Belgium out to extend lead over Turkey

Belgium will look to extend their lead over Turkey in UEFA EURO 2012 Group A when the teams meet in Brussels, with Guus Hiddink's side having won 3-2 when these sides met in Istanbul back in September.

• Arda Turan's deflected effort 12 minutes from time handed Turkey victory in that game. Daniel Van Buyten gave the visitors the lead just before the half-hour mark but Hamit Altıntop levelled three minutes after the break. Fenerbahçe SK striker Semih Şentürk – on his home ground – put the hosts ahead (66) only for Van Buyten to head an equaliser soon after for a Belgium side already a man down through Vincent Kompany's dismissal.

• Georges Leekens' Belgium have not lost in four Group A games since then, recording three wins and a draw, while Turkey have lost their last two competitive away games; 3-0 in Germany and 1-0 in Azerbaijan.

• Both teams have been beaten by section leaders Germany – Belgium 1-0 at home in their opening fixture, Turkey 3-0 in Berlin.

• Belgium's record in ten games against Turkey reads W3 D4 L3 (W2 D2 L1 at home).

• Turkey and Belgium have never been paired in UEFA European Championship qualifying before, though they did meet in the group stage of UEFA EURO 2000.

• Tournament co-hosts Belgium slipped to their second Group B defeat in that game as Hakan Şükür struck twice in a 2-0 triumph for Turkey at the Stade Roi Baudouin in Brussels on 19 June 2000. Belgium also lost goalkeeper Filip de Wilde to a late red card, while their opponents advanced to the quarter-finals.

• More recently, the rivals were drawn together in qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, facing off for the first time at Şükrü Saracoğlu in Istanbul on 10 September 2008; Emre Belözoğlu's 74th-minute penalty cancelled out Wesley Sonck's 32nd-minute opener for the visitors in a 1-1 draw.

• The Red Devils then took the points in the return game in Brussels on 10 October the following year, a pair of Emile Mpenza goals earning them a 2-0 success.

• The teams also met in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, with Belgium winning on both occasions: they prevailed 2-1 in Brussels on 31 August 1996 and 3-1 in Istanbul on 30 April 1997.

• The highest scoring encounter between the sides was a 3-3 draw in a friendly in Genk on 24 May 2006, just over two years after Turkey recorded a 3-2 friendly win in Brussels.

• It was also in a friendly that the teams made their initial introductions, playing out a 1-1 scoreline in Ankara on 8 December 1957.