Belgium to face Bulgaria in Group 8 opener
Wednesday, February 6, 2002
Article summary
The teams in EURO 2004™ Group 8 agreed their qualifying schedule at a meeting in Zagreb.
Article body
Belgium, the top seeded team in Group 8, will begin their EURO 2004™ qualifying campaign on 7/8 September with a home match against Bulgaria, fourth at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and always a threat.
Five countries
Representatives of the five national associations involved - Belgium, Croatia, Bulgaria, Estonia and Andorra - met in Zagreb on Wednesday to decide the list of fixtures, which run from September until October 2003. The deadline for national associations to submit their fixture list is 25 March - 60 days after the draw.
Rivalry renewed
Croatia beat Belgium to first place in their 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying group thanks to a 1-0 victory in Zagreb in the final round of qualifying matches, and the two countries will meet again in Croatia on 29 March next year, with the return match on 10 September.
Group 8 fixtures:
2002 – 7/8 September: Belgium v Bulgaria, Croatia v Estonia; 12/13 October: Andorra v Belgium, Bulgaria v Croatia; 15/16 October: Estonia v Belgium, Bulgaria v Andorra.
2003 – 29/30 March: Croatia v Belgium; 1/2 April: Estonia v Bulgaria, Croatia v Andorra; 30 April: Andorra v Estonia; 7/8 June: Bulgaria v Belgium, Estonia v Andorra; 10/11 June: Estonia v Croatia, Belgium v Andorra; 6/7 September: Bulgaria v Croatia, Andorra v Croatia; 9/10 September: Belgium v Croatia, Andorra v Bulgaria; 11/12 October: Croatia v Bulgaria, Belgium v Estonia.
