FIH Junior World Ranking: 5

How they qualified: 3rd Place – EuroHockey Junior Championship 2022

Junior World Cup history: 2021 – 6th, 2016 – 2nd, 2013 – 6th, 2009 – 11th, 2005 – 11th, 1997 – 12th, 1985 – 11th

Junior World Cup silver medallists Belgium were the host nation of the EuroHockey Junior Championship 2022, which was played in Ghent. The Young Red Lions bounced back from an opening match defeat against Spain (4-1) to reach the competition semi-finals thanks to wins against England (2-1) and Scotland (6-0). Their title hopes were ended when they suffered a 3-0 semi-final loss agaist Germany, but recovered in superb style when they met Spain for a second time in the bronze medal match, triumphing 3-1 thanks in part to two goals from Max Luyten. Belgium’s squad for Kuala Lumpur contains numerous players from that bronze medal-winning squad, including Luyten, Thomas Crols, Louis Depelsenaire and Guillermo Hainaut, whose younger brother Diego has also been selected. The team is coached by Jeroen Baart, who started working with the Young Red Lions as an assistant coach in 2014 before becoming head coach in 2016, guiding the team to silver at the Junior World Cup in Lucknow, India later that year.