Kevin De Bruyne

Genk

De Bruyne began his career with hometown club KVV Drongen in 1997. Two years later, he joined KAA Gent under the guidance of coaches Jan Troos and Charly Musonda. They focused on his technique: basics, passing, shooting, dribbling. Later in an interview De Bruyne mentioned that their individual coaching had a great impact on his development. In 2005 he moved to Genk, where De Bruyne continued his development in their youth set-up and was rewarded for his progress by being promoted to the first team squad in 2008. From an Interview with his youth club KAA Gent, it was revealed that De Bruyne was a Liverpool fan and an admirer of Michael Owen. De Bruyne made his first team debut for Genk in a 3–0 defeat at Charleroi on 9 May 2009. Having established himself in the team the following season, on 7 February 2010, De Bruyne scored his first goal for the club, which secured all three points for Genk in a 1–0 win against Standard Liège. He scored five goals and made 16 assists in 32 league matches during the 2010–11 season as Genk were crowned Belgian champions for the third time. On 29 October 2011, De Bruyne scored his first hat-trick for Genk against Club Brugge, which ended in a 5–4 win for Genk. On 28 January 2012, De Bruyne scored a brace against OH Leuven in a 5–0 win. On 18 February 2012, De Bruyne scored his first goal back at Genk following his agreed transfer to Chelsea and also assisted the other goal in a 1–2 away win against Mons. De Bruyne ended the…

De Bruyne represented Belgium at under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels. He made his senior team debut on 11 August 2010 in an international friendly match against Finland in Turku; the game ended in a 1–0 loss for Belgium. Before making his full debut for Belgium's senior side, De Bruyne was eligible to play for Burundi, his mother's birthplace. De Bruyne became a regular member of Belgium's team during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, where he scored four goals as the Red Devils qualified for their first major tournament in 12 years.

2014–2016: First World Cup and Euro appearances

On 13 May 2014, De Bruyne was named in Belgium's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In their first game of the tournament, against Algeria in Belo Horizonte, De Bruyne assisted Marouane Fellaini's equaliser and was named man of the match by FIFA. In the round of 16, De Bruyne scored Belgium's opening goal in the third minute of extra time as they defeated the United States 2–1. They were subsequently eliminated from the 2014 FIFA World Cup after losing 1–0 to Argentina in the quarter-finals. On 10 October 2014, De Bruyne scored twice in a 6–0 rout of Andorra in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, equalling the team's record victory in a European qualifier set in 1986. On 3 September 2015, De Bruyne scored in a 3–1 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 10 October 2015, De Bruyne scored in a 4–1 victory against Andorra, which secured Belgium's place at the UEFA Euro 2016 finals.…

Club

As of match played 30 August 2026

International

As of match played 10 July 2026

As of match played 26 June 2026 Belgium score listed first, score column indicates score after each De Bruyne goal

Family and relationships

De Bruyne's mother is Belgian. She was born in Burundi and has also lived in the Ivory Coast. She grew up in London, after her Flemish parents moved to England for work reasons. Only when she met Kevin's father, Herwig, she returned to Belgium. De Bruyne's parents settled in Drongen, a sub-municipality of the city of Ghent, in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. Aside from Dutch, his mother tongue, De Bruyne also speaks English, French and German. As a child, De Bruyne and his parents regularly visited his grandparents in London. At the time of his move to Chelsea in 2012, De Bruyne stated: "We used to go every year at Christmas and during school holidays. It's my second home." De Bruyne has been in a relationship with Michèle Lacroix since 2014. The couple married in June 2017 and have three children together. De Bruyne's autobiography, titled Keep It Simple, was published by Borgerhoff & Lamberigts in October 2014, following an incident between De Bruyne and his compatriot, footballer Thibaut Courtois, in which De Bruyne's then-girlfriend left him for Courtois. De Bruyne wrote in his autobiography, "Although I still cannot believe what Courtois has done, we continue to work together professionally."

Philanthropy

De Bruyne was an ambassador for the 2014 Special Olympics, which took place in Antwerp, and was involved in a controversial advertisement campaign via his personal Instagram account. Employing the slogan (in…