Sports: Only one Walloon in the Red Flames against Poland

Constance Brackman, from Namur, will again be the only French‑speaking player selected by Elisabet Gunnarsdottir in the Red Flames squad that will face Poland on Friday evening. This situation reignites the debate about Walloon representation in Belgian women's football.

Analysis of the linguistic distribution

Among the 24 selected players, Brackman feels isolated, while the anticipated return of Lisa Lichtfus, currently recovering after a cruciate ligament rupture, does not guarantee a rebalancing. At the U23 level, only two players, Hubaut and Watson, are French‑speaking, and among the U19, four – Ernst, Godfroid, Delille and Tchidio Bomie – share this language.

The imbalance is also reflected in the affiliated rosters: the Football Association Federation (FFA) has 21 000 French‑speaking members compared to 30 000 on the Flemish side. Xavier Dumont, manager of the Women's Elite and grassroots football at the FFA, notes that the World Cup boosted girls' registrations by 4.8 % in the south, “in the same ratio as in the north of the country.”

Solutions and ongoing projects

According to Nathalie Dumont, Brackman is gradually finding her place within the group, but she reminds that Walloon clubs offer few professional structures. La Louvière remains the exception, having invested in youth development, while Ghent, Bruges, Leuven, Mechelen and Westerlo have many youth teams, but few complete women's projects.

Red Flames chase World Cup ticket as Poland appear in arena Friday

To close the gap, the FFA created the Women's Football Academy in Tubize, bringing together 30 girls aged 14 and 15 in a boarding school. Under Xavier Dumont’s direction, these players receive about fifteen hours of training per week, video analysis and mental support, before rejoining their clubs at the weekend.

The manager reminds that mixed‑gender teams are allowed up to U18 in Belgium and encourages players to stay in mixed teams as long as they feel comfortable, citing the paths of Caigny and Teulings as success stories.

In summary, Constance Brackman's sole presence among the Red Flames highlights the lack of French‑speaking players in Belgian women's football, but the FFA’s initiatives, notably the Academy and club projects such as La Louvière, aim to reverse this trend in the medium term.