Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a winger or

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, Chelsea,

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, and the Belgium national team. Known for his dribbling and creativity, he is regarded as one of the best players of his generation. Hazard began his senior career with

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

in 2007 at the age of 16 and soon became an integral part of the Lille team under manager

Rudi Garcia Rudi José Garcia (; ; born 20 February 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Belgium national team. Garcia began his professional career with Lille, and went on to have stints ...

. In his first full season, he became the first non-French player to win the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award, and the following season became the first player to win the award twice. In the 2010–11 season, he won the league and cup double and, as a result of his performances, was named the

Ligue 1 Player of the Year The UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year is an official Trophées UNFP du football, award given by the Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels (UNFP) to the Ligue 1 player whose performances are considered to be the best of the season. The ...

, the youngest player to win the award. After making over 190 appearances and scoring 50 goals for Lille, Hazard signed for English club Chelsea in June 2012. He won the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

in his first season and the

PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the ...

in his second. In the 2014–15 season, Hazard helped Chelsea win the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

and

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, earning him the

FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...

and the

PFA Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...

awards. Two years later he won his second English league title as Chelsea won the 2016–17 Premier League. In 2018, he won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, and was named in the FIFA FIFPRO Men's World 11. He won the Europa League again with Chelsea in 2019, scoring twice in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. At Chelsea, Hazard established himself as one of the best players in the world. He joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2019 in a transfer worth up to €146.1 million, making it one of the highest transfer fees ever. However, injury woes, subpar performances, and a lack of fitness led to him only playing a limited number of games, departing the club in June 2023 and retiring from professional football four months later. Having represented his country at various youth levels, Hazard made his senior debut for the Belgium national team in November 2008, aged 17. He has since earned over 126 caps, and was a member of the Belgian squad which reached the quarter-finals of the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

, and Euro 2020. At the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

, he captained Belgium to third place which was their best finish in history, receiving the Silver Ball as the second-best player of the tournament. From 2015 to 2022, he served as the captain of the team, including the time Belgium topped the FIFA men's ranking for the first time, which became the longest continuous reign of any European team.

Early life

Eden Michael Walter Hazard was born on 7 January 1991 in

La Louvière La Louvière (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pie ...

and grew up in

Braine-le-Comte Braine-le-Comte (; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Braine-le-Comte had a total population of 21,649. The total area is which gives a population density of 260 inhabi ...

. His mother Carine, and father Thierry, were both footballers. His father spent most of his career at semi-professional level with

in the

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 1909 and folded in 2016, when it was replace ...

, playing mainly as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. His mother played as a striker in the

Belgian Women's First Division The Belgian Women's First National Division, formerly Belgian Women's First Division is the second highest women's football league of Belgium. The league was the top level league until 2011–12. It was first played in 1973–74. From 2012 to 20 ...

and stopped playing when she was three months pregnant with Eden. After playing football, both his parents became sports teachers. Thierry retired from his position in 2009 to devote more time to his children. Hazard is the eldest of four children. He has three brothers, all of whom play football, including Thorgan, who joined him at Chelsea in 2012. Hazard's other younger brothers are Kylian and Ethan. Hazard and his three brothers were raised in a comfortable environment with their parents ensuring they had whatever they needed to excel. The family lived "no more than three metres" from a football training ground and the brothers often ventured onto a training pitch through a small hole to hone and develop their skills. Growing up his idol was French midfielder

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; ; ''Zineddin Lyazid Zidan''; ; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as an attacking midfi ...

, with Hazard "watching him on television and online for hours".

Club career

Early career

Hazard began his football career playing for his hometown club Royal Stade Brainois at the age of four. During his time at the club, one of his youth coaches described him as a "gifted" player. He added: "He knew everything. I had nothing to teach him." Hazard spent eight years at the club before moving to AFC Tubize. While at Tubize, he was spotted by a

scout while playing in a local tournament with the club. The scout's subsequent report on the player prompted club officials to meet with Hazard's father and offer the young player an ''aspirant'' (youth) contract. Hazard's parents accepted the offer from Lille head of academy

Jean-Michel Vandamme Jean-Michel Vandamme (; born 10 November 1959) is a French football executive, and former professional player and coach, who is currently the academy general manager of French Ligue 1 club Lille. Career After retiring from professional football ...

with hopes that the training facilities in France would be better. Hazard's father later admitted that the decision to let Eden and, later Thorgan, join clubs in the North of France was the best solution stating "They remained so close to home and, at the same time, they integrated at structures where they could grow, because in Belgium, unfortunately, it's a little empty for the training of youth."

Lille

Early Lille career

Hazard joined Lille in 2005 and spent two years developing in the club's local sports school, due to its youth academy in Luchin not being in operation at that time. On 28 May 2007, he signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with Lille. At the start of the 2007–08 season, at the age of 16, Hazard was promoted to the club's reserve team in the

Championnat de France Amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...

, the fourth level of French football, though he still played with Lille's under-18 team in its league and the Coupe Gambardella. Hazard made his amateur debut on 1 September 2007 in a league match against

Racing Club de France Racing Club de France, also known as RCF, is a French multi-sport club that was founded on 20 April 1882 under the name Racing Club. Racing Club changed its name to Racing Club de France (RCF) on 21 November 1885. The club is located at the Bois ...

. appearing as a second-half substitute in a 3–1 defeat. He made his first start a week later in the team's 1–0 defeat to Lesquin. After spending the majority of October and the early part of November playing with the club's under-18 team, on 14 November, due to several players being on international duty, Hazard was called up to the senior team by manager

Claude Puel Claude Jacques Puel (; born 2 September 1961) is a French football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He spent his entire playing career with Monaco, before becoming manager of the club, leading them to the league title in his ...

to participate in a friendly against Belgian club

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

on 16 November. He appeared as a substitute in the match and, as a result of his performance, was included in the 18-man squad to face Nancy in a league match on 24 November, where he subsequently made his professional debut in the match, coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute. Hazard returned to the club's reserve team and spent December playing with the squad. Following the winter break, Hazard returned to the first team in January and made substitute appearances in three league matches against

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

, and

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. Following the match against PSG, he was demoted back to amateur level where he played concurrently with the reserve team in the fourth division and the under-18 team in the Coupe Gambardella. On 17 May 2008, he scored his first amateur goal in a 3–2 victory over Vitré. Hazard finished his amateur career with 11 appearances and one goal, helping the reserve team finished in fifth place, which was first among professional clubs' reserve teams playing in the group.

2008–2010: Debut season and individual success

Hazard was promoted to the first team permanently by new manager

ahead of the 2008–09 season. Early on, he made substitute appearances regularly, including against

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

on 20 September, when he scored a goal to make it 2–2 in the 88th minute in a game Lille won 3–2 in

stoppage time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the ga ...

following a goal from Túlio de Melo. Hazard's first career goal resulted in him becoming the youngest goalscorer in the club's history. Four days after scoring his first goal, Hazard made his first senior start in a 4–2 defeat on penalties to

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

in the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

. After featuring as a substitute in the team's next five league matches, on 15 November, Hazard started his first league game against

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

, and capped the appearance by scoring the opening goal in the club's 3–0 victory. His assured performances with the club resulted in Lille offering him a three-year contract extension, which he agreed to on 18 November 2008, tying him to the club until 2012. After featuring as a substitute in December, Hazard returned to the starting lineup in January. In February, he scored the match-winning goal in a league match against Sochaux. In the Round of 16 of the Coupe de France, Hazard netted a goal in a 3–2 win over the competition's defending champions

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. In the final ten league matches of the campaign, Hazard started eight and contributed to the team finishing in fifth place, which resulted in Lille qualifying for the

. After the season, he was named the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year, becoming the first non-French player to achieve the honour. Following the 2008–09 season, constant media speculation occurred in numerous countries regarding Hazard's availability on the transfer market. Despite Lille chairman Michel Seydoux declaring the player off limits and Hazard stating that he wanted to remain at the club for at least another season, several clubs declared interest in the player. These included English clubs

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, Italian club

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

, and Spanish clubs

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

. Frenchman Zinedine Zidane personally recommended the player to the latter club. Hazard began the 2009–10 season on a positive note scoring in Lille's first competitive match of the season. The goal, contributing to the team's 2–0 victory, came against Serbian club

FK Sevojno FK Sevojno () is a football club based in Sevojno, Užice, Serbia. They compete in the Drina Zone League, the fourth tier of the national league system. History The beginnings of the club coincided with the construction of a local copper rolling ...

in the first leg of the club's

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

tie in the Europa League. On 27 August, he scored his second career European goal in the club's second leg tie in the play-off round against Belgian club

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

. It was Lille's final goal in the club's 4–2 victory. The 6–3 aggregate scoreline assured the club progression to the Europa League group stage. On 22 October, Hazard scored a goal in Lille's important 3–0 victory over Italian club

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in the 84th minute after entering as a substitute 10 minutes prior. Upon receiving the ball on the left wing, Hazard proceeded to dash through the midfield dribbling past six Genoa defenders before finishing at the 18-yard box. A month later, Hazard was instrumental in Lille's 5–1 thrashing of Czech club

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

as he was partly responsible for the opening goal, slicing through the defence and delivering a

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

near post, which went off Slavia player

Marek Suchý Marek Suchý (born 29 March 1988) is a Czech professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for FK Mladá Boleslav, Mladá Boleslav and former captain of the Czech Republic national football team, Czech Republic nationa ...

resulting in an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

. On 20 December, Hazard scored his first league goal of the season in the club's 3–0 win over

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, as well as assisting the other two. On 30 January, Hazard scored the only goal in Lille's win over Derby du Nord rivals Lens. Five days later, Hazard and Lille reached an agreement on a contract extension, which will keep the player at the club until 2014. On 11 March, Hazard scored the only goal in Lille's victory over English club

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the first leg of the club's Europa League tie, converting a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

in the 83rd minute. Three weeks later, Hazard provided two assists in the club's 4–1 win over title rivals Montpellier. For his impressive displays in the month of March, Hazard was given the UNFP Player of the Month award. On 29 April, Hazard was nominated for the

award. He was also nominated, for the second consecutive season, for the Young Player of the Year award. On 9 May, Hazard was awarded the Young Player of the Year trophy for the second consecutive season. He became the first player since its inception in 1994 to win the award twice. Hazard lost out on the Player of the Year award, which was awarded to Lyon striker Lisandro López.

2010–11: League double, Ligue 1 Player of the Year and continued individual success

Hazard began the 2010–11 campaign as a starter featuring in Lille's first six league matches of the season, as well as matches in the Europa League. On 29 August, he scored his first goal of the season in a 1–1 draw with

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Hazard later admitted that his first bout of inconsistency affected him stating "The first two months were a bit tough. I wouldn't say that I began doubting my abilities, but I definitely went through a really patchy spell." On 7 October, Belgium national team manager Georges Leekens, citing Hazard's recent spell on the bench at Lille, said that the player needed to work harder, both physically and mentally, to regain his past year's form. The team's assistant coach,

Marc Wilmots Marc Robert Wilmots (born 22 February 1969) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is the sporting director of Standard Liège. During his club career as an attacking midfielder, he won trophies with KV Mechelen, Stand ...

, also stated that Hazard often displayed a lazy mentality while training with the national team. Garcia responded to Leekens comments the following day stating that he thought they were "excessive" and that "Eden is only 19 years old" and can still "make more progress in all areas". Following Belgium's match against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, in which Hazard failed to start or even appear on the substitute's bench, Leekens responded to Garcia's comments declaring that he would stand by his previous comments and that players must think about the team and not themselves. Hazard, himself, later reflected on Leekens and Garcia comments in February 2011 stating "I learned a lot during those few weeks, mentally speaking. And since then things have got better. The national side has had a fair bit to do with that – I get a lot out of being a part of it." Following the international break, he scored his second league goal of the season in a 3–1 win against the league leaders Brest. On 21 November, Hazard assisted both Lille's goals in a 2–1 win over

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. The victory continued the club's domestic unbeaten streak, which led to Lille topping the league table following an emphatic 6–3 victory against

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

on 5 December. At the turn of the calendar year, Hazard scored in the team's first match against amateur club

Forbach Forbach ( , , ; ) is a commune in the French department of Moselle, northeastern French region of Grand Est. It is located on the German border approximately 15 minutes from the center of Saarbrücken, Germany, with which it constitutes a ...

in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

. Lille won the match 3–1. In the team's following match, he assisted goals scored by

Moussa Sow Moussa Sow (born 19 January 1986) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. Born in France, he represented Senegal national football team, Senegal at international level, s ...

and Gervinho in a 2–0 league victory over Nice. On 19 January, Hazard scored the second goal in a 3–0 victory over Nancy. On 4 March, Lille officials confirmed that Hazard had signed a new contract until 2015, a deal which also made him the highest paid player in Ligue 1. In his first match after the news, Hazard scored the opening goal in Lille's 2–1 away win over title rivals Marseille. The goal was scored on a left-footed shot from almost out and was clocked at . On 2 April, Hazard capped his 100th league appearance with Lille by scoring the second goal in a 3–1 win over Caen. The goal tied his career-high for goals in a season and also moved Lille eight points clear at the top of the league table. For his performances in the month of March, Hazard was named the UNFP Player of the Month for the second time in his career. On 19 April, after appearing as a first-half substitute, he scored the opening goal in Lille's 2–0 Coupe de France semi-final victory over Nice. The victory inserted the club into the 2011 Coupe de France final; the club's first appearance in the competition's final since 1955. On 7 May, Hazard converted a game-winning free-kick goal in the team's 1–0 win over Nancy. Three days later, he was nominated for the Ligue 1 Player of the Year award for the second consecutive season. In the 2011 Coupe de France final, Hazard played 89 minutes as Lille defeated PSG 1–0 at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

. A week later, Lille clinched the Ligue 1 title by drawing 2–2 away to PSG, achieving the club's first league championship since the 1953–54 season and the club's first

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

since the 1945–46 season. The domestic cup and league title were the first two honours in Hazard's career. On the day after Lille won the league, Hazard was named the Ligue 1 Player of the Year, becoming the youngest player to win the award. He was also rewarded with a place in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year for the second consecutive season.

2011–12: Final season in France

In Lille's first match of the 2011–12 season against Marseille in the

2011 Trophée des Champions Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature *Eleven (novel), ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmi ...

, Hazard scored the team's second goal, which put Lille up 2–0. Marseille would later come back to win the match 5–4. On 10 September, he scored two goals in a 3–1 away victory against Saint-Étienne. Fours days after, Hazard made his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

debut in a 2–2 group stage draw with Russian club

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

. In Lille's next league match following his Champions League debut, he converted a penalty in a 2–2 draw with Sochaux. Three days after, Hazard scored the equalising goal in a 1–1 draw against Bordeaux. After going over two months without scoring a league goal, on 3 December, Hazard came on as a substitute and scored the match-winning goal in a win over

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

converting a penalty—described as an "

Antonín Panenka Antonín Panenka (born 2 December 1948) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He spent most of his career at Czechoslovak club Bohemians Prague before having spells with various Austrian clubs includi ...

-style chipped penalty". Two days later, Hazard was among several players nominated for

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

for the 2011 calendar year. In Lille's final match before the winter break, Hazard tied his career-high for league goals in a season by scoring the team's third goal in a 4–4 draw with Nice. After scoring the goal, Hazard celebrated by paying tribute to Molami Bokoto, a former Lille youth academy player who had died a day prior. On 3 March, Hazard scored both goals in a 2–2 draw with Auxerre. On 18 March, Hazard scored a goal and assisted two others in a 4–0 win over local rivals Valenciennes. In Lille's next match against

Evian Evian (, ; , stylized as evian) is a French brand that bottles mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. Evian is owned by Danone, a French multinational corporation. In addition to the miner ...

, Hazard converted a penalty and assisted a goal by

Dimitri Payet Dimitri Payet (; born 29 March 1987) is a French professional association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. A set-piece specialist known for his accurate, Curl (football), bending Direct free kick, free kicks, he primari ...

in a 3–0 win. The following week, on 1 April, Hazard converted a first-half penalty and later assisted another Payet goal to cap a 2–1 victory over Toulouse. On 15 April, Hazard marked his 100 consecutive Ligue 1 appearance, which to date, is the longest current run in the French top flight, by scoring a goal and assisting on another in a 4–1 win over Ajaccio. On 29 April, in a vital league fixture against PSG, he converted his ninth penalty of the season to draw the match at 1–1 cancelling out a goal from

Javier Pastore Javier Matías Pastore (; born 20 June 1989) is an Argentine professional association football, footballer who is currently a free agent. An attacking midfielder, Pastore began his club career with Talleres de Córdoba, Talleres and then Club ...

. Hazard later contributed to Lille's game-winning goal after delivering a '' rabona''-style cross into the box, which was laid onto the path of striker Nolan Roux who, subsequently, converted the goal to give Lille a 2–1 win. On 28 April, for the third consecutive season, Hazard was nominated for the Ligue 1 Player of the Year award. Two weeks later, he was awarded the prestigious honour ahead of the likes of

Olivier Giroud Olivier Jonathan Giroud (; born 30 September 1986) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Giroud began his senior club career ...

and Younès Belhanda. After capturing the award, Hazard became the second player in the awards' history after former PSG striker

Pauleta Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes (born 28 April 1973), known as Pauleta (), is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker. During 18 years as a senior he never played in the Primeira Liga, having spent 12 of those cam ...

to achieve the honour in consecutive seasons. He was also included in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year for the third straight season. On 20 May, Hazard appeared in his final match as a Lille player against Nancy, the club he had made his professional debut against. In the match, Hazard scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 4–1 win.

Chelsea

2012–13: Debut season and first trophy

On 4 June 2012,

club Chelsea confirmed that it had agreed terms with Lille for the transfer of Hazard. He agreed personal terms with the club and passed a medical examination. The transfer fee was reported to be priced at £32 million. Upon signing, Hazard told the club's official website "I'm delighted to finally arrive here. It's a wonderful club and I can't wait to get started." On 12 August, Hazard made his debut for Chelsea in the

2012 FA Community Shield The 2012 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 90th FA Community Shield, a Association football, football match played on 12 August 2012 between the winners of the previ ...

against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, which ended in a 3–2 defeat at

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

. A week later, he made his league debut against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

at the

DW Stadium The Brick Community Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Robin Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is used by Wigan Warriors rugby league club and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic association football, football club. The stadium is ...

. In the contest, Hazard provided the assist for

Branislav Ivanović Branislav Ivanović ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Ивановић, ; born 22 February 1984) is a Serbian former professional Association football, footballer. A versatile defender, Ivanović played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back ...

's opening goal and, minutes later, won a penalty, which

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...

converted, earning his side a 2–0 victory. Hazard made his home debut in the team's next fixture, against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

on 22 August, in which he won another penalty from which Lampard converted. Hazard also assisted goals by

Gary Cahill Gary James Cahill (born 19 December 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Cahill began his career playing for the AFC Dronfield youth system in Derbyshire. In 2000, he joined the Aston Villa Academy an ...

and Branislav Ivanović as Chelsea won 4–2 at home. Three days later, Hazard scored his first goal as a Chelsea player in a league match against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

after scoring a penalty. Chelsea won the match 2–0. Hazard made his Champions League debut for Chelsea in the team's opening group stage game against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

on 19 September 2012. During December, he scored in back-to-back games, in a 5–1 away victory over

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in the

, and an 8–0 league win against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. In January 2013, Hazard scored a goal with his left-foot from 25 yards in Chelsea's 4–0 win over

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

, as Chelsea inflicted the first home defeat of the season on Stoke. He scored again in the following game, with an impressive strike from the edge of the area in a 2–2 draw at home to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. On 23 January 2013, he was sent off in the League Cup semi-final second leg game against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

for kicking a ball out from underneath a

ball boy Ball boys and ball girls, also known as ball kids, are individuals, usually human youths, but sometimes dogs, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, bandy, cricket, tenn ...

who was lying on it to waste time. Chelsea went on to lose the tie 2–0. Thereafter, he told Chelsea TV that he "apologised and the boy apologised" to each other. It was later revealed that the 17-year-old ball boy had planned before the game to deliberately waste time. On 9 February, he scored on his return from suspension in a 4–1 win at home against Wigan Athletic. On 21 February 2013, Hazard came on as a substitute against

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

and scored an individual goal in stoppage time, to send Chelsea through to the last 16 on a 2–1 aggregate score. Again Hazard came off the bench to make an impact for Chelsea, scoring a goal and providing an assist to Ramires, as the team came back 2–0 down to salvage a 2–2 draw against Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the

2012–13 FA Cup The 2012–13 FA Cup was the 132nd season of the FA Cup, the main domestic cup competition in English football, and the oldest football knock-out competition in the world. It was sponsored by Budweiser for a second consecutive season, thus the ...

on 10 March, setting up a replay. On 17 March, Hazard put in a

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

performance in a 2–0 home victory over

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, assisting Lampard's 200th Chelsea goal, then scoring a solo goal. On 11 May, at Villa Park, Hazard was the provider of Lampard's brace against Aston Villa, which enabled Lampard to break Bobby Tambling's all-time goal scoring record for Chelsea. However an injury picked up in the same game ruled him out of the Europa League final. Hazard ended his debut campaign at Chelsea with 13 goals in all competitions.

2013–2015: Premier League winner and individual success

Eden Hazard Chelsea vs AS-Roma 10AUG2013

One of Chelsea's first games of the season was against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

in the 2013 UEFA Super Cup, in which Hazard played a vital role in the buildup to the first goal and scored the second, but went on to an eventual 5–4 defeat in the penalty shoot-out. In October 2013, Hazard scored the match-winning goal in a 3–1 away win over

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

in the Premier League, before scoring twice and assisting

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian Association football, football administrator and former Football player, player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation. He is often regarded as one of the ...

's first Chelsea goal in a 4–1 win over of

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

in the same competition. Hazard netted his fifth goal of the season against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win. In October, Hazard was part of the 23-man shortlist of players nominated for the prestigious

FIFA Ballon d'Or The FIFA Ballon d'Or ("Golden Ball") was an annual association football award presented to the world's best men's player from 2010 to 2015. Awarded jointly by FIFA and ''France Football'', the prize was a merger of the FIFA World Player of the Y ...

, awarded to the player who is voted the men's world footballer of the year. On 9 November 2013, Hazard created Chelsea's first goal against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

, which was scored by Eto'o. Later in the match Chelsea went 2–1 down, but Hazard scored a last minute penalty to clinch a point for his team. On 4 December, Hazard scored a brace in a 4–3 away victory over

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, with coach

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

claiming that Hazard delivered his best performance of the season. Sunderland manager

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer who is the manager of K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his career with s ...

also praised Hazard for his individual impact on the game, saying he was "outstanding. He was unplayable, as a manager I haven't come up against anyone like that." After Hazard maintained his excellent form in Chelsea's 1–0 away victory over Manchester City on 3 February 2014, Mourinho declared Hazard as the best young footballer in the world. Hazard scored his first Premier League hat-trick against Newcastle United at home on 8 February. On 27 April 2014, Hazard won the

award and finished as the runner-up to

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...

for the

award for his fine attacking performances under José Mourinho. After Chelsea's Champions League exit against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, Hazard claimed that Chelsea are only set up to counter-attack. Mourinho responded by saying that Hazard "is not so mentally ready" to help his defence, blaming him for the first goal scored by the opponents. In May, Hazard was voted Chelsea's Player of the Year in his second season at the club. On 5 October 2014, he won a penalty against Arsenal after being fouled by

Laurent Koscielny Laurent Koscielny (born 10 September 1985) is a French former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He is currently the sporting director of Ligue 2 club Lorient. Born in Tulle, Koscielny began his football career playing for a ho ...

, and then converted it himself past

Wojciech Szczęsny Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny (; born 18 April 1990) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Barcelona. After starting his club career at Legia Warsaw, Szczęsny signed for Arsenal in January 2006, where he made his ...

to open a 2–0 victory which made Chelsea the last unbeaten team in the league. In doing so, he maintained his 100% penalty record out of 16 penalties. He also became the only player in Europe who has taken more than 15 penalties and scored all of them. His first goals of the 2014–15 Champions League campaign came on 21 October, scoring from the penalty-spot and from open play in a 6–0 home win over

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

. On 5 November, away to the Slovene team, he earned an 85th-minute penalty but had it saved by

Jasmin Handanović Jasmin Handanović (born 28 January 1978) is a Slovenian retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the oldest player to ever play in the Slovenian top division. Club career In July 2010, Handanović was signed by Empoli, replacing D ...

in a 1–1 draw. Hazard opened the scoring in Chelsea's 2–0 win over Hull on 13 December, with the goal being only the second headed one of his entire career. The header came as a surprised for many, even Mourinho, who stated: "That he scored in the air, I was surprised. He jumps a lot but normally he closes his eyes. So I was surprised, but very good goal." Hazard signed a new five-and-a-half-year contract with Chelsea on 12 February 2015. After signing, Hazard said: "I've signed a new contract and I'm very happy because I'm playing for one of the best clubs in the world." He played in the club's 2–0 win over Tottenham on 1 March in the 2015 League Cup final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. As a result of Hazard's impressive performances throughout the 2014–15 season, his manager declared him "one of the top three players in the world". On 26 April, Hazard was recognised as the best player of the season among his peers, winning the PFA Players' Player of the Year award. A week later, he scored the only goal as Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace to win their first Premier League title since 2010. He won a penalty after being fouled by

James McArthur James McFarlane McArthur (born 7 October 1987) is a Scottish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central midfielder. McArthur started his career at Hamilton Academical F.C., Hamil ...

, and took it himself, heading in the rebound after it was saved by

Julián Speroni Julián Maria Speroni (; born 18 May 1979) is an Argentine former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Having started his career at Club Atlético Platense, Platense, he p ...

. On 26 May, Hazard was voted as Chelsea's Player of the Year for the second year in a row. There are only four other players that have done it in the past;

Juan Mata Juan Manuel Mata García (born 28 April 1988) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for A-League Men club Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Western Sydney Wanderers. He primarily plays as an attacking ...

, Frank Lampard,

Ray Wilkins Raymond Colin Wilkins (14 September 1956 – 4 April 2018) was an English football player and coach. Born into a footballing family with his father and three brothers involved in the game, Wilkins played as a midfielder. He began his career a ...

, and

John Hollins John William Hollins (16 July 1946 – 14 June 2023) was an English football player and manager. He initially played as a midfielder, before becoming an effective full-back later in his career. Hollins played in the Football League, predomina ...

2015–16: Year of scrutiny

Hazard endured a difficult start to the 2015–16 season, missing a penalty in the Champions League group stage against

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

. On 27 October, in the fourth round of the League Cup away to Stoke, Hazard was the only player to miss in Chelsea's penalty shootout elimination, his attempt being saved by Jack Butland. Hazard endured a 2,358-minute scoreless run across 30 matches until 31 January 2016, when he scored from the penalty spot, his 50th goal for Chelsea in all competitions, in a 5–1 win over

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

in the fourth round of the

. In February, Hazard was scrutinised when he said it would "be difficult to say no" to a move to Paris Saint-Germain. He remained scoreless in the league until 23 April, when he recorded two goals in a 4–1 victory away to

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

; after the result, interim manager

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

insisted that Hazard would remain at Chelsea by next season. For the second consecutive campaign, Hazard scored the goal that decided the Premier League; he came on as a substitute at home to Tottenham on 2 May, and scored an equaliser as Chelsea came from 2–0 down at half-time to draw. The result meant

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

won the title at Tottenham's expense. On 11 May 2016, Hazard scored his fourth and final league goal of the season against Liverpool, although Chelsea were unable to hold on to the lead, with fellow countryman Christian Benteke scoring in extra time as the match finished in a 1–1 draw.

2016–2018: Return to form, Premier League winner and first FA Cup win

On 15 August 2016, in Chelsea's opening Premier League match of the season, Hazard scored a penalty in a 2–1 win over West Ham United. Hazard recorded a total of 81 touches throughout the game, and his performance earned him the man of the match award. On 27 August, Hazard contributed another man of the match display in the 3–0 victory over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, scoring the opener in the ninth minute. After voting ended on 5 September, Hazard received the most votes from the public poll, 41%, for the

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 1 ...

award although

Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea. Sterling began his career at Queens Park Rangers F.C., Que ...

was later named the Player of the Month by a Premier League panel. On 15 October 2016, Hazard, along with

Diego Costa Diego da Silva Costa (, ; born 7 October 1988) is a professional Association football, footballer who most recently played as a Striker (association football), striker for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Grêmio FBPA, Grêmio. Costa be ...

dedicated their goals to Willian, whose mother had died earlier that week, in the 3–0 victory over the champions, Leicester City. On 23 October, he scored his fourth goal of the season in a 4–0 win over former Chelsea manager, José Mourinho's Manchester United, equalling the number of league goals he managed in the previous season. Hazard continued his excellent form, scoring the first goal and assisting the second in Chelsea's 2–0 win over Southampton on 30 October. This marked the first time that he had scored in three consecutive Premier League games. His run of form continued into the next match as he scored two goals and assisted another in Chelsea's 5–0 home win against Everton on 5 November. Hazard's performance against Everton earned him another man of the match award, his third in a row in the Premier League. On 18 November, Hazard was named the Premier League Player of the Month for October. Hazard led Chelsea to their twelfth consecutive league victory on 26 December 2016 in a 3–0 victory over Bournemouth, which was a new club record. He also converted a penalty for his 50th Premier League goal, making him the sixth Chelsea player to achieve this feat. On 20 April 2017, Hazard was named in the

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

for the fourth time in his five seasons at Chelsea. Two days later, he scored after coming on as a substitute in Chelsea's 4–2

semi-final victory over rivals

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

at Wembley Stadium. At the beginning of the summer of 2017, Hazard suffered an ankle injury in training during international duty. The injury ruled him out for six to eight weeks; missing the entire preseason and the Premier League opener. On 25 August, Hazard returned to action, playing 75 minutes for the Chelsea U23 side. On 28 October, Hazard scored his first league goal of the season in a 1–0 win against Bournemouth in the Premier League. On 3 January 2018, Hazard scored in a 2–2 draw with

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Arsenal. Two goals against

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

on 20 January made it 100 league goals in his career. Hazard's double helped Chelsea to a 4–0 win at

Falmer Stadium Falmer Stadium, currently known as the American Express Stadium for sponsorship reasons and more commonly referred to as the Amex, is a association football, football stadium in Falmer, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. With a capacity o ...

. On 12 February, Hazard scored a double in a 3–0 win over West Bromwich Albion. In the 2018 FA Cup final on 19 May, Hazard won a penalty which he took and scored in the 22nd minute, and this proved to be the winning goal as Chelsea beat Manchester United 1–0.

2018–19: Final season in England

Hazard scored on his first start of the 2018–19 season, converting a penalty in a 2–1 win against Newcastle United on 26 August 2018. He came off the bench to give Chelsea a 2–1 win over Liverpool in the third round of the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

at Anfield on 26 September, which was his sixth goal in seven appearances to start the season. In the next fixture, against Liverpool in the Premier League, he made it seven goals in eight games, opening the scoring in a 1–1 draw at home. His five league goals in September 2018, including goals against Bournemouth, Cardiff and Liverpool, led to him winning the Premier League Player of the Month. On 16 December, Hazard scored and assisted a goal for

Pedro Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meanin ...

as Chelsea won 2–1 away to Brighton & Hove Albion in the league, before coming off the bench to send Chelsea through to the EFL Cup semi-final at the expense of Bournemouth three days later. He scored both goals in a 2–1 away win against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

on 26 December, the first of which was his 100th Chelsea and 150th club career goal. On 8 April 2019, Hazard scored a solo goal against West Ham United which would be voted as Premier League Goal of the Month for April. On 9 May 2019, Hazard scored the decisive penalty in a 4–3 shootout win over

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

at home to send Chelsea to the Europa League final. His tally of 15 assists for the

2018–19 Premier League The 2018–19 Premier League was the 27th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 120th season of top-flight English football overall. The season ...

season saw him win the competition's Playmaker of the Season award. On 29 May, Chelsea won the 2018–19 Europa League with a 4–1 win over Arsenal in the final, in which Hazard scored twice, also assisting Pedro's goal. After the match, Hazard expressed his desire to leave Chelsea after seven years at the club, stating that he "want da new challenge". He was included in the ESM Team of the Season for his performances in the 2018–19 season, as well as the FIFA FIFPRO Men's World 11 for 2018 and 2019. He also won the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award as well as every individual Chelsea award, the only player in the club's history to do so.

Real Madrid

2019–2021: Fitness struggles and decline in form

On 7 June 2019,

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club Real Madrid announced on their website that Hazard would be signing for them for the 2019–20 season. He signed a contract until 30 June 2024 for a reported fee of €100 million, which could rise to €146.1 million due to additional fees, on a deal worth £400,000 per week. Hazard became Madrid's most expensive player after

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right winger, most notably for Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, and the Wales national ...

, who was signed for €101 million in 2013, and, depending on certain variables being met, the club's most expensive player in its history. Hazard was formally unveiled in front of 50,000 fans on 13 June 2019 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Upon signing with Madrid, Hazard said, "I've dreamt about this since I was little, I always supported Real Madrid" and described it as "a true honour". He listed manager Zinedine Zidane as a defining factor in making the move, as he had always been an admirer of him. Having arrived at training camp out of shape, Hazard made his debut on 14 September 2019, coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 home victory over Levante in the

2019–20 La Liga The 2019–20 La Liga season, also known as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, was the 89th since its establishment. The season began on 16 August 2019 and was originally scheduled to conclude on 24 May 2020. Barcelona were the two-time ...

. On 5 October, he scored his first competitive goal for Los Blancos, right before half time against

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

in his first home league start. In the second half, he also got his first assist which was to Modrić in an eventual 4–2 victory. Despite a slow start to life in the Spanish capital, Hazard eventually rediscovered his form, completing 38 dribbles and giving two assists in six matches, but this streak, which began in the 5–0 victory over

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popu ...

on 30 October, ended when he suffered a microfracture to his right ankle on 26 November in the Champions League group stage game against Paris Saint-Germain after a challenge by Thomas Meunier. Hazard went on to miss 16 Madrid matches across four competitions, which included the first

El Clásico El Clásico (in Spanish, also in lowercase letters; ) or El Clàssic (in Catalan, ), both meaning "The Classic", is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions he ...

of the season, the

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

victory in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

and the entire

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

campaign which ended with a quarter-final exit to Sociedad. At the end of the season he had made 16 league appearances, scoring one goal and assisting six, as Madrid won the 2019–20 La Liga. On 31 October 2020, Hazard scored his first club goal in over a year, which was also his first goal of the 2020–21 season in Madrid's 4–1 home league win over

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

. On 25 November, he scored his first Champions League goal with Madrid in a 2–0 away win against Inter Milan. On 23 January 2021, Hazard scored in a 4–1 away win at Alavés. On 5 May 2021, Hazard apologised following criticism for laughing with former teammates Kurt Zouma and

Édouard Mendy Édouard Osoque Mendy (born 1 March 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli. Born in France, he plays for the Senegal national team. Starting his career in his native France, Mendy pla ...

after Real Madrid's 3–1 aggregate defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final. Four days later, he scored his first goal in over three months, a backheel goal against

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

in the sixth minute of stoppage time, which temporarily kept Madrid in the title race.

2021–2023: Continued struggle, departure, and retirement

In the 2021–22 season, Hazard was playing respectably well early in the season, but faced competition from

Vinícius Júnior Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior (; born 12 July 2000), commonly known as Vinícius Júnior or Vini Jr., is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for La Liga ...

, causing him to be pushed to the periphery of

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti (; born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Brazil national team. Nicknamed "Carletto" in Italy and "Don Carlo" in Spain, he is regarded as one of the greatest ...

's main starting eleven. Hazard's relationship with Ancelotti would sour later on in the season. Hazard then suffered from a minor knock and

gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea, is an inflammation of the Human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of ...

. On 20 January 2022, Hazard scored his first goal of the season, a 115th–minute winner against

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

to send Real Madrid to the quarter–finals of the

. On 25 March, Real Madrid announced that he would undergo surgery to remove the osteosynthesis plate in his right fibula. On 30 April, Hazard won his second La Liga title with Real Madrid following a 4–0 home win against Espanyol. On 28 May, he won his first Champions League title after Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1–0 in the

; he remained an unused substitute throughout the match. At the start of the 2022–23 season, Hazard was motivated to turn things around, as his previous seasons at Madrid were unconvincing. On 6 September 2022, Hazard assisted

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder and Captain (association football), captains both La Liga club Real Madrid and the Croatia national football team, Cro ...

and later scored his 200th career goal in his first Champions League game of the season in a 3–0 away victory against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

. Despite the promising start to the campaign, it was followed by subpar performances against the likes of

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

, or even fourth-tier Cacereño in the

, and Hazard was now definitely confined to the bench; the goal against Celtic would prove to be his last career goal. In March 2023, Hazard revealed that his relationship with Ancelotti has "completely broken down," and that the two "don't talk to each other." On 3 June, Hazard and Real Madrid reached a mutual agreement to terminate his contract at the end of the season, ending his time at the club after four years. His run saw him score just 7 goals and assist only 12 times in 76 appearances across all competitions throughout his time at the Spanish capital, with many labelling him as "the greatest flop in Real Madrid history" and "one of the worst transfers ever." On 10 October 2023, three months after his departure from Madrid, Hazard announced his decision to retire from professional football at age 32.

International career

2006–2009: Youth career

Hazard played for various Belgian national youth teams, such as the under-17 and under-19 teams. With the under-17 team, he was a regular in the team making 17 appearances and scoring two goals. He played with the team in the

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup (, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League Ligat ha'Al, Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division Liga Leumit. Both of the ...

, a yearly international youth tournament held in Austria and, also, played in the

2007 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship 2007 Final Tournament was held in Belgium from 2 to 13 May 2007. Top-five teams (two best places from each group plus winner of playoff between third-placed teams) qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007 ...

, which Belgium hosted. In the tournament, Hazard scored his only goal in the team's opening match against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

converting a penalty in a 2–2 draw. The match was a homecoming for Hazard, as it was played in Tubize, where he spent part of his youth career. Throughout the tournament, Hazard impressed media and coaches, which led to many in Belgium comparing him to Belgian football legend

Enzo Scifo Vincenzo "Enzo" Daniele Scifo (; born 19 February 1966) is a retired Belgian football midfielder. He has also managed the Belgium national under-21 football team and several Belgian club sides. He played for clubs in Belgium, France and Italy, w ...

. Belgium suffered elimination in the semi-finals of the competition, losing to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

7–6 on penalties. Belgium were minutes away from a victory, courtesy of an own goal from David Rochela, which Hazard was particularly instrumental in, however Barcelona striker

Bojan Krkić Bojan Krkić Pérez (; sr-Cyrl, Бојан Кркић Перез, ; born 28 August 1990), also known as simply Bojan, is a Spanish former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward ...

equalised for his nation to send the match into extra time. Due to finishing in third place at the tournament, Belgium qualified for the

2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007, the twelfth edition of the tournament, was held in South Korea between 18 August and 9 September 2007. For this event, the number of teams had been expanded from 16 to 24, with the top two of each group and the four ...

, held in South Korea. Hazard was selected to participate and played in all three group stage matches, where Belgium were eliminated. After playing at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in August and September 2007, Hazard began earning call-ups to the under-19 team the following month in October. His first appearance came in a 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification match against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

coming on as a substitute in a 4–0 victory. He subsequently played in the next two group stage matches against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Belgium lost both matches. The negative results eliminated the country from the tournament. Due to being an underage player the previous year, Hazard was eligible for the under-19 team for the 2008–09 season. Due to his growing participation with Lille's first team, Hazard was only allowed to play in 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification matches by his club and, as a result, missed the 2008 edition of the

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of ...

, which was held during Lille's preseason. On 7 October 2008, Hazard scored his first under-19 goal in the team's 5–0 victory over

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. Three days later, he scored a double in a 2–2 draw with

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. In the elite qualification round, Hazard led the team in goals scoring three. In the opening match against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, he scored the lone goal. In the next match, Hazard was influential in the team's 5–0 win over

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

scoring a goal and assisting on two others. In the team's final match, they faced

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Belgium needed an outright victory to reach the 2009 European Under-19 Championship, but were eliminated from qualifying after drawing 1–1, despite Hazard opening the scoring for Belgium in the 21st minute.

2009–2011: Early international career and first major tournaments

On 18 November 2008, Hazard was called up to the Belgium senior team, for the first time, by manager René Vandereycken for the team's match against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. Prior to making his national team debut with Belgium, Hazard was courted by

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...

officials who sought the player to play for the France national team as he had become eligible for French citizenship. Hazard did not respond to the courtship and later stated "Because of my presence in France for seven years, I feel 99% Belgian and 1% French, but the idea of French citizenship has never crossed my mind." Hazard made his highly anticipated debut for Belgium in the match against Luxembourg coming on as a substitute in the 67th minute for

Wesley Sonck Wesley Sonck (born 9 August 1978) is a Belgian professional association football, football manager and former player who manages the Belgium national under-19 football team, Belgium U19 national team. He played as a striker (association football ...

. On his debut, Hazard became the eighth youngest international player in Belgian football history, at 17 years and 316 days. On 12 August 2009, after three consecutive substitute appearances with the team, he made his first start under coach Franky Vercauteren in the team's 3–1 friendly loss to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Following the resignation of Vercauteren, he was replaced with manager

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former association football, football player and coach. He is currently the manager of the Curaçao national football team. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a ...

. Under Advocaat, Hazard became a starter in the team and, on 14 November 2009, played a full match for the first time in his international career. In the match, which was played against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, Hazard assisted two goals in a 3–0 win. In May 2010, Advocaat was replaced as manager by Georges Leekens. After featuring as a starter in Leekens first three matches in charge, Hazard began appearing as a substitute for Belgium during the 2010–11 season. Leekens justified his benching of Hazard citing the players' domestic performance, which had been underwhelming at the time, while also admitting that Hazard displayed a lack of desire in training with the national team and often neglected his defensive duties during international matches. After appearing as a substitute in two straight matches, Hazard returned to the starting lineup for the team's November 2010 friendly against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In the match, which Belgium won 2–0, Hazard assisted the team's opening goal scored by

Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. Lukaku began h ...

. After featuring as a starter in the team's 1–1 draw with

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in February 2011, Hazard was relegated back to the substitute's bench for the team's important March 2011

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held across Europe between 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 Febru ...

matches as Leekens preferred

Nacer Chadli Nacer Chadli (; born 2 August 1989) is a Belgian professional association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger for Belgian Division 1 club Standard Liège, Standard de Liège 16. Chadli began his career in th ...

and Mousa Dembélé on the wings. Following the matches, French media began questioning why Hazard was struggling to be appreciated in his home country, while, at the same time, was being praised in France. Marc Wilmots, assistant coach of the national team, responded to the media reports stating "Some people only see Eden's qualities" and "the French press are sometimes blinded by his moments of magic". In Belgium's next competitive match against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

on 3 June 2011, Hazard started the match, but was substituted out after 60 minutes. Disappointed with his performance and substitution, the midfielder retired to the locker room and was later spotted on television outside the stadium with his family eating a

hamburger A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...

while the match was still ongoing. Following the episode, which has become known as ''Burgergate'' in Belgium, Hazard apologised for the defection, while Leekens attributed Hazard's response to the substitution as "a young player making a mistake". On 4 August, Leekens announced that Hazard would be disciplined for his actions during the Turkey match and, as a result, would miss the team's 10 August friendly against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, as well as the team's Euro qualifying return match against Azerbaijan on 2 September and friendly against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

four days later. On 9 August, Hazard's management group issued a press release to the Belgian media. The release detailed Hazard's actions during the Turkey match, criticised the player's three-match suspension, as well as questioned Leekens constant criticism of Hazard. On 25 August, it was announced that Leekens had lifted Hazard's suspension and the midfielder was subsequently named in the team to play the September fixtures. Leekens decided to lift the suspension after having a meeting with Hazard that was organised by the player's agent. On 7 October 2011, nearly three years after his debut, Hazard scored his first international goal against Kazakhstan in a 4–1 victory. The victory inserted Belgium into second-place position in its group in qualifying for

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

with the team needing a victory over

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

on 11 October to secure a place in the qualifying play-offs. In the match against Germany, Hazard played the entire match as Belgium failed to earn a place at the tournament, losing 3–1 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

2014–2022: Belgium's Golden Generation and assuming the captaincy

Hazard made nine appearances in Belgium's successful

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

campaign, scoring twice. The first of these came on 22 March against

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

at the

Philip II Arena Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularized the n ...

, converting a penalty to conclude a 2–0 win after being fouled by

Aleksandar Lazevski Aleksandar Lazevski (; born 21 January 1988) is a professional footballer who plays for OFK Vršac. Born in Serbia, he represented the Macedonian national team. Club career Lazevski has passed Partizan's youth academy after which he was transf ...

. Three days later in the reverse fixture, he beat two defenders before scoring the only goal of the game. On 13 May 2014, Hazard was named in Belgium's squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. He assisted

Dries Mertens Dries "Ciro" Mertens (; born 6 May 1987) is a free agent Belgian professional Association football, footballer who last played as a Forward (association football), forward or Winger (association football), winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray ...

' winning goal in the team's first game of the tournament, a 2–1 win against

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

. In Belgium's second match, he assisted

Divock Origi Divock Okoth Origi (born 18 April 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan. Following 8 July 2024, he is no longer part of their first team squad, and currently trains with and is listed in the squad ...

's 88th-minute goal, giving the team a 1–0 win over Russia and qualifying them for the

knockout stage A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. Belgium reached the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. On 7 June 2015, due to the suspension of regular skipper

Vincent Kompany Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He is currently the head coach of ...

, Hazard captained Belgium for the first time in a friendly against France at the Stade de France, scoring a penalty for Belgium's final goal in a 4–3 victory. He won another penalty in a Euro 2016 qualifying match on 3 September when fouled by

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Ognjen Vranješ Ognjen Vranješ (; born 24 October 1989) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. Vranješ started his professional career at Borac Banja Luka, before joining Red Star Belgrade in 2009. He was sent on loan to Napredak ...

, and converted it past his Chelsea clubmate Asmir Begović to conclude Belgium's 3–1 comeback victory. Three days later, he finished Mertens' cross with four minutes remaining, for the only goal in an away win over

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. On 10 October, Hazard scored a spot-kick again after Óscar Sonejee's handball, in a 4–1 win over

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

which sealed Belgium's qualification to the continental championship for the first time since co-hosting

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

. Due to the absence of Kompany, Hazard was named captain of Belgium for

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

. He scored a solo goal against Hungary in the last 16, before Belgium were eliminated by

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in the quarter-finals. Alongside Aaron Ramsey, he finished as the top assist provider of the tournament with four assists. Eden Hazard 2018

Hazard was appointed captain of Belgium for the

in Russia. In the first game against

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, he assisted the third goal of the match scored by Lukaku as Belgium won 3–0. He then scored twice (which included a penalty) in their second group stage victory against

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. His penalty goal in the 6th minute was the team's second quickest goal in the history of the tournament. Hazard was also selected as man of the match after his impressive performance against Tunisia. In the final group match, Hazard did not play in Belgium's 1–0 victory over England as he, together with eight other starters in the previous two matches, were rested by

Roberto Martínez Roberto Martínez Montoliu (; born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team. Martínez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Re ...

. In Belgium's 3–2 victory over

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the last 16, Hazard was instrumental in mounting a comeback from a two-goal deficit as Belgium became the first team in 48 years to come back from 0–2 down to win a World Cup knockout match. For his second consecutive game, Hazard was once again voted man of the match. Hazard was again in scintillating form in the quarter-finals as he helped lead Belgium to its second World Cup semi-final in their history with a 2–1 victory over five-time champions

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. In that game, Hazard set a World Cup record for successful dribbles completed in any World Cup game since 1966, with a 100% success rate in ten dribbles. In the semi-finals, which was a tight game, Belgium were defeated by eventual champions France 1–0 courtesy of Frenchman Samuel Umtiti's header and France's subsequent deep defence. On 14 July, Hazard's third man of the match performance ensured victory for Belgium with his goal in the 82nd minute in a 2–0 victory against

in their third-place play-off, his nation's best ever World Cup finish. At the end of the 2018 World Cup, the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) selected Hazard as the second best player of the tournament, awarding him the Silver Ball. In addition to his dribbling he scored three goals and provided two assists, as well as being selected as man of the match in three matches – more than any other player. Hazard made his 100th cap for Belgium during the Euro 2020 qualifiers in a 2–0 away win against Cyprus in March 2019, scoring the second goal in that match. Hazard captained Belgium to become the first team to qualify for the tournament. On 17 May 2021, he was selected to the Belgium squad for Euro 2020. Hazard featured in three out of Belgium's five games during the tournament, in which he provided an assist for

Kevin De Bruyne Kevin De Bruyne (; born 28 June 1991) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and captains the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. After spending mos ...

to score the winning goal against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Due to later injury, he could not play in the quarter-final match and witnessed the team being ousted by

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

2022: Retirement

Hazard was selected for Belgium's 2022 World Cup qualification campaign, assisting once in a 5–2 win against

, and scoring in a 3–0 victory over the Czech Republic. He was later praised by Belgium manager Roberto Martínez. On 7 December 2022, following Belgium's group stage exit at the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, Hazard announced his retirement from the national team at the age of 31.

Player profile

Style of play

Hazard primarily played as either an

or a winger and has been credited as being "possibly the outstanding talent in Europe right now". At Lille, under former manager Rudi Garcia, Hazard often played in the latter role in the team's 4–3–3 formation and regularly switched flanks because he could use both feet. Following the departures of fellow

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

Yohan Cabaye Yohan Cabaye (; born 14 January 1986) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Cabaye began his football career playing for hometown club US Tourcoing FC, US Tourcoing at the age of six. Afte ...

and Gervinho in 2011, during the 2011–12 season, Garcia played Hazard in a creative role as a central attacking midfielder, while also allowing the player to roam back onto the wing if necessary. Two of Hazard's most common exemplary traits were his pace and technical ability, which have been described as "astonishing" and "mesmerizing". His speed, acceleration, and dribbling skills, combined with his creativity, as well as his flair, balance, agility, and low centre of gravity, courtesy of his diminutive stature (1.73 m/5 feet 8 inches), allowed him to retain possession, take on defenders, and beat opponents in one on one situations. At Chelsea, Hazard matured into a world class player and was primarily used as a left midfielder, a position which enabled him to cut into the centre and strike on goal with his stronger right foot. His development into one of the world's best players was highlighted in the 2014–15 season; during this season he won multiple awards and received praise from pundits and manager alike. Manager José Mourinho praised Hazard, saying that "He is already a top player and his evolution has been fantastic. He is still very young and he can become the best player in the world." Hazard's former teammate and Lille captain

Rio Mavuba Rio Antonio Zoba Mavuba (born 8 March 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his professional career with Bordeaux and Lille, winning the 2011 national championship with the latter. A Fr ...

described Hazard as "a great player, with an immense talent. He's actually not that big, but he's so fast. He's also very difficult to dispossess and his finishing is top notch." Hazard's frequent

goal celebration In sports, a goal celebration is the practice of celebrating the scoring of a goal. The celebration is normally performed by the goalscorer, and may involve their teammates, the manager or coaching staff or the supporters of the team. Whilst ...

saw him sliding on his knees; in 2018 he began staying on his feet. Although Hazard's favoured role was as a left winger, he was a versatile

attacker {{For, the term "attacker" in computer security, Hacker (computer security), Adversary (cryptography), Adversary (online algorithm) In some team sports, an attacker is a specific type of player, usually involved in aggressive play. Heavy attacker ...

, and was also deployed as a second striker, as a lone striker, or even as a false-9 on occasion throughout his career. Beyond his speed, creativity, technical skills, and offensive qualities, he was also an accurate

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

and free kick taker.

Reception

Hazard is regarded as one of the greatest Belgian players of all time. His pace, coupled with his finishing and ability to retain possession, led to his former coach Claude Puel dubbing him "little Messi", in reference to

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

. Puel's sentiments were later echoed by former

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

manager and media personality

Rolland Courbis Rolland Courbis (; born 12 August 1953) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a defender. Career Born in Marseille, Courbis played for Marseille, Ajaccio, Olympiacos, Sochaux, Monaco and Toulon. He has coa ...

who commented, "At times it looks to me like Lionel Messi on the right-hand side." His vision, described as being the trait he has improved on the most, coupled with his passing, has also allowed him to develop into an effective playmaker and assist provider, which in turn, combined with his finishing ability, enabled him to both score and create goals. In Belgium, Hazard's talent and similar ascension up the country's football hierarchy has led to comparisons to former Belgian international Enzo Scifo. Both players share the same birthplace and Scifo himself spent time with Hazard while he was in Tubize admitting, "Eden, you know, I've coached in Tubize. During the week, I took care of the young people at least once, and he, in those days, I immediately saw he had a secure future." Former Chelsea player

Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football executive, Manager (association football), manager, and former Association football, footballer who played predominantly as a Forward (association football), forward. He is currently v ...

likened Hazard to himself in 2019, a view which the Belgian's former club teammate Frank Lampard had previously expressed in 2013. However, despite the positive opinions, Hazard has endured criticism from some. In 2010, former Belgium national team manager Georges Leekens questioned Hazard's work-rate. Lille youth academy director Jean-Michel Vandamme countered both managers' criticism by arguing that Hazard simply possesses an intellectual honesty that is out of the ordinary and unexpected of today's footballer declaring, "He is a real competitor, not a cheat, nor a moaner, because you don't hear him complaining when he gets foul."

Outside football

Personal life

Hazard married Natacha Van Honacker in 2012. They have five sons.

Sponsorship

In 2012, Hazard signed a sponsorship deal with sportswear and equipment supplier,

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

. He appeared in an advert for the Nike Green Speed II alongside

Mario Götze Mario Götze (; born 3 June 1992) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays for club Eintracht Frankfurt. Although his favoured position is that of an attacking or central midfielder, he has also played as a Winger (f ...

Theo Walcott Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He represented England at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012 and won 47 caps, scoring eight goals. Walcott currently appears as a cl ...

, Raheem Sterling,

Christian Eriksen Christian Dannemann Eriksen (; born 14 February 1992) is a Danish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the Denmark national football team, ...

and Stephan El Shaarawy in November 2012. Hazard features on the cover of

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

' ''FIFA'' video game ''

FIFA 15 ''FIFA 15'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released on 23 September 2014 in North America, 25 September in Europe and Australia and 26 September in the ...

'' in Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands and France, along with Lionel Messi. Hazard,

Marco Reus Marco Reus (; born 31 May 1989) is a German professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. Reus spent his youth career at Borussia Dortmund, prior to l ...

James Rodríguez James David Rodríguez Rubio (born 12 July 1991) is a Colombian professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or Winger (association football), winger for Liga MX club Club León, León and Captain (associ ...

and Anthony Martial were announced as the official ambassadors of the game and were the finalists to be the new face of ''

FIFA 17 ''FIFA 17'' is a football simulation video game developed and published by Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., A ...

''. Hazard was named the new face of the franchise in 2019 – taking over from Cristiano Ronaldo – appearing as the cover star of the regular edition of ''

FIFA 20 ''FIFA 20'' is a football simulation video game published by Electronic Arts as part of the ''FIFA'' series. It is the 27th installment in the series and was released on 27 September 2019 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nint ...

''. Since March 2016, Hazard has been appearing in adverts for Belgium-based

Lotus Bakeries Lotus Bakeries NV is a Belgian multinational snack food company founded in 1932. Based in Lembeke, Kaprijke, the company's best known product is Speculoos (known as Biscoff in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, Au ...

promoting their Biscoff biscuit range. The advert shows him successfully taking a free kick, sending a ball into a gap in 10,000 cups.

Club ownership

On 26 June 2017, Hazard became a part-owner of expansion

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

franchise San Diego 1904 FC to begin play in 2018, alongside Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sow.

Lille tribute

On 10 March 2024, Lille OSC chose to rename his Domaine de Luchin training centre main pitch after Hazard. The "''Terrain Eden Hazard''" (French for "Eden Hazard pitch") was inaugurated by the former

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

captain in the company of his loved ones, ex-teammates, academy players and supporters groups. The same day, he also ceremoniously kicked off the home match against

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

and was celebrated by the whole

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

with fans displaying a tifo dedicated to him. Previously, a painted segment of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

with a

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

of Hazard made by French artist C215 was unveiled in 2016 and is on display inside the centre.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Belgium score listed first, score column indicates score after each Hazard goal''

Honours

Lille *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Chelsea *

: 2014–15, 2016–17 *

: 2017–18; runner-up: 2016–17 * Football League Cup/EFL Cup: 2014–15; runner-up: 2018–19 *

: 2012–13, 2018–19 Real Madrid *

: 2019–20, 2021–22 *

: 2022–23 *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

: 2021–22 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

Belgium *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

third place:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual * Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year: 2008–09, 2009–10 * Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 * UNFP Player of the Month: March 2010, March 2011, March 2012, April 2012 *

, 2011–12 *

Goal of the Season:

top assist provider: 2011–12 *

Bravo Award The Bravo Award was an annual award which was handed out by the Italian magazine ''Guerin Sportivo'' to the most outstanding young European Association football, footballer. The first winner of the award was Englishman Jimmy Case. The first no ...

: 2011 * France Football Golden Star: 2010–11, 2011–12 * PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17 *

: 2013–14 *

Chelsea Player of the Year The Chelsea Player of the Season award is an official award given by Chelsea F.C., Chelsea Football Club, to award the player who has most contributed to the success and achievements of the club's men's first team over the course of a season. Th ...

: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19 *

Premier League Player of the Season The Premier League Player of the Season is an annual association football award presented to players in England, which recognises the most outstanding player in the Premier League each season. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by t ...

: 2014–15 *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

top assist provider: 2016 * Chelsea Players' Player of the Year: 2014–15, 2018–19 * ESM Team of the Season: 2014–15, 2018–19 *

2014–15 *

: 2014–15 * Chelsea Goal of the Year: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19 *

: October 2016, September 2018 * PFA Fans' Premier League Player of the Month: October 2016 * Premier League Goal of the Month: February 2017, April 2019 *

UEFA Team of the Year The UEFA Fan's Team of the Year is a football award given by UEFA through a poll on its official website. This award started in 2001 and allows users of the organization's website to choose their own eleven players and a coach based on their ove ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

* Belgium Player of the Year: 2017, 2018, 2019 * Best Belgian Abroad: 2017, 2018, 2019 * FIFA World Cup Silver Ball:

* FIFA World Cup Fantasy Team: 2018 * FIFA FIFPRO Men's World 11:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

* IFFHS Men's World Team: 2018 * Belgian Sportsman of the Year: 2018 * UEFA Europa League Player of the Season: 2018–19 * UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2018–19 * Premier League Playmaker of the Season: 2018–19 * PFA Fans' Player of the Year: 2018–19 *

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

Premier League Team of the Decade: 2010–2019 *

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lille, Northern France competing in Ligue 1, the top division of Football in Franc ...

Goal of the Century * Chelsea F.C. All Time XI

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazard, Eden 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from La Louvière Footballers from Hainaut (province) Belgian men's footballers Men's association football wingers Royale Union Tubize-Braine players Lille OSC players Chelsea F.C. players Real Madrid CF players Championnat National 2 players Ligue 1 players Premier League players La Liga players UEFA Europa League–winning players UEFA Champions League–winning players Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgium men's international footballers 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Men's Century Club Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in France Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Hazard family 21st-century Belgian sportsmen

Early life

Club career

Early career

Lille

Early Lille career

2008–2010: Debut season and individual success

2010–11: League double, Ligue 1 Player of the Year and continued individual success

2011–12: Final season in France

Chelsea

2012–13: Debut season and first trophy

2013–2015: Premier League winner and individual success

2015–16: Year of scrutiny

2016–2018: Return to form, Premier League winner and first FA Cup win

2018–19: Final season in England

Real Madrid

2019–2021: Fitness struggles and decline in form

2021–2023: Continued struggle, departure, and retirement

International career

2006–2009: Youth career

2009–2011: Early international career and first major tournaments

2014–2022: Belgium's Golden Generation and assuming the captaincy

2022: Retirement

Player profile

Style of play

Reception

Outside football

Personal life

Sponsorship

Club ownership

Lille tribute

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

See also

References

External links