Anderlecht

Twice in three seasons, in 1976 and again in 1978, Anderlecht lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup and then beat the continent's champions for the Super Cup as well — a run few Belgian clubs have matched before or since. A squad built around Rob Rensenbrink carried the purple shirt further into Europe than the domestic table alone ever could, and the UEFA Cup followed in 1983.

The club traces back to 1908, formed in the Brussels commune whose name it still carries, and settled into purple and white early enough that the colours now read as shorthand for the club itself. Domestically the record is long: 34 Belgian championships, more than any other club in the country, alongside a cup collection built up over decades rather than any single golden spell.

Paul Van Himst holds the appearance record with 457 games. He collected the Golden Boot four times over a career that made him the reference point for everyone who followed. Ludo Coeck was meant to carry that mantle through the 1970s; he died in 1985. Enzo Scifo came through the academy in the decade after, and Vincent Kompany followed a generation later, leaving as captain before a career that took him well beyond Belgium. Thorgan Hazard, also academy-raised, is back in the squad for 2025/26.

The derby with Standard Liège still goes by De Klassieker, the fixture with Club Brugge is De Topper, and the sharpest new edge has come from Union Saint-Gilloise, whose return to the top flight in 2021 revived a rivalry that sits inside Brussels itself. Anderlecht play at Lotto Park, formally the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, 21,500 seats in the commune that gave the club its name.