our thoughts are with all those affected,” the Belgian national team posted on social media.
The Swedish FA also posted a message on social media saying, “Our thoughts go out to all the relatives of those affected in Brussels.”
“Following a suspected terrorist attack in Brussels this evening, it has been decided, after consultation with the two teams and the local police authorities, that the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden is abandoned. Further communication will be made in due course,” UEFA said in a statement.
Two Sweden fans shot dead in Brussels
Sweden made the right decision by not coming out for the second half of the game when the team learned of the unfortunate murder of two of their fans in a suspected terrorist attack.
“When I came down for the break, I got this information. Immediately, I felt that it was completely unreal. What kind of world do we live in today?” Sweden coach Janne Andersson said. “I came into the locker room, and when the team started talking, we agreed 100% that we didn’t want to play out of respect for the victims and their families,” he added.
Players and fans were instructed to remain in the stadium for an additional hour before an evacuation process began later in the night. Everyone was safely escorted out of the stadium back to the city while the Swedish national team had enough police protection to get to the airport.
Belgium had gone behind in the opening 15 minutes of the game when Gyokeres scored the opening goal. However, the in-form Romelu Lukaku, who had vowed to reveal behind-the-scenes stories of his Chelsea exit in the last transfer window, responded with a penalty goal to level the game in the 31st minute.
Our thoughts are with the affected families in the unfortunate incident.
