Thibaut Courtois

Some Lesser Known Facts About Thibaut Courtois

• Does Thibaut Courtois smoke?: No

• Does Thibaut Courtois drink alcohol?: No

• He was born into a family that loved sports. Both his parents were volleyball players. Later, his sister also represented Belgium in volleyball.

• He started playing football when he was just 5. 

• In his childhood, Courtois was so bad at gymnastics that once doing a role he took out the gymnastics’ teacher.

• He began his career in football with local side Bilzen V.V not as a goalkeeper, but as a left-back.

• The scouts of Genk saw his talent and recruited him in 1999. It was here, where he converted into a goalkeeper. 

• He graduated from the Genk youth system aged 18.

• In July 2011, he joined Chelsea. He immediately was loaned to Atletico Madrid. 

• In an interview, he revealed that the first car he bought was Ford Focus.

• He was called up to the Belgium squad in October 2011 and played his first game for the country a month later. With his debut, he became the youngest goalkeeper to play for the Belgian national team. 

• On 26 November 2011, he picked up the first red card of his footballing career for a foul on Real Madrid star Karim Benzema.

• On 13 May 2014, he was named in the Belgium squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He kept two clean sheets in the tournament against Russia and South Korea.

• In June 2014, he returned to Chelsea. Courtois kept his first clean sheet for Chelsea in his second game against Leicester City.

• He was in the Belgium squad for the UEFA Euro 2016. Belgium reached the quarterfinals of the tournament, where they were knocked out by Wales.

• In the 2016-2017 season, he kept a total of 16 clean sheets in the Premier League, which earned him the Golden Glove.

• In February 2017, French singer, Shay released a song named after him.

• Courtois was selected in the 23 man squad of Belgium for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He played a key role in beating the tournament favourites Brazil in the quarterfinals. They reached the semi-finals of the tournament first time since 1986. He won the Golden Glove of the tournament (Award given to the best goalkeeper of the tournament).