Belgium’s UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier against Sweden was abandoned at halftime and fans were kept in the stadium for security reasons after two Swedes were shot and killed in an attack in Brussels on Monday.
Spectators at the King Baudouin Stadium in the Belgian capital were told to remain inside the ground following an announcement that the players would not return for the second half.
“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,” UEFA said on its Web site.
Photo: AP
Belgian police had told supporters “to stay in the arena for security reasons,” the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) said.
Several Belgian media outlets said that the two people killed were wearing the jersey of the Sweden national team.
“Our thoughts go out to all the relatives of those affected in Brussels,” the SvFF said on social media.
Photo: AP
Belgium, who had already qualified for next year’s tournament, had equalized through a Romelu Lukaku penalty after Viktor Gyokeres opened the scoring for Sweden before the match was halted with the score at 1-1.
Belgian media reported that the Sweden players did not want to continue the game after learning of the attack.
Earlier on Monday, Austria became the eighth team to book their place at the finals in Germany courtesy of a 1-0 win in Azerbaijan in the other Group F game.
Borussia Dortmund’s Marcel Sabitzer scored a penalty three minutes after coming on as a halftime substitute.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice as Portugal thrashed home side Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-0 to maintain their perfect record in Group J.
Ronaldo, 38, extended his record men’s international goals tally to 127 after an early penalty was followed by a deft chip that doubled the lead for Portugal.
Bruno Fernandes hammered in a third and Joao Cancelo supplied a brilliant finish of his own, with Joao Felix making it five before halftime.
Portugal clinched first place with two games remaining and have scored 32 times and conceded just twice — both in Friday’s 3-2 win over Slovakia, which secured their qualification.
Slovakia solidified their grip on second place with a 1-0 victory in Luxembourg.
Gylfi Sigurdsson scored twice for Iceland as they remained in contention with a 4-0 rout of Liechtenstein.
In Group B, Virgil van Dijk converted a stoppage-time penalty to earn the Netherlands a crucial 1-0 victory away to Greece.
Wout Weghorst had a first-half spot-kick saved for the Dutch in Athens, but Liverpool defender Van Dijk made no mistake after a foul on Denzel Dumfries.
The Netherlands drew level on 12 points with Greece and have the head-to-head advantage after beating them home and away. They also have a game in hand on their rivals as they bid to wrap up second behind group winners France.
Brighton & Hove Albion’s rising 18-year-old star Evan Ferguson was among the scorers as the Republic of Ireland dispatched Gibraltar 4-0 in Portugal.
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