.jpg) Witsel celebrating the bronze medal with Belgium at the 2018 FIFA World Cup | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Axel Laurent Angel Lambert Witsel[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 12 January 1989[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Liège, Belgium | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder, centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Atlético Madrid | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1997 | RRC Vottem | ||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | CS Visé | ||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2006 | Standard Liège | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2006–2011 | Standard Liège | 148 | (33) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Benfica | 32 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2017 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 122 | (16) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Tianjin Quanjian | 36 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2022 | Borussia Dortmund | 105 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Atlético Madrid | 76 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Belgium U15 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Belgium U16 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Belgium U17 | 19 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Belgium U18 | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Belgium U19 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | Belgium U21 | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008– | Belgium | 132 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 June 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Axel Laurent Angel Lambert Witsel (born 12 January 1989) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back[4] for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Belgium national team. He originally also played in more offensive roles such as central or attacking midfielder.
Witsel began his career at hometown club Standard Liège, making 183 appearances and scoring 42 goals while winning five domestic trophies. He was awarded the Belgian Golden Shoe in 2008. After a season in Portugal with Benfica, he signed for Zenit Saint Petersburg for a €40 million fee in 2012. Witsel won four honours during his time in Russia, before leaving for Tianjin Quanjian in January 2017. He returned to Europe with Borussia Dortmund in August 2018. With the Bundesliga side, Witsel won the 2019 DFL-Supercup and the 2020–21 DFB-Pokal.
Witsel made his senior international debut in 2008 and earned his 100th cap for Belgium on 15 November 2018. He represented the country at the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2018 and 2022, and the UEFA European Championship in 2016, 2020 and 2024, helping them to third place in the 2018 tournament.
- ^ "Conselho de disciplina" [Disciplinary board] (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 23 March 2012. p. 2. Archived from the original on 19 June 2016.
- ^ "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of players: Belgium" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
- ^ "Axel Witsel". Eurosport. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
- ^ Barlow, Ruairidh (22 September 2022). "Axel Witsel makes thoughts clear to Diego Simeone over position change". Football Espana. Retrieved 1 May 2023.