21 Friends in Belgian Village Win EUR 123M EuroMillions Jackpot

A quiet Belgian village is still trying to wrap its head around what happened last weekend, after a group of 21 friends struck it rich in the EuroMillions draw on Friday night, January 30. 

Together, they landed a staggering EUR 123,555,827($145,964,260) jackpot, instantly turning a routine lottery ticket into a life-changing moment.

The group, all from the Flemish village of Zingem, agreed ahead of time to split any winnings evenly. That means each person will receive about EUR 5.8 million ($6.85 million). For many of them, the number still does not quite feel real.

“That’s Unbelievable!”

Marianne, a pensioner and one of the winners, was standing outside the bakery where the ticket was bought when she spoke to AFP. “EUR 5.8 million. Yeah, that’s unbelievable!” she said, clearly still overwhelmed.

She described the moment she realised the numbers matched. “Crying, shaking, looking at my husband, I said, ‘What is happening?’” she recalled. 

The couple tried to steady themselves before the shock fully set in. “We hugged, and we said to each other: ‘We’re going to be wise, don’t do anything foolish.’”

Celebratory Champagne at the Local Cafe

That said, the 21 friends did allow themselves a small celebration. The same evening, all 21 friends gathered at a local cafe. When Marianne and her husband arrived, two glasses of champagne were already waiting. Laughter filled the room, and for a few hours, the focus was simply on enjoying the moment.

For Marianne, the money is less about luxury and more about security. “It will make life a bit easier,” she said. “It will be very good for the children and the grandchild and they will have a good future, and that’s the most important thing.”

“That Was It. They Won.”

The winning ticket itself was nothing fancy. According to Redgy Taerwe, who sold it, the group stopped by the bakery and asked for a quick pick ticket, with numbers (14, 18, 31, 35, and 46, with Lucky Stars 7 and 11) chosen at random. 

“Friday in the morning, they came here and asked for a ‘quick pick’ for, I think, EUR 105 ($124),” he said. “That was it. They won.”

At more than EUR 123 million, the jackpot ranks among the biggest ever won in Belgium, though it falls short of the national record set in 2016 at EUR 168,085,323 (198.517.170). It was also the first jackpot win of the year, after weeks of rollovers.

In total, the lottery paid out over 2.1 million prizes on Friday’s draw. Since its launch in 2004, the European country has hosted 48 jackpot wins. 

In a similar story, in 2022, a group of 165 Belgians from Olmen, Antwerp, grabbed the EuroMillions jackpot that brought each roughly EUR 868,000 ($914,872).

The latest Belgian winners now have up to 20 weeks to claim their prize, though in this case, there is little doubt they will. 

The jackpot has been reset to EUR 17 million ($20 million) in Tuesday’s draw (February 3), with the first Superdraw with a top prize of EUR 130 million ($153.5 million) drawing near.