A terrorist attack interrupted the Euro 2024 qualifying match between Sweden and Belgium

The qualifying match for the 2024 European Championship, in which the Belgian national team hosted the Swedish team, was not completed. This was the result of a terrorist attack carried out by a certain Abdesalem al-Guilani. When the game was already underway, he shot two and seriously wounded one fan of the Swedish national team, after which he calmly left the scene. The Swedish football players, having learned about the incident, fell into confusion and refused to continue the game, despite the fact that the stadium where the match was played and the scene of the incident were separated by several kilometers. And the Belgian police were already looking for the terrorist. He eventually died on Tuesday as a result of an operation carried out by security forces.

The meaningless meeting of the qualifying tournament for the 2024 European Championship, in which the Belgian national team hosted the Swedish team, overshadowed all other sporting events. Let us note that the Belgians (they play in Group F) have already secured their place in the final part of the continental championship. The Swedes lost their chance to get to him. So, in fact, last Monday a friendly match was played in Brussels. But it was not destined to end.

When a match was going on at the King Baudouin Stadium, a certain native of Tunisia, Abdesalem al-Guilani, shot three fans of the Swedish national team with an automatic weapon (two were killed on the spot, the third was wounded).

The terrorist chose the victims because they had an Israeli flag on their car. Let us note that the tragedy did not happen at the stadium or even in its vicinity – the distance from the scene of the incident to the arena is almost 5 km.

After committing the murder, Abdesalem al-Guilani calmly left the scene. Later, from a video message posted by the terrorist on the Internet, it became clear that he considers himself to be a member of the terrorist group “Islamic State” (banned in the Russian Federation) and “avenges Muslims” by killing Swedes. Belgian security forces were looking for the criminal until Tuesday. It is possible that the search would have taken much longer if the terrorist had decided to hide. Well, he was spotted in one of the Brussels cafes. During the shootout, the criminal was wounded and subsequently died in intensive care. At the moment, Belgian authorities are identifying the terrorist’s probable accomplices. Two people were detained as part of the investigation.

The Belgian authorities have known for a long time about the unreliability of Abdesalem al-Guilani. As Belgian Justice Minister Vincent van Quickenborn said, back in November 2019, Abdesalem al-Guilani tried to obtain asylum in Belgium, but his request was rejected in 2020. However, apparently, no real measures were taken to find the Tunisian. At the same time, according to the Minister of Justice, the police knew that the unreliable element was involved in schemes for the illegal entry of people into Belgium, and also maintained contacts with Islamists. We would like to add that the Belgian authorities have not yet found a direct connection between the terrorist’s actions and the aggravation of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

This whole story probably would not have received such loud publicity if it were not for the nervous reaction of the Swedish national team players to what happened.

Information about the tragedy reached the meeting participants during a break in the game (the score at that time was 1:1). And in the end, the Swedes refused to go out for the second half. The initiator of this decision, by his own admission, was the captain of the Swedish team, Victor Lindelof. He didn’t hide the fact that he was simply scared. Lindelöf said that he first agreed on everything with the other players of the Swedish national team, then agreed on his position with the Belgian football players (they supported the refusal to continue the meeting). According to the Swedish team captain, he was scared that he and his compatriots were in danger “because they were wearing Swedish colors.” Let us add that after the match was cancelled, the spectators, 30 thousand of them gathered in the arena, sat in the stands for several more hours. The police did not release them until they were sure that the danger had passed.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson later made a statement. He noted that terrorists are trying to intimidate Europeans and force them to remain silent. But, the Swedish Prime Minister is sure, this will not happen. He also said it was time for greater security and said Sweden and the EU must protect their borders better.

Alexander Petrov