It was past midnight at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels and beneath the stands was a sombre gathering of Sweden’s players, management and supporters.
They had all made the journey for a European Championship qualifier against Belgium on Monday but, before the night was out, a fixture called off at half time with the score locked at 1-1 had become irrelevant.
Two Sweden fans, one in his sixties and the other in his seventies, had been shot and killed by a gunman just three miles from the stadium a few hours before kick-off. A third man had also been taken to hospital with wounds suffered in the attack. The alleged gunman, a Tunisian extremist who took credit for the targeted killings in a video posted online, remained at large.
Local authorities had raised the terror alert in Brussels to the highest level by then, with Prime Minister Alexander De Croo denouncing the killings as an act of terrorism. Swedish citizens, it was made clear, had been deliberately targeted in what he called a “harrowing attack”.
That left the 400 or so Sweden supporters kept behind in the stadium for their own safety. Although Belgium fans in a crowd of 35,000 had been allowed to leave at approximately 11.45pm, the visitors were asked to head below to concourses and await a heavily armed police escort back to their hotels. Janne Andersson, Sweden’s head coach, brought his players out of the dressing rooms to meet with fans, offering their sympathies and appreciation.
Janne Andersson, Sweden head coach, talks to supporters at the King Baudouin Stadium (Getty Images/Getty Images)
It had been the decision of Sweden’s players and staff, led by Manchester United defender and captain Victor Lindelof, to call off the game at half time once the news of the killings had been relayed by the Swedish FA’s chairman Fredrik Reinfeldt. A visit to Belgium’s dressing room from Lindelof brought a universal agreement that the game could not possibly continue.
“We were very clear that we did not want to continue playing and the Belgian players were completely on board with that,” Lindelof later told reporters.
An emotional Andersson appeared shaken by events when explaining the decision to the media. “I came into the locker room and when the team started talking, we agreed 100 per cent that we didn’t want to play on out of respect for the victims and their families.”
This was meant to be a very different evening of international football.
A direct path to next summer’s European Championship had been closed off for Sweden once Austria had beaten Azerbaijan earlier in the evening to clinch automatic progress along with Belgium, but hundreds had travelled to Brussels in the days that led up to the game. Official gatherings of fans, led by the Yellow Wall group, had taken place in the city centre on Sunday evening and until Monday evening there had been no sign of trouble among supporters wearing the national team’s vibrant colours.
A large number of fans had already travelled to the King Baudouin Stadium, the home of Belgium’s national team, by the time the shootings took place on the Boulevard d’Ypres, just north of Brussels city centre. That was shortly after 7pm local time and roughly 90 minutes before kick-off.
Videos shared online had quickly ensured the incident would be regarded as a terror attack, with the alleged gunman filming himself admitting to the killings. The 45-year-old, who identified himself as a member of Islamic State, would spend 12 hours on the run before being shot by police the next day. He was later confirmed dead in hospital.
Forensic police officers outside the cafe where the suspected gunman was shot dead (James Arthur Gekiere/BELGA/AFP via Getty Images)
News of the attacks reached some of those inside the stadium during the final 30 minutes before kick-off but, guided by Belgian police, the decision was made to proceed with the game. Sweden’s security manager Martin Fredman told reporters that the stadium, with measures tightened, had been considered the “safest place for Swedish citizens” to be gathered.
Andersson and his players, though, were not informed of the killings. As they were playing out the opening 45 minutes, with Romelu Lukaku’s penalty cancelling out the opening goal from Viktor Gyokeres, the heads of Sweden’s FA collated details of the nearby attack and chose to inform Andersson when the teams came off the pitch for half time.
Both teams would not return after a proposal to call off the game met no opposition, with players understood to be impressed by the calm handling of a potentially volatile situation by the authorities at the ground. The message was relayed to supporters that the two teams had decided against playing on and that the stadium was in lockdown amid heightened security.
It was almost two hours later that the first local fans were allowed to leave but not until 4am were the last Sweden fans escorted away from the stadium and back to their hotels. Police were stationed at every hotel known to be housing visiting supporters.
Belgium defender Zeno Debast was one of many inside the stadium who tried to contact family and friends on Monday (Virginie Lefour/AFP via Getty Images)
The Sweden team, meanwhile, abandoned their plans to stay in Brussels and took a chartered flight directly back to Stockholm. They will now link back up with their club teams, who are expected to offer support if players ask for it.
The killings have rocked a nation that has increased its own security measures since a summer that sparked hostilities from Muslim nations. A string of demonstrations were held in Sweden and neighbouring Denmark that involved the desecration of the Quran, Islam’s holy book. Swedish police have previously granted permission for the burnings to take place under the country’s freedom of speech laws.
Iraq responded by expelling the Swedish ambassador in July after hundreds of protesters had stormed the Swedish embassy, before Sweden raised its terrorist threat level to the second-highest number possible in August. It was said Sweden had taken on an “increased focus” for jihadists.
Sweden’s next Euro 2024 qualifier is due on November 16 away to Azerbaijan, where the majority of the population are Muslim.
It remains unclear if Sweden will first be asked to return to Belgium and conclude Monday’s abandoned fixture. The qualifier carries little significance and the Belgian FA was in discussions with UEFA on Tuesday to decide if a replay would be necessary. Manu Leroy, interim chief executive of the Belgian FA, has suggested the result should stand at 1-1 and would lobby for that outcome.
The Swedish flag at half-mast outside the Riksdag, its parliamentary building (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
Lindelof also made his feelings clear. “Belgium are already qualified and we don’t have the opportunity to get to the European Championship, so I see no reason to play,” he said.
Thoughts are understandably elsewhere. “Sweden is sad,” said the national FA in an address to fans on Tuesday. “Our thoughts go out to all the loved ones of the victims, who today are forced to wake up to an indescribable sadness. We will never forget those who fell victim to this senseless attack.”
(Additional reporting: Raphael Honigstein)
(Top photos: Getty Images)
