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Tiny Belgium muscles in with fifth straight World Cup finals
BRUSSELS (AP) -- Five World Cups in a row. It might be as normal as the break of another day for some of the world's mightiest soccer powers -- but for tiny Belgium?"Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Yes!, Belgium," mused soccer federation chairman Michel D'Hooghe on Sunday, still revelling in Belgium's 2-1 win over Ireland in a playoff game that secured the Red Devils a place in next year's finals in France.
"It's amazing to be part of that half-dozen," he said.
On top of that, while the others had the luxury of sometimes qualifying as host or defending champion, Belgium had to sweat and groan through each qualifying round of the past two decades.
It was no different Saturday.
Just ten months after their World Cup run seemed destined to come to an end following a disastrous 3-0 home loss to the neighboring Dutch, the Belgian came back, against the odds and through the backdoor of a special playoff match.
"Who could have thought? At the beginning of the year, we stood nowhere," said new coach Georges Leekens, widely credited for the spectacular turnaround. "It's been hard work every single day."
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan