Van Buyten notched Belgium's only goal as Belgium slumped to a disappointing 2–1 defeat to lowly Armenia in FIFA World Cup qualifying. The loss meant that Belgium lost any hope of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with head coach Franky Vercauteren resigning minutes after final whistle. For Euro 2012 qualification, Belgium were placed in Group A with the likes of Germany, Turkey and Austria. The defender netted a brace away to Turkey on 7 September 2010, but despite his best efforts, Belgium fell to a 3–2 loss as captain Vincent Kompany was sent off for two bookable offenses. Van Buyten was once again an integral member for the Belgians in yet another qualifying campaign, featuring in seven of the ten qualifying matches for the country. Belgium narrowly missed out in qualifying for the playoff-round, finishing two points behind Turkey with a 3–1 loss to Germany in the final qualifying round game on 11 October 2011. In 2014 World Cup qualifying, the veteran defender made five appearances as Belgium reached its first tournament in 12 years. On 13 May 2014, Van Buyten was named in Belgium's squad for the 2014 World Cup, in Brazil. He was the only player in the squad who had played at a major tournament before. At the age of 36, he started in the team's first game of the tournament, a 2–1 win against Algeria in Belo Horizonte. Personal life Van Buyten's father, Franz, was a popular Belgian catcher/wrestler in Europe from 1960 to 1980. His mother, Renate, is German. Bank theft incident While he was with Manchester City, he, along with players Djamel Belmadi and Matías Vuoso, were the victim of theft perpetrated by two bankers. In January 2006, the bank workers, Paul Sherwood, a cashier, and Paul Hanley, his supervisor, were jailed for 32 months and 12 months respectively. Career statistics Club International Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Van Buyten goal. Honours Club Hamburger SV UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2005 Bayern Munich Bundesliga: 2007–08, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2013–14 DFB-Pokal: 2007–08, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2013–14 DFB-Ligapokal: 2007 DFL-Supercup: 2010, 2012 UEFA Champions League: 2012–13 UEFA Super Cup: 2013 FIFA Club World Cup: 2013 International Belgium FIFA Fair Play Trophy: 2002 World Cup Individual UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2002–03 ESM Team of the Year: 2002–03 Belgian Sports Merit Award: 2014 Officer of Walloon