Sombre images have captured the moment a sense of dread spread through thousands of Swedish football fans as they learned two of their countrymen had been killed in a brutal terror attack.

Fans were seen bursting into tears and hugging one another as others frantically whipped out their phones to dial friends and family members amid fears they had been targeted.

Others cradled their head in their hands, as some supporters looked on with blank expressions, seemingly unable to compute what they were hearing. 

Some 35,000 Sweden and Belgium supporters had piled into King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels to watch the Euro 2024 qualifier between their respective teams on Monday night.

But the excitable mood in the ground quickly transformed into distress and anguish Swedes in the stands glanced at their phones to discover two supporters were shot dead in the Belgian capital shortly before kickoff. 

At half-time, the fans received yet more unsettling news – they were to be locked inside the stadium indefinitely while Belgian police hunted the terror suspect and confirmed no more attacks were in the offing.  

The match was swiftly abandoned at half-time with the score at 1-1, while stadium staff locked all entrances to the ground. 

Fans, players and staff members alike were not allowed to leave until 4am while Belgian police ensured there were no more threats present. 

It comes as the Swedish Football Association’s head of security said he had considered issuing advice to fans not to wear their yellow jerseys in Brussels amid concerns of a possible terror attack, but chose not to after Belgian officials told him there was no increased threat level. 

Swedish supporters react as they wait in the stand during the Euro 2024 qualifying football match between Belgium and Sweden after hearing the news two people had been killed in a terror attack

Fans of Sweden react at half time as the the UEFA EURO 2024 European qualifier match between Belgium and Sweden is abandoned at King Baudouin Stadium on October 16, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium

A supporter makes phone call as she waits in the stand during the Euro 2024 qualifying football match between Belgium and Sweden at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on October 16, 2023, after an attack that targeted Swedish citizens in a street of Brussels

Sweden supporters wait on the stands after suspension of the Euro 2024 group F qualifying soccer match between Belgium and Sweden at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels

Fans of Sweden react at half time as the UEFA EURO 2024 European qualifier match between Belgium and Sweden is abandoned at King Baudouin Stadium on October 16, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium

Martin Fredman said the decision of whether to encourage fans not to wear the Swedish national team jersey ‘is always included in the risk analysis we do before away matches’. 

‘It’s about how our teams and supporters should be dressed, how the bus should look, and so on’, he told Swedish outlet Expressen.

After a high school teacher was stabbed to death by an Islamic extremist on Friday, Fredman said: ‘I contacted the Belgian police and demanded feedback in the event of a possible change in the threat picture. 

‘The answer was that the event did not affect the threat level in Belgium.

‘In that situation, we chose not to issue further recommendations other than what the Foreign Ministry has issued regarding travel to Belgium.

‘It’s hard to think about this (after the attack),’ the security chief said.

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The suspect in the shooting was shot dead by police on Tuesday morning, Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said, and the weapon believed to have been used by the man has been recovered.

Swedish FA officials said information about the shooting reached them just before the match began and that Belgian authorities and police considered the game should be played because the stadium was viewed as the safest place for the Swedish fans.

Officials decided to cut the game off at half-time, but keeping the fans locked inside the stadium was deemed the best move.  

It was around 4am local time when the last of the Swedish supporters – totalling about 650, according to the Swedish Football Association – left the stadium under police surveillance, along with some staff from the federation.

All hotels where Swedish supporters were staying were also guarded by police, the federation said.

What was supposed to be a joyous night turned into one of deep despair

Swedish supporters were met by the players and coaching staff inside the stadium

Belgian defender Debast Zeno (left) sought out family members in the crowd 

Video shows Abdesalem Lassoued dressed in a fluorescent orange jacket and carrying a gun driving through the streets of Brussels last night 

Sweden players meanwhile returned to their clubs today after taking an overnight flight home from Brussels following the suspension of match.

The squad went directly to the airport and flew back to Sweden once they were allowed to leave King Baudouin Stadium in the early hours of this morning. 

The Belgian team said it was ‘still devastated’ by what had happened.

‘We want to thank all the fans in the stadium for their understanding and support in these difficult circumstances,’ the Belgian Red Devils said on social media. ‘Our thoughts are with the Swedish, we hope everyone gets home safely.’

‘Frustrated, confused, scared. I think everyone was quite scared,’ said Caroline Lochs, a fan from Antwerp.

Belgium international player Thomas Meunier, who did not play on Monday, shared his thoughts after the match.

‘Let’s have a prayer for the victims and the people badly influenced by the wrong teaching of a religion. May God help them to find the right way,’ Meunier wrote on social media.

Brussels mayor Philippe Close also told La Premiere radio that the game had not been regarded as a high-risk match.

Sweden raised its terror alert to the second-highest level in August after a series of public Quran-burnings by an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden resulted in threats from Islamic militant groups.

‘We were (alerted) to the context in the Middle East, but not to the burnt Qurans,’ Close said. ‘Objectively speaking, we have to admit that.’