In 1920, Belgium became Olympic champion for the first and only time at the Antwerp Games.
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Of course, the FIFA World Cup did not yet exist at the time, but the Olympics were the main international competition. All the more so as for the first time, 15 teams competed in the tournament, including one non-European country. After beating Spain in the quarter-finals, the Netherlands in the semi-finals and Czechoslovakia in the final, Belgium became the holder of what was the only global football championship at the time. It was then reported in the press that "the Red Devils were the best team in the world".
Today, a number of observers would like to give the Red Devils an honorary star on their jersey, following the example of Uruguay, whose jersey was allowed to have two extra stars by FIFA, to mark the 1924 and 1928 events. Unfortunately, however, FIFA did not take the same view, because it was only after the 1920 Olympics that Jules Rimet, the Frenchman who initiated the birth of the World Cup, was elected as FIFA's new head. This is why the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, along with the 1928 tournament, was the only one that FIFA officially considered a proto-World Cup.
Of course, that does not mean that the Red Devils will never be able to wear that famous star on their jersey. But to do so, they will have to win the next World Cup!
