On Monday, October 16, during halftime, Belgium’s Euro 2024 qualifying match versus Sweden was canceled due to two Swedish nationals being killed in shootings in Brussels. The killings, which occurred in the city only hours before Sweden’s match against Belgium, are being looked into as possible acts of terrorism. Whether the victims went to Brussels to watch the game is presently unknown.
Belgium and Sweden’s Euro 2024 qualifying match was abandoned with a score of 1-1. Since the gunman was still at large, spectators and both teams’ football players were told to stay inside King Baudouin Stadium for their safety after the game was canceled. It took until approximately 10 p.m. for them to be effectively removed from the stadium.
The police led the Sweden team to the airport and escorted Sweden supporters throughout the city. On Tuesday, while searching for the gunman, police in Brussels shot and killed a guy. The man is most certainly the suspect, according to Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden, even though Belgian authorities have not proven that he was the attacker.
But in a video he shared on social media, an Arabic-speaking man claimed to have carried out the attack in the name of God. Sweden’s manager, Janne Andersson, stated that neither he nor the team knew about the incident until halftime. “I learned this information when I came down for the break.
At first, I thought it was all very surreal. What sort of world are we living in these days? said he.
“When I entered the locker room, the team immediately got to talking, and we all decided that we didn’t want to play on behalf of the victims and their families.”
“My sincere condolences to the Swedish PM following tonight’s horrific attack on Swedish citizens in Brussels,” stated Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo.
“We are thinking of the families and friends who lost loved ones,” he continued. The war against terrorism is one that we fight together as close allies.”
