credited with "not only giving the young group confidence in themselves as well as enjoying a close relationship with his players but also at the same time being capable of instilling discipline to the squad." During the group stage, Belgium topped the group with all three wins, before exiting the tournament at the quarter-final stage. On 13 October 2015, Belgium won the group to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2016 in the last game of the stage against Israel. After a disappointing European Championship, Wilmots was fired by the Royal Belgian Football Association on 15 July 2016. In March 2017 Wilmots was appointed as the manager of Ivory Coast national team. However he was sacked from his position six months later after failing to qualify for the World Cup. On 15 May 2019, Wilmots agreed a three years contract to become the manager of the Iranian national team, after Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz left the team after eight years in charge following Iran's semifinal exit in the Asian Cup. He officially signed his contract on 29 May, effective from 1 June 2019. On 4 December 2019, following shock defeats to both Iraq and Bahrain he left his role as Iran coach after six games in charge. On 11 November 2021, Moroccan team Raja CA announced that Wilmots would be their new head coach until 2024, succeeding Lassaad Chabbi. Wilmonts was sacked three months later by Raja on 21 February 2022. Political career After retiring as a footballer, Wilmots went into politics. He was elected to the Senate for the French-speaking conservative party, the Reformist Movement (Mouvement Réformateur or MR) in the 2003 federal election. He received 79,437 votes, a number surpassed only by 17 other candidates in the whole country during the elections. In 2005, he announced that he wanted to resign as a senator, a rather unconventional and criticized constitutional move. Career statistics Club International Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Wilmots goal. Managerial statistics Honours Player KV Mechelen Belgian First Division: 1988–89 European Super Cup: 1988 Amsterdam Tournament: 1989 Jules Pappaert Cup: 1990 Standard Liège Belgian Cup: 1992–93 Intertoto Cup: runner-up 1996 Schalke 04 UEFA Cup: 1996–97 DFB-Pokal: 2001–02 Belgium FIFA Fair Play Trophy: 2002 World Cup Individual Young Professional Footballer of the Year: 1989–90 Kicker German Football Rankings - International Class Player: 1997-98, 2001-02 Best Belgian Footballer Abroad: 2001,