Will the Belgium vs Sweden Euro 2024 qualifier be replayed?
ON October 16, 2023, players made the decision to abandon the Belgium vs Sweden Euro 2024 qualifier following a horrific attack.
Here we take a look at whether the match will be replayed and what Uefa has said in response to the situation in Brussels.
Will the Belgium vs Sweden Euro 2024 qualifier match be replayed?
The match between Belgium and Sweden will NOT be replayed.
It was initially unclear if Uefa would opt to replay the remainder of the match - which was level at 1-1 - at a later date.
But the European footie governing body has opted against doing so, therefore the half-time result will stand.
Both nations agreed to this outcome, as a replay would have no impact on standings with Belgium already through and Sweden eliminated.
What happened to stop the Belgium vs Sweden match?
The Euro 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden was abandoned at half-time on October 16, 2023.
The decision to abandon the match was made after two men, both wearing Sweden shirts, were shot dead in the street, moments before their teams qualifier game.
A third victim was also rushed to hospital.
Sweden players made the decision during the break to not resume the game, with the score 1-1 at half-time.
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This was also agreed to by their Belgian counterparts.
A statement from Belgium said: "Due to the incidents in Brussels earlier tonight, play is suspended. Our thoughts are with all those affected."
Sweden boss Janne Andersson added: "When I came down for the break, I got this information. Immediately, I felt that it was completely unreal. What kind of world do we live in today?
"I came into the locker room and when the team started talking we agreed 100 percent that we didn't want to play on out of respect for the victims and their families."
On October 17, 2023, it was reported that police shot dead a suspected extremist accused of killing the two men near the football stadium in Brussels.
Feared ISIS fanatic Abdesalem L, 45, went on the run for hours following the horror rampage on October 16, 2023, before police tracked him down in a café and gunned him down.
Will the Brussels terror attacks impact more Euro 2024 qualifiers?
At the time of writing, it is yet to be confirmed if any more Euro 2024 qualifier games will be impacted and/or suspended.
Since the horrific attack, security services and ministers have gathered at a Crisis Centre amid fears of a terror motive.
The terror threat level for the Brussels Capital Region has been moved to level four - with officials telling locals to "avoid unnecessary movements".
The threat level indicates the likelihood of a terrorist attack.
Regions are placed under level four "when the threat is serious and very imminent".
What has UEFA said about the decision to not replay the match?
A Uefa statement read: "With regard to the European Qualifier match between Belgium and Sweden abandoned at half-time upon request and agreement of the two teams, following the terrorist attack that killed two Swedish supporters in Brussels on 16 October, the UEFA Executive Committee decided today that: The match is abandoned and the result at the half-time interval (1-1) is confirmed as final, each team is awarded one point with the Group F standings to be updated accordingly and any suspension is considered served and single yellow cards remain valid.
"To take the mentioned decision, the Executive Committee took note that it had proved impossible to play the remaining part of the match on the following day.
"Both the Royal Belgian Football Association and the Swedish Football Association, given the circumstances, explicitly expressed their desire not to play the remaining match time and to consider the result at the half-time interval (1-1) as final.
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"The result of this match does not impact the qualification of Group F since Belgium is already mathematically qualified to the UEFA EURO 2024 final tournament (together with Austria) and Sweden is mathematically eliminated.
"The respective fixtures do not allow any date to be used in the upcoming November international window, when the preliminary group stage of the competition must be concluded, to be followed by the play-off draw and final tournament draw."