By Samindra Kunti in Lille
July 1 – Up to a 100,000 Belgian fans will make the trip across the French-Belgian border to Lille for the Euro 2016 quarter-final with Wales.
Belgium has not participated at a European Championship since co-hosting the tournament with the Netherlands in 2000. The Belgians were eliminated in the first round, playing blue collar football in a group with Italy, Sweden and Turkey.
In France, Belgium, however, is among the favorites to win the Henri Delauney trophy with a golden generation of players, including Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne. On the back of a convincing 4-0 win against Hungary in the round of 16, Belgium will be favorites to win against Gareth Bale and Wales in Lille.
The expectation of success has reached fever-pitch in Belgium. For Belgium, Lille, just 12 kilometers from the French-Belgian border, will feel like a second home-coming. Belgians quickly exhausted their official ticket contingent of just over 6,000 tickets, but many more Red Devils fans are expected at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
On the black market touts are doing brisk business with prices going from €400 up to €1,400. But fans without tickets will soak up the atmosphere in downtown Lille, with local authorities fearing an invasion. Estimates range from 50,000 up to 160,000 traveling fans, akin to the Orange fan army that swept through Bern at Euro 2008. Lille’s fan zone has a capacity of just 20,000.
Belgian federal police has issued the advice to not travel to Lille and watch the match in public viewing areas at home.
“There are estimates of 160,000 Belgians,” said Julie Cousein of Métropole Européenne de Lille. “If there are too many people in the fanzine, we will close it off for security reasons.”
Lille and the region Nord-Pas-de-Calais expect a busy Friday, with the remembrance of the Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest moments of World War I. In Arras, a neighboring town, the festival Main Square will be similarly busy. This weekend is also the start of school holidays.
The winner of Belgium – Wales will face Portugal in Lyon on July 6 to contest a place in the final of Euro 2016.
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