Koen Casteels

Koen Casteels (born 25 June 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg and the Belgium national team.

Koen Casteels
Casteels with 1899 Hoffenheim in 2014
Personal information
Full name Koen Casteels[1]
Date of birth (1992-06-25) 25 June 1992
Place of birth Bonheiden, Belgium
Height 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 VfL Wolfsburg
Number 1
Youth career
1996–2002 KAC Betekom
2002–2009 Genk
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 Genk 0 (0)
2011–2014 1899 Hoffenheim II 32 (0)
2011–2015 1899 Hoffenheim 39 (0)
2015 → Werder Bremen (loan) 6 (0)
2015– VfL Wolfsburg 138 (0)
National team‡
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 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02:22, 7 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:55, 8 September 2020 (UTC)

Formed at Genk, he spent most of his professional career in Germany with 1899 Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen (loan) and VfL Wolfsburg, making over 100 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.[2]

Casteels was signed by VfL Wolfsburg from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in January 2015, but spent the first six months of the three-and-a-half-year contract on loan at Werder Bremen.[3] He played for Wolfsburg in the 2015 DFL-Supercup, saving from Xabi Alonso in the penalty shootout as his team won after a 1–1 draw.[4]

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.[5] He appeared in all of the club's 34 Bundesliga matches during the 2017−18 season.

International career

Casteels was first called up to the senior Belgium team in 2013. 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.[6]

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.[7] He was eventually chosen for the final 23-man squad to go to Russia.[8]

Casteels made his full international debut on 8 September 2020, in a 5–1 win over Iceland for the UEFA Nations League.[9]

Career statistics
As of matches played on 6 December 2020
ClubSeasonLeagueCup1Continental2Other3Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
1899 Hoffenheim II2011–12Regionalliga Süd230—230
2012–13Regionalliga Südwest7070
2014–152020
Totals320—320
1899 Hoffenheim2012–13Bundesliga16000—20180
2013–1423020—250
Totals39020—20430
Werder Bremen (loan)2014–15Bundesliga6010—70
VfL Wolfsburg2015–16130102010170
2016–1720020—20240
2017–183403020390
2018–1926030—290
2019–202601040310
2020–21 900020110
Totals128010080501510
Career totals205013080702300
Reference:[10]

Honours

VfL Wolfsburg

Belgium

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia: List of players: Belgium" (PDF). FIFA. 10 June 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  2. Terreur, Kristof (20 September 2014). "Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois: from clumsy boy to top of the world". The Observer. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  3. "Casteels über Werder nach Wolfsburg" (in German). Weltfussball.de. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  4. Dunbar, Ross (1 August 2015). "Bendtner leads Wolfsburg over Bayern Munich on penalties in German Super Cup clash". Fox Sports. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  5. "Keeper Casteels verlängert in Wolfsburg" (in German). Weltfussball.de. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  6. https://www.sportingnews.com/au/other-sports/news/belgium-keeper-casteels-fails-in-fitness-bid/aj83sar7bt8m1l2113nd98lsz
  7. Poissonnier, Niels (3 June 2017). "Casteels: "Je voelde een bepaalde angst"" (in Dutch). HLN. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  8. "World Cup 2018: Belgium include Vincent Kompany but Christian Benteke misses out". BBC Sport. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  9. "Belgium v Iceland". BBC Sport. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  10. "Koen Casteels » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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