Waseige also holds the historic honour of being the first native French speaker to coach the Belgian national side.
The 62-year-old began his career in football when he started playing for his hometown side FC Liege in 1959.
A year later, he had helped the first division club to finish runners-up in the league.
Between 1963 and 1970, he played for Racing White, who won the second division title in 1965.
He wound his playing career down at third division Winterslag, where he then became coach and led them to the top flight in just three years.
It was the beginning of a long and fruitful career in Belgian football, which included spells at Standard Liege, Lokeren, FC Liege and Charleroi.
Waseige also earned some overseas coaching experience with a brief spell in charge of Sporting Lisbon.
He was soon back in Belgium, returning to Charleroi for a couple of seasons before succeeding Leekens as Belgium coach in 1999.
It was here the Waseige rollercoaster began, starting with a dramatic 5-5 friendly draw against neighbouring rivals Holland.
But the new coach proved a popular choice among Belgian fans, especially after leading the team to significant wins over Italy, Norway and Morocco in the run-up to Euro 2000.
On entering the tournament, Belgium's form was more patchy, notching up one win and two losses.
They became the first host nation team to fall at the first hurdle, but Waseige's position was never under threat, even when he underwent emergency heart bypass surgery the following spring.
He rewarded Belgium's unwavering support by securing the side's qualification for the World Cup finals with victory over the Czech Republic in a two-legged play-off.