Kylian Hazard (born 5 August 1995) is a Belgian 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 plays as an

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

Belgian First Amateur Division The Belgian Division 1 is a semi-professional division and the third-highest division in the Belgian football league system A league system is a hierarchy of sports league, leagues in a sport. They are often called pyramids, due to their tend ...

club

Royale Union Tubize-Braine Royale Union Tubize-Braine, also known as Tubize-Braine or RUTB, is a Belgian football club based in the cities of Tubize and Braine-le-Comte. The team set to play in Belgian National Division 1 from 2024–25, third tier of Belgian football aft ...

. He has two older brothers, Eden and Thorgan, and one younger, Ethan, all of whom are footballers.

Early life

Hazard was born 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 playing in Belgium. His father spent most of his career playing as a semi-professional for

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 ...

. He played 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 her eldest son Eden Hazard. After playing football, both his parents became sports teachers. Thierry retired from his position in 2009 in order to devote more time to his children. Kylian is the third of four children. His eldest brother, Eden, previously played 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 ...

in France, Chelsea in England and Real Madrid in Spain. His other elder brother, Thorgan, joined Eden at Chelsea in 2012 before moving to

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

in 2015. Thorgan moved to Dortmund in May 2019 (summer transfer window) and had previously progressed through the youth ranks of Lille's biggest rivals

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

. His younger brother Ethan currently plays in the youth academy of

Tubize Tubize (; ) is a municipality and city of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On January 1, 2006 Tubize had a total population of 22,335. The total area is 32.66 km2 which gives a population density of 684 inhabita ...

, where Eden, Thorgan and Kylian all played earlier in their lives. Kylian 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 meters" from a football training ground and the brothers often ventured onto a training pitch through a small hole in order to hone and develop their skills. Hazard began his professional career at

White Star Bruxelles White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no colorfulness, chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) diffuse reflection, ref ...

, joining the club in 2013 from the

academy where he spent two years.

Club career

After spending one season in the

, it was announced on 25 June 2014 that Hazard joined Pro League side Zulte Waregem on a two-year contract, with an option to extend the contract for another season. In signing for Zulte Waregem, Hazard followed in the footsteps of his older brother Thorgan, who spent two seasons there on loan from Chelsea, and linked up with Jonathan Benteke, whose brother

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

is also a Belgian international. Hazard made his professional debut for Zulte Waregem on 7 August 2014, replacing Ibrahima Conté after 69 minutes against Belarusian side Shakhtyor Soligorsk in the

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 ...

of 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 ...

. He could not help prevent his team from crashing out in the tournament after a 2–2 draw and a 7–4 loss on aggregate. Hazard made his first start for Zulte Waregem on 21 January 2015 against

R.S.C. Anderlecht Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, commonly abbreviated to RSC Anderlecht (, , ) or RSCA (, , ), is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian First Division A and is the mos ...

in second leg of the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

; the match ended in a 4-2 loss. He played only 5 games for Zulte Waregem. On 27 June 2015, Hazard signed a three-year contract with Hungarian side

Újpest Újpest (; , ) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary in 1838. Újpest was a village ...

. Hazard made his debut on 18 July 2015 against

Paksi FC Paksi FC (''Paks''; ) is a Hungarian professional football club based in Paks. Since its founding in 1952, it has played at either a county or national level. In 2006, it ascended to '' Borsodi Liga'', or NB I, the top division in Hungarian foot ...

which ended in a 0–0 draw. On 21 November 2015, Hazard scored his first goal in a 2–1 away victory over Honvéd. On 29 August 2017, Hazard joined

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 ...

side Chelsea, and was put in the club's development squad. Despite reports suggesting Hazard had left Chelsea after a year, he agreed a new two-year deal and was sent out on loan to

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Their matricule number is 12. The club plays home games at the 29 ...

on a season-long loan. On 5 May 2019, it was announced that Hazard's spell at Cercle Brugge would be made permanent as of 1 July 2019. In January 2021, he was demoted to the reserves for disciplinary reasons. On 31 January 2022, Hazard was loaned to RWDM until the end of the season, with an option to buy. He made his competitive debut for the club on 13 February, coming on as a substitute for Thomas Ephestion in the 79th minute of a 1–0

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League, previously known as 1B Pro League is the second-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the ...

win over

Deinze Deinze () is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of Astene, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree, Nevele, Petegem-aan-de-Lei ...

. Following the loan, Cercle Brugge terminated his contract and signed a two-year contract with RWDM. Hazard helped RWDM achieve promotion to the

2023–24 Belgian Pro League The 2023–24 Belgian Pro League (officially known as the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 121st season of top-tier football in Belgium. Club Brugge were crowned champions for the 19th time in their history having come back ...

, however, he suffered an

ACL tear ACL may refer to: Aviation * IATA airport code for Aguaclara Airport in Casanare Department, Colombia Companies and organizations * ACL Cables, a cable manufacturing company in Sri Lanka * Administration for Community Living, United States, f ...

in the summer of 2023 and was not able to appear for the club in the first half of the season. On 1 February 2024, Hazard moved on loan to

Beveren Beveren () is a former municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') ...

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazard, Kylian 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from La Louvière Footballers from Hainaut (province) Belgian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Lille OSC players RWS Bruxelles players S.V. Zulte Waregem players Újpest FC players Chelsea F.C. players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players R.W.D. Molenbeek (2015) players S.K. Beveren players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in France Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Hazard family 21st-century Belgian sportsmen