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Nick JuddJul 6, 2025, 11:14 AM ET
After losing 1-0 to Italy connected Thursday, Belgium look an uphill conflict to suffice from Group B astatine Euro 2025 arsenic they look satellite champions Spain adjacent and could spell retired if they suffer and Italy bushed Portugal. But successful prolific 32-year-old striker Tessa Wullaert, they person a subordinate who is utilized to breaking boundaries and doing things the hard way.
The Red Flames, presently ranked 20th successful the world, are playing successful lone their 3rd European Championship. But this is their 3rd successful a enactment aft 2017 and 2022 -- they adjacent reached the quarterfinals past clip -- and that is mostly down to having the country's all-time grounds extremity scorer starring the enactment arsenic their captain.
In February, Wullaert spearheaded her broadside to an unfathomable 2-0 pb against Spain wrong 72 minutes successful the Nations League; a effect that, if it had held. would person sent shockwaves crossed the continent. Instead, Spain levelled the crippled successful the 92nd infinitesimal earlier breaking Belgian hearts with a melodramatic victor successful the 96th.
That decision took its toll connected the squad successful the contiguous aftermath. Defeats against Portugal and England followed, earlier a instrumentality to signifier successful April saw an historical 3-2 triumph against the Lionesses successful Leuven. Wullaert stole the show, arsenic she scored doubly and assisted Justine Vanhaevermaet successful the archetypal 30 minutes.
After a 5-1 decision to Spain, different 2 goals from Wullaert followed successful a 3-0 distant triumph successful Portugal that helped Belgium leapfrog their opponents to decorativeness 3rd successful their Nations League group. And, successful the build-up to the Euros, she grabbed different successful a 2-0 affable triumph against Greece to nett her 93rd planetary goal.
"If you had asked maine 93 goals agone whether oregon not I thought I could person scored 100 goals for my country, I wouldn't person believed you," Wullaert tells ESPN from Belgium's grooming campy successful Saillon. "I had nary circumstantial people erstwhile I started playing [for my country], but present that I'm astatine 93 and getting person to 100, of people I'm present reasoning astir it.
"I person ne'er truly acceptable myself immoderate targets; I've ever conscionable tried to spell from crippled to game, but ever pushing myself to the maximum. But to beryllium the archetypal antheral oregon pistillate Belgian subordinate to scope 100 goals would beryllium beauteous cool."
Wullaert has already made history. In 2016, she overtook Aline Zeler arsenic Belgium women's highest scorer. By October 2024, she reached 85 goals, matching Romelu Lukaku's grounds for the men's team. And her 86th came a period aboriginal against Ukraine, earning her a brace of gold-plated boots from the Belgian FA to observe her accolade.
When Wullaert scored her archetypal planetary extremity backmost successful August 2011 against Russia, she was playing for her archetypal club, SV Zulte Waregem, and combined her grooming with an internship arsenic she studied for a bachelor's diploma successful tourism. While she was besides bully astatine tennis, she decided that a squad athletics amended suited her personality. "I'm ace captious of myself, truthful an idiosyncratic athletics was not the close happening for me," she admits.
Her determination to prosecute shot came astatine a cost, though. She had to question for up to 4 hours, 5 times a week to get to training, often connected her own, portion balancing her studies astatine the aforesaid time. After training, she led guided tours astir Leuven successful bid to implicit her course.
However, arsenic a effect of the debased level of women's shot successful Belgium, she was forced to determination overseas to pursuit her dreams. She joined German giants VfL Wolfsburg successful 2015 and was a hit. She won 2 Bundesliga and 3 DfB-Pokal titles, and appeared successful 2 UEFA Champions League finals successful her 3 seasons, but struggled to accommodate disconnected the transportation and told Belgian marque La Michaux: "I was often lonely, surviving: the lone radical I saw during 'work' and escaped clip were my teammates and the staff."
A determination to Manchester City followed successful 2018 and, though it was different two-year sojourn distant from her fellow and family, she won an FA Cup and League Cup treble successful her archetypal season. Wullaert scored six goals successful 31 games successful the Women's Super League, but it was her adjacent spells backmost location astatine Anderlecht and past astatine Dutch broadside Fortuna Sittard that truly got her firing. Between 2020 and 2024, she scored 108 league goals successful conscionable 84 games.
A determination to Inter successful 2024 saw her people 10 goals successful 23 games and assistance the squad suffice for the Champions League for the archetypal clip successful their past arsenic a effect of finishing 2nd successful Serie A (their highest-ever finish.) However, Wullaert admits she would emotion to acquisition that winning feeling portion connected planetary work too.
"We [Belgium] cognize we person the qualities, but we person to bring those unneurotic arsenic a radical and judge successful the gameplan. All we tin bash is unrecorded game-to-game and spot wherever it gets us," she says. "This is lone the 3rd clip we've reached the Euros successful our history, truthful we person to instrumentality immoderate pridefulness successful qualifying successful the archetypal place.
"What we've done by getting here, and qualifying for the Euros 3 times successful a row, is make a instauration whereby it's present the minimum anticipation for Belgium to suffice for these competitions, due to the fact that it's not an casual happening to do."
It's wide that Belgium are connected the emergence successful women's shot and conditions person improved since the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) revealed its "World astatine Our Feet" strategical program successful 2019. Participation numbers are growing, portion an further fund of €3 cardinal was contributed by some the RBFA and sponsors betwixt 2020-2022.
"It's hard to cognize what it volition beryllium similar backmost home," Wullaert says. "During the past Euros, immoderate of our hometowns were decorated with large screens truthful that radical could ticker the games. I don't cognize what volition hap this summer, but I anticipation that everyone gets down america and shows america immoderate support.
"A batch of things person changed since then, truthful it's hard to accidental however acold we mightiness spell this time. Our ambition, arsenic ever, is to triumph each game. If you person that mindset astatine each times past you ne'er cognize what mightiness happen. We cognize that each crippled volition beryllium difficult, and we cognize what to expect from Spain and Portugal, having played some of them successful the Nations League."
0:49
How Italy secured archetypal Euros opening triumph since 2009
Take a look astatine the numbers down Italy's 1-0 triumph implicit Belgium successful their archetypal crippled of Euro 2025.
The decision against Italy leaves Denmark with it each to bash against Spain and Portugal, but Wullaert believes Belgium stay susceptible of beating anyone connected their day.
"Anything tin hap successful these matches," she says. "I deliberation due to the fact that we bushed Portugal 3-0 the past clip we played them, radical deliberation it volition beryllium easy. But the crippled earlier that, they bushed us, truthful it volition beryllium astir who turns up connected the crippled day."
What's wide is that if Belgium are to crook astir their hopes of progressing, Wullaert volition request to assistance animate her squad from the front.
"Being skipper is simply a large responsibility, of course," she adds. "The players look to you successful each the large moments. I truly bask it, some connected and disconnected the pitch. I americium fortunate that we person a squad of captains, truthful portion I chiefly bring the enactment connected the pitch, the different girls bash it disconnected the transportation and we enactment good arsenic a radical together. We are a adjacent squad and we get connected well. We ever promote those who mightiness beryllium struggling to talk up. For each problem, there's a solution. We effort to person arsenic overmuch amusive arsenic we can.
"When the games travel around, it's besides my occupation arsenic an attacker is to people and make goals. I had a bully crippled the past clip we played Portugal, and I scored successful that archetypal lucifer against Spain, but that doesn't mean it's going to spell the aforesaid mode this time. All we tin bash is our job, effort and get the champion retired of the squad and effort to execute erstwhile it matters."
In truth, Belgium are thing of a paradox. On the 1 hand, they thrive successful being a tiny federation successful which the players tin easy swerve the limelight. On the other, they person a tendency to turn and propulsion the champion nations.
"We're rather fortunate that Belgium is simply a tiny country. Away from matches, we tin spell location and person clip with our household oregon friends successful a mode that immoderate different nations astir apt can't," she says. "That's thing that some the manager and the players consciousness is truly important. This is the 2nd summertime successful a enactment that we've been busy, and truthful that tin mean a agelong clip distant from the radical you attraction astir the most. Having clip with friends and household is truly important.
"At the aforesaid time, we privation to spell arsenic acold arsenic imaginable portion we're here, and we instrumentality that mindset into each match. The modular of the teams successful these matches is truthful precocious that if we don't crook up focused and connected our game, determination is the imaginable to endure a dense defeat. We've already experienced that against Spain and England, but we besides cognize that if we amusement up and usage our qualities, we tin wounded these teams.
"For america to win and advancement we request each 11 players to beryllium connected it together. We did that erstwhile we bushed England, erstwhile we bushed Portugal, and erstwhile we pushed Spain each the way. We cognize we tin bash it, but we person to amusement up unneurotic arsenic a group. As the captain, I spot it arsenic my work to marque that happen."
