Koen Casteels

Koen Casteels (born 25 June 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi Pro League club Al-Qadsiah and the Belgium national team.

Koen Casteels

Casteels playing for VfL Wolfsburg in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Koen Casteels[1]
Date of birth	(1992-06-25) 25 June 1992 (age 32)[2]
Place of birth	Bonheiden, Belgium
Height	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)[3]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Al-Qadsiah
Number	1
Youth career
1996–2002	KAC Betekom
2002–2009	Genk
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2011	Genk	0	(0)
2011–2014	TSG Hoffenheim II	32	(0)
2011–2015	TSG Hoffenheim	39	(0)
2015	→ Werder Bremen (loan)	6	(0)
2015–2024	VfL Wolfsburg	238	(0)
2024–	Al-Qadsiah	11	(0)
International career‡
2007	Belgium U15	2	(0)
2008	Belgium U16	3	(0)
2008–2009	Belgium U17	3	(0)
2009–2011	Belgium U19	20	(0)
2011–2013	Belgium U21	9	(0)
2020–	Belgium	20	(0)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Belgium FIFA World Cup 2018
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Formed at Genk, Casteels spent most of his professional career in Germany with TSG Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen (loan) and VfL Wolfsburg, making over 200 Bundesliga appearances.

Casteels made 37 appearances for Belgium up to under-21 level. He was first called up for the senior team in 2013 and was part of their squad that came third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Casteels was developed at K.R.C. Genk where he was a teammate of fellow goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. He was initially regarded as better than Courtois, but while he and several of the club's other goalkeepers were injured, Courtois broke into the team.^[4]

Casteels was signed by VfL Wolfsburg from TSG Hoffenheim in January 2015, but spent the first six months of the three-and-a-half-year contract on loan at Werder Bremen.^[5] He played for Wolfsburg in the 2015 DFL-Supercup, saving from Xabi Alonso in the penalty shoot-out as his team won after a 1–1 draw.^[6]

When Diego Benaglio left Wolfsburg in June 2017, Casteels signed a new three-year contract with the club and was given the number 1 shirt.^[7] He appeared in all of the club's 34 Bundesliga matches during the 2017−18 season. On 2 September 2023, Casteels announced that he would leave at the end of the 2023−24 Bundesliga season.^[8][9]

On 10 June 2024, Casteels joined newly promoted Saudi Pro League club Al-Qadsiah on a three-year contract.^[10]

International career

Casteels was first called up to the senior Belgium team in May 2013.^[11] He was going to be part of Belgium's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad but failed to recover from an injury and was replaced by Silvio Proto and then Sammy Bossut.^[12]

Manager Roberto Martínez often chose four goalkeepers in his international selections, and as the 2018 FIFA World Cup only permitted three, Casteels battled with Matz Sels for the final space behind Thibaut Courtois and Simon Mignolet.^[13] He was eventually chosen for the final 23-man squad to go to Russia.^[14]

Casteels made his full international debut on 8 September 2020, in a 5–1 win over Iceland for the UEFA Nations League.^[15]

Casteels was part of the Belgium squad at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but again did not play a minute.^[16]

After Thibaut Courtois fell out with national team coach Domenico Tedesco, Casteels was chosen as first choice, with Tedesco describing him as one of the best in the world.^[17] Casteels played in all of Belgium's games at UEFA Euro 2024 and impressed, making important saves and also recording an assist in their 2-0 win over Romania.^[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 22 November 2024^[19]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
TSG Hoffenheim II	2011–12	Regionalliga Süd	23	0	—		—		—		23	0
	2012–13	Regionalliga Südwest	7	0	—		—		—		7	0
	2014–15	Regionalliga Südwest	2	0	—		—		—		2	0
	Total		32	0	—		—		—		32	0
TSG Hoffenheim	2012–13	Bundesliga	16	0	0	0	—		2[b]	0	18	0
	2013–14	Bundesliga	23	0	2	0	—		—		25	0
	Total		39	0	2	0	—		2	0	43	0
Werder Bremen (loan)	2014–15	Bundesliga	6	0	1	0	—		—		7	0
VfL Wolfsburg	2015–16	Bundesliga	13	0	1	0	2[c]	0	1[d]	0	17	0
	2016–17	Bundesliga	20	0	2	0	—		2[b]	0	24	0
	2017–18	Bundesliga	34	0	3	0	—		2[b]	0	39	0
	2018–19	Bundesliga	26	0	3	0	—		—		29	0
	2019–20	Bundesliga	26	0	1	0	5[e]	0	—		32	0
	2020–21	Bundesliga	32	0	3	0	2[e]	0	—		37	0
	2021–22	Bundesliga	28	0	1	0	5[c]	0	—		34	0
	2022–23	Bundesliga	34	0	2	0	—		—		36	0
	2023–24	Bundesliga	25	0	2	0	—		—		27	0
	Total		238	0	18	0	14	0	5	0	275	0
Al-Qadsiah	2024–25	Saudi Pro League	11	0	1	0	—		—		12	0
Career total			326	0	22	0	14	0	7	0	366	0

1. Includes DFB-Pokal, King's Cup
2. Appearances in Bundesliga relegation play-offs
3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
4. Appearance in DFL-Supercup
5. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 17 November 2024^[20]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Belgium	2020	1	0
	2021	2	0
	2022	1	0
	2023	4	0
	2024	12	0
Total		20	0

Honours

Genk^[21]

• Belgian First Division: 2010–11
• Belgian Cup: 2008-09

VfL Wolfsburg

• DFL-Supercup: 2015

Belgium

• FIFA World Cup third place: 2018

Individual

• Kicker Best Goalkeeper of the Bundesliga: 2017–18^[22]
• Saudi Pro League Goalkeeper of the Month: September 2024

References

1. "Squad List: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: Belgium (BEL)" (PDF). FIFA. 18 December 2022. p. 3. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
2. "Koen Casteels – Player Profile". Bundesliga. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
3. "Koen Casteels". VfL Wolfsburg. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
4. Terreur, Kristof (20 September 2014). "Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois: from clumsy boy to top of the world". The Observer. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
5. "Casteels über Werder nach Wolfsburg" (in German). Weltfussball.de. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
6. Dunbar, Ross (1 August 2015). "Bendtner leads Wolfsburg over Bayern Munich on penalties in German Super Cup clash". Fox Sports. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
7. "Keeper Casteels verlängert in Wolfsburg" (in German). Weltfussball.de. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
8. "Departing after nine years". VfL Wolfsburg. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
9. "Casteels to leave Wolfsburg at the end of the season". Bulinews. 2 September 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
10. "Belgium keeper Casteels joins Al-Qadsiah on free transfer". Reuters. 10 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
11. Belga. "Thorgan Hazard, Maxime Lestienne et Koen Casteels appelés par Marc Wilmots". DHnet (in French). Retrieved 6 July 2022.
12. "Belgium keeper Casteels fails in fitness bid".
13. Poissonnier, Niels (3 June 2017). "Casteels: "Je voelde een bepaalde angst"" (in Dutch). HLN. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
14. "World Cup 2018: Belgium include Vincent Kompany but Christian Benteke misses out". BBC Sport. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
15. "Belgium v Iceland". BBC Sport. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
16. "Royal Belgian FA". www.rbfa.be. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
17. "Domenico Tedesco believes Koen Casteels is a top 20 goalkeeper in the world". OneFootball. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
18. "Despite concerns over Thibaut Courtois' absence, Koen Casteels has been Belgium's best player at Euro 2024". OneFootball. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
19. "Koen Casteels » Club matches". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
20. "Koen Casteels". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
21. Projects, Sanmax. "Algemene info | KRC Genk". www.krcgenk.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
22. "Koen Casteels - Doelman bij VfL Wolfsburg". koencasteels.be (in Dutch). 5 June 2024.

External links

• Koen Casteels at the Royal Belgian Football Association
• Koen Casteels – UEFA competition record (archive)