Belgium’s abandoned game against Sweden will not be replayed

UEFA has announced that the abandoned Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden will not be replayed, with the 1-1 half-time score standing as the final result.

Monday’s clash in Brussels had to be called off when two Swedish supporters were killed and another injured following a shooting three miles from King Baudouin Stadium.

Upon discovering news of the suspected terrorist attack, Sweden players asked for the game to be abandoned and it was eventually agreed, although fans were kept inside the ground for more than two hours with the gunman at loose at the time.

The gunman, reported to be a 45-year-old Tunisian national, was shot dead by police in a Brussels suburb on Tuesday morning.

UEFA’s Executive Committee gathered after the abandonment and, following the request of both football associations, decided it best for the tie to not be rescheduled.

“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,” a UEFA statement said.

“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.”

UEFA also added that any yellow cards received on Monday remain valid and any suspension served by missing the Group F tie is now completed.