Christian Kabasele

K.A.S. Eupen

Kabasele began his football career at RFC Chaudfontaine when he was seven years old. Kabasele then joined Eupen at thirteen years old where they converted him from playing in a striker position to a defender position. While progressing through the youth system at the club, he said: "My best year was with the U16, I scored 29 times in 29 games. I was captain of the team at Eupen, while I was a year younger than the rest. The national youth coaches followed me, Standard informed me several times. even then I was too timid to take that step. In the meantime, Eupen had quickly transferred me to the reserve team and the A-team, partly to keep me satisfied." After progressing through the youth system at Eupen, Kabasele was promoted to the first team ahead of the 2008–09 season and signed a four–year contract with them. He made his debut for the club, starting a match and played 81 minutes before being substituted, in a 3–0 loss against Lierse on 12 October 2008. Kabasele then found his playing time, mostly from the substitute bench. At the end of the 2008–09 season, he went on to make five appearances in all competitions. Following this, it was announced on 7 June 2009 that Kabasele signed a contract with Eupen, keeping him until 2013. Having spent most of the 2009–10 season on the sidelines, Kabasele then made two appearances for Eupen, as they were promoted to Belgian Pro League. He then made five appearances for the side throughout the first half of the…

Kabasele was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but moved to Belgium at a young age. This made him eligible to play for either Belgium or DR Congo as he holds both citizenships.

Youth career

Kabasele made his only Belgium U18 appearance against Austria U18 on 8 April 2009, winning 3–1. Later in 2009, he was called up to the Belgium U19 squad, making his debut for the U19 side, in a 2–1 win against Germany U19 on 5 September 2009. Kabasele then scored his first Belgium U19 goal, in a 1–0 win against France U19 on 12 October 2009. He then scored a brace on two occasions, coming against Kazakhstan U19 and Luxembourg U19. Kabasele went on to make ten appearances and scored five times for the U19 side. Kabasele made his only Belgium U20 appearance, coming against Malta U20 on 31 March 2010, in a 1–0 win. In February 2011, Kabasele was called up to Belgium U21 for the first time, making his only appearance for the U21 side, coming against Greece U21 on 27 March 2011.

Senior career

Kabasele revealed that he rejected a chance to represent DR Congo after being offered a chance to play in the Africa Cup of Nations, citing his desire to prefer representing Belgium instead. Kabasele was named as part of the senior Belgium squad for UEFA Euro 2016. He was an unused substitute, as Belgium reached the quarterfinals in the tournament. Kabasele made his debut for the national team in a friendly against the Netherlands on 9 November 2016. A year later on 14…

Club

As of match played 2 March 2026

Born in Lubumbashi, Zaire to a Congolese father and mother who has a white father of unclear origin and Congolese mother. Kabasele moved to Belgium with his parents and his older brother in search of a better life. His brother is a footballer, playing amateur football in Belgium. His father worked at the airport while his mother worked at the care. He grew up in Liège. Growing up, Kabasele supported Arsenal and Standard Liège. He began playing football at a young age, due to "having too much energy and was not so social". Kabasele speaks German, French, Dutch and English. He is married and has a son. Kabasele spoke out about his country, Congo, saying: "I feel sad not only because of the war, but the general situation in Congo. It's so sad to have a rich country and the people there being so poor. It's not normal. They don't have to be afraid of what could be the consequences if they don't vote for this guy or that guy. They need to have the courage. They need to respect the final decision and not, like so many times [in the past], go on the streets and create some chaos. But first of all they need to vote with courage." In October 2017, Kabasele spoke about his use of social media, saying: "I'm only Christian Kabasele, I'm not the football player so on Twitter I'm just a normal person. It's good for me and the fans to have that kind of interaction, but I'm just myself." In April 2019, he (and Watford team-mates Adrian Mariappa and Troy Deeney) were subjected to racist…