1953–54 in Belgian football

none Belgium no 1953–54 1952–53 1954–55 yes The 1953–54 season was the 51st season of competitive football in Belgium. RSC Anderlechtois won their 5th Division I title.http://www.footbel.com/documents/COMPETITIES/Eindklassementen/S1953-1954FR.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20110716055639/http://www.footbel.com/documents/COMPETITIES/Eindklassementen/S1953-1954FR.pdf 2011-07-16 FA website The Belgium national football team qualified for the 1954 FIFA World Cup and was drawn unseeded in Group 4 with the unseeded organizing country Switzerland against which they did not play, and seeded teams England and Italy.http://www.footbel.com/fr/nationale_elftallen/statistieken_1/per_datum.html https://web.archive.org/web/20110118021247/http://www.footbel.com/fr/nationale_elftallen/statistieken_1/per_datum.html 2011-01-18 FA website The Belgian Cup resumed in 1953–54 with Standard Liège winning in the final against RC Mechelen KM. Overview Belgium finished first of Group 2 in the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification with 7 points, ahead of Sweden (3 points) and Finland (2 points). They thus qualified for the final tournament in Switzerland as one of the 11 European countries. The final tournament consisted of a first round with 4 groups of 4 teams. Belgium was drawn in Group 4. In each group, the 2 seeded teams would play one game against each unseeded team. In case both teams are level after 90 minutes, extra time would be played. In Group 4, England and Italy were the 2 seeded teams and Switzerland and Belgium were unseeded. Belgium and Switzerland thus played 2 games, against England and Italy. Belgium drawn against England after extra time (4-4) and lost to Italy, while Switzerland lost to England (2-0) and beat Italy (2-1). A play-off game was then played between Switzerland and Italy (2 points each) to determine the 2nd qualifying spot for the quarter-finals. Switzerland beat Italy 4–1. Belgium finished last of Group 4 with 1 point. At the end of the season, R Daring Club de Bruxelles and K Lyra were relegated to Division II and were replaced in Division I by Division II winner K Waterschei SV Thor and runner-up RRC de Bruxelles. The bottom 2 clubs in Division II (RUS Tournaisienne and K Tubantia FC) were relegated to Division III, while both Division III winners (KFC Izegem and SRU Verviers) qualified for Division II. The bottom 2 clubs of each Division III league were relegated to the Promotion: Rupel SK, K Olse Merksem SC, K Winterslag FC and R Herve FC. to be replaced by RRFC Montegnée, RFC Bressoux, RAA Louviéroise and KSV Waregem from Promotion. National team DateVenueOpponentsScore*CompBelgium scorersSeptember 23, 1953Heysel Stadium, Brussels (H)Finland2-2WCQMathieu Bollen (2)October 8, 1953Heysel Stadium, Brussels (H)Sweden2-0WCQHenri Coppens, Victor MeesOctober 25, 1953Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam (A)The Netherlands0-1FNovember 22, 1953Hardturm, Zürich (A)Switzerland2-2FHippolyte Van Den Bosch (2)March 14, 1954Heysel Stadium, Brussels (H)Portugal0-0FApril 4, 1954Bosuilstadion, Antwerp (H)The Netherlands4-0FJoseph Mermans, Henri Coppens (2), Rinus Terlouw (o.g.)May 9, 1954Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb (A)Yugoslavia2-0FHenri Coppens, Joseph MermansMay 30, 1954Heysel Stadium, Brussels (H)France3-3FJoseph Mermans, Léopold Anoul (2)June 17, 1954St. Jakob-Park, Basel (N)England4-4 (aet)WCFRLéopold Anoul (2), Henri Coppens, Jimmy Dickinson (o.g.)June 20, 1954Cornaredo Stadium, Lugano (N)Italy1-4WCFRLéopold Anoul * Belgium score given first Key H = Home match A = Away match N = On neutral ground F = Friendly WCQ = World Cup qualification WCFR = World Cup first round o.g. = own goal aet = after extra time Honours CompetitionWinnerDivision IRSC AnderlechtoisCupStandard LiègeDivision IIK Waterschei SV ThorDivision IIIKFC Izegem and SRU VerviersPromotionRRFC Montegnée, RFC Bressoux, RAA Louviéroise and KSV Waregem Final league tables Premier Division 1953–54 Belgian First Division Top scorer: Hippolyte Van Den Bosch (RSC Anderlechtois) with 29 goals. References Category:Football in Belgium by season Belgian Football Football