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 VfL Wolfsburg in 2021
Personal information
Full name Koen Casteels[1]
Date of birth (1992-06-25) 25 June 1992[2]
Place of birth Bonheiden, Belgium
Height 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)[3]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team 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 218 (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– Belgium 7 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Belgium
FIFA World Cup
Third place2018
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 September 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 September 2023 (UTC)

Formed at Genk, he spent most of his professional career in Germany with 1899 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 1899 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 shootout 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.

International career

Casteels was first called up to the senior Belgium team in May 2013.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10] He was eventually chosen for the final 23-man squad to go to Russia.[11]

Casteels made his full international debut on 8 September 2020, in a 5–1 win over Iceland for the UEFA Nations League.[12]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 23 September 2023
Club Season League Cup1 Continental2 Other3 Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
1899 Hoffenheim II 2011–12 Regionalliga Süd 230—230
2012–13 Regionalliga Südwest7070
2014–15 Regionalliga Südwest 2020
Total 320—320
1899 Hoffenheim 2012–13 Bundesliga 16000—20180
2013–14 Bundesliga 23020—250
Total 39020—20430
Werder Bremen (loan) 2014–15 Bundesliga 6010—70
VfL Wolfsburg 2015–16 Bundesliga 130102010170
2016–17 Bundesliga 20020—20240
2017–18 Bundesliga 3403020390
2018–19 Bundesliga 26030—290
2019–20 Bundesliga 2601050320
2020–21 Bundesliga 3203020370
2021–22 Bundesliga 2801050340
2022–23 Bundesliga 34020—360
2023–24 Bundesliga 501060
Total 2180170140502540
Career total 2950200140703330
Reference:[13]

International
As of match played 12 September 2023[14]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Belgium 202010
202120
202210
202330
Total70

Honours

VfL Wolfsburg

Belgium

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Belgium" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
  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. Belga. "Thorgan Hazard, Maxime Lestienne et Koen Casteels appelés par Marc Wilmots". DHnet (in French). Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  9. "Belgium keeper Casteels fails in fitness bid".
  10. Poissonnier, Niels (3 June 2017). "Casteels: "Je voelde een bepaalde angst"" (in Dutch). HLN. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  11. "World Cup 2018: Belgium include Vincent Kompany but Christian Benteke misses out". BBC Sport. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  12. "Belgium v Iceland". BBC Sport. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  13. "Koen Casteels » Club matches". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  14. "Koen Casteels". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
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