Belgium sacked national coach Marc Wilmots yesterday after their highly fancied team of talents failed to advance beyond the quarter-finals at Euro 2016, Belgian FA president Francois De Keersmaecker said.

“The objectives set for the Euros were not achieved. We need a new momentum,” he told a news conference.

“There is a common sense that the team needs a new impulse to lead this group towards a top result at a major tournament.

“The Belgian FA will immediately start the procedure to find a new head coach, in a transparent way.

“The idea is to start the upcoming games in September with a new coach, beginning with an international friendly game in Brussels against Spain on September 1.”

De Keersmaecker thanked Wilmots for his achievements over the past four years and said an understanding had been reached over Wilmots contract, which had a compensation clause if he were sacked.

The former Schalke midfielder, 47, took the Red Devils to the quarter-finals of the last World Cup and top of FIFA’s world ranking chart with a team built around Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Manchester City pair Vincent Kompany and Kevin De Bruyne.

But a clueless and disjointed 3-1 defeat to Wales in the Euro 2016 quarters left critics calling for Wilmots’ head and Belgian fans wondering what happened to the team that many had hoped would deliver the country’s first trophy.