Kevin De Bruyne tells Belgium teammates not to clap fans after players get booed

Belgium captain Kevin De Bruyne told his teammates not to clap the fans who booed them after the full-time whistle was blown in their 0-0 draw with Ukraine at Euro 2024.

In a viral video shared online, De Bruyne started to lead his players over to where the Belgian fans were sitting to clap them and thank them for their support at the full-time whistle.

But when a chorus of boos from the support rang around the stadium, De Bruyne diverted his players away from clapping them and other players then gestured for those who started making their way to them to do the same.

De Bruyne was awarded player of the match in the draw and spoke to the media in a post-match press conference.

He said: "We tried to win the match and up until the 90th minute, we had goalscoring opportunities but we didn't take any risks with the corner. We know we can concede a goal just like what happened against England.

"When that happens, you're out of the Euros.

"It's a shame we didn't manage to score before, we did have opportunities, but we just need our fans.

"We need these fans. We need them against France. That's all I have to say."

Belgium qualified in second from Group E with Ukraine finishing fourth and out of the Euros despite all four teams in the group finishing on four points.

Romania topped the group because they scored more goals than Belgium, with both teams having a better goal difference of +1 than Slovakia, who finished third with the same amount of goals scored and conceded.

Ukraine were knocked out because they had a goal difference of -2. They're the first side ever to score four points and not qualify from the group stage.

Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku had the best opening chance of the 0-0 draw; he couldn't connect properly after De Bruyne played him through.

Ukraine had a good chance through a counter attack before De Bruyne nearly caught Ukraine goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin out with a clever free-kick.

Both teams had good chances through the game; Ruslan Malinovskyi nearly caught out Koen Casteels directly from a corner.

But neither side was able to find a winner.

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