Koen Casteels

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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 33)[2]
Place of birth Bonheiden, Belgium
Height 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)[3]
Position 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 42 (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)
2013–2024 Belgium 20 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Belgium
FIFA World Cup
Error creating thumbnail: 2018
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21 November 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Koen Casteels (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkun kɑsˈteːls]; born 25 June 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi Pro League club Al-Qadsiah.

Formed at Genk, Casteels spent most of his professional career in Germany with TSG Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen (loan) and VfL Wolfsburg. He made 283 Bundesliga appearances, mostly for Wolfsburg, where he won the 2015 DFL-Supercup.

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. He was later chosen for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2024, and was first-choice at the latter.

Club career

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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.

File:2019-03-09 Fußball, Männer, 1. Bundesliga, FC Bayern München - VfL Wolfsburg StP 2541 by Stepro.jpg
Casteels in action for Wolfsburg against Bayern Munich, March 2019

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] He won the league's Golden Glove in his first season, having kept 14 clean sheets.[11]

International career

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Casteels was first called up to the senior Belgium team in May 2013.[12] 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.[13]

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.[14] He was eventually chosen for the final 23-man squad to go to Russia.[15]

Casteels made his full international debut on 8 September 2020, in a 5–1 win over Iceland for the UEFA Nations League.[16]

Casteels was part of the Belgium squad at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but again did not play a minute.[17]

After 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.[18] 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.[19]

On 10 March 2025, Casteels announced that he had quit the national team in frustration over the decision to bring Courtois back into the fold.[20]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 28 November 2025[21]
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 33 0 4 0 — — 37 0
2025–26 Saudi Pro League 9 0 3 0 — 1[f] 0 13 0
Total 42 0 7 0 — 1 0 50 0
Career total 357 0 28 0 14 0 8 0 404 0
  1. ^ Includes DFB-Pokal, King's Cup
  2. ^ a b c Appearances in Bundesliga relegation play-offs
  3. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. ^ Appearance in DFL-Supercup
  5. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  6. ^ Appearance in Saudi Super Cup

International

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As of match played 17 November 2024[22]
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

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Genk[23]

VfL Wolfsburg

Belgium

Individual

References

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