By half-time, the news had reached a majority of those inside the Stade Roi Baudouin. They learnt that two of the spectators who had been making their way to Brussels’s main stadium for Monday night’s Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden never made it to their seats.
They had been shot, fatally, some 90 minutes before the scheduled kick-off. It is believed they were targeted for being Swedish.
The gunman, killed by police bullets the following morning, knew their nationality by their clothes, Sweden colours, worn with enthusiasm to a fixture that should have been about shared, patriotic pride – and only about that.
The Sweden national team was already very unlikely to reach next summer’s Euros. At 1-1 after 45 minutes in Brussels, their hopes were hanging on the sliver of a slim chance of somehow making it into the March play-offs.