Maxime Christophe Lestienne (; born 17 June 1992) 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 a winger for

Singapore Premier League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as the SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), wh ...

club

Lion City Sailors Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as the Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional association football, football club based in Bishan, Singapore, Bishan. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Si ...

Club career

Mouscron

Lestienne came up through the youth ranks at Royal Excelsior

Mouscron Mouscron (; Dutch language, Dutch and , ; Picard language, Picard and Walloon language, Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Belgium, Belgian Hainaut Provinc ...

. At the time of his debut in the senior squad on 20 December 2008, Mouscron was competing in the

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

. Lestienne came on as a substitute for

Asanda Sishuba Asanda Sishuba (born 13 April 1980) is a South African former professional footballer who played as a midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position prim ...

in the 80th minute of a 5–1 home victory against

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 ...

Club Brugge

After the bankruptcy of

in 2009, Lestienne became available on a free transfer. Despite interest from English side Everton and Dutch side PSV, Lestienne eventually signed a contract with

on 6 January 2010. Lestienne scored his first hat-trick for the club in the

Bruges derby The Bruges derby (, ) is a local football rivalry between two Belgian Pro League clubs Club Brugge and Cercle Brugge, who share the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges, Belgium. The derby was first contested during the 1899–1900 season however the ...

on 23 September 2012 against

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 17 November 2012, Lestienne scored one and assisted four times in a 2–6 away win against S.K. Beveren.

Al-Arabi

On 31 August 2014, Lestienne moved overseas to joined Qatari side, Al-Arabi on a permanent transfer.

Loan to Genoa

Lestienne was loaned out to

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 ...

until the end of the 2014–15 season almost immediately after signing for Qatari side Al-Arabi. On 18 January 2015, he got himself a brace of assist as his club settled in a 3–3 draw against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

Loan to PSV

On 12 July 2015, Lestienne was loaned out to PSV until the end of the 2015–16 season. PSV decided not to exercise its option to buy the player at the end of the loan spell. In the

2015–16 UEFA Champions League The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League was the 61st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona were th ...

group stage fixture against

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 ...

on 15 September 2015, Lestienne assisted twice to

Héctor Moreno Héctor Alfredo Moreno Herrera (born 17 January 1988) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Liga MX club Monterrey. Moreno ascended the youth ranks of Club Universidad Nacional, making his senior debut in 2006 at ...

and

Luciano Narsingh Luciano Narsingh (born 13 September 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays for Nea Salamina. He is right-footed and usually plays as a right winger but can also play as a left winger, and both side of attacking midfield. Since 2012 ...

to secured a 2–1 home victory. On 30 September 2015, Lestienne scored a brace in the UEFA Champions League match against

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 ...

but fell short to a 3–2 defeat to the Russian club.

Rubin Kazan

On 5 July 2016, Lestienne moved to Russian club

Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (; ) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the Russian Premier League. Founded in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003. It has remained there through the 2021–2 ...

. On 10 April 2017, he scored a brace to help his team to secured a 2–2 draw against

Tom Tomsk FC Tom Tomsk () was a Russian professional football club, based in the Siberian city of Tomsk. The team played in Trud Stadium (Tomsk) before being dissolved in 2022. History The team was previously named ''Burevestnik'' (1957), ''Tomich'' (195 ...

Loan to Málaga

On 31 January 2018, Lestienne joined

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

on loan until the end of the

2017–18 La Liga The 2017–18 La Liga season, also known as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, was the 87th since its establishment. The season began on 18 August 2017 and concluded on 20 May 2018. The fixtures were released on 21 July 2017. Real Madrid ...

season.

Standard Liège

On 25 July 2018, he returned to Belgium, signing with

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

. During the 2019-2020 season in 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 ...

group stage fixtures, Lestienne scored an injury time goal from a brilliant counterattack to a famous 2–1 victory against

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 ...

. After 109 appearances and 21 goals for the club, he bid farewell. Maxime Lestienne 2017

Lion City Sailors

On 8 February 2022, Lestienne joined

club,

on a two-year deal. In the

2022 AFC Champions League The 2022 AFC Champions League was the 41st edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 20th under the current AFC Champions League title. This edition was the last in an all-y ...

group stage fixture on 18 April 2022, Lestienne assisted twice as Lion City Sailors made history and gained media attention for their 3–0 victory against Korean club,

Daegu FC Daegu FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Daegu. The club was founded as a community club at the end of 2002, and made their K League 1 debut in 2003. Daegu has played mostly in the K League 1 but was relegated at the ...

. On 24 April 2022, he scored his first AFC Champions League goal against Shandong Taishan in a 3–2 win. By Matchweek 22, Lestienne had racked up 10 goals and 20 assists for the Sailors. In his first season, he won the 2022 Singapore Community Shield. On 13 August 2022, he managed to get 2 goals and 4 assists in a 10–1 victory against Young Lions. 2 gameweeks later, Lestienne scored 1 goal and 4 assists against

Hougang United Hougang United Football Club is a professional football club based in Hougang, Singapore. The club competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singaporean football. Founded in 1998 as Marine Castle United, the club changed its ...

in a 9–4 victory. It was his 2nd quadruple of assists in the season and 3rd hat-trick of assist in the season. He ended the 2022 campaign with a wonderful performance of 16 goals and 28 assists in all of the 34 matches. On 24 February 2023 during the 1st matchday fixture of the

2023 Singapore Premier League The 2023 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 6th season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, since ...

season, he racked up a hat-trick of assists against

Tanjong Pagar United Tanjong Pagar United Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Queenstown, Singapore, Queenstown, Singapore. The club currently competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singapore football leag ...

in which the Sailors came out victorious in a 3–1 win. On 1 July 2023, he made his 50th appearances for the Sailors with 31 goals and 41 assists in total. On 7 July 2023, Lestienne scored his first club hat-trick in 4–1 victory against Young Lions. On 4 August 2023, Lestienne scored his second hat-trick of the season against

Tampines Rovers Tampines Rovers Football Club (currently known as BG Tampines Rovers due to sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football, football club based in Tampines, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of t ...

. It was his fastest career hat-trick in 25 minute. With the conclusion of the league, Lestienne went on to have exceptional performances throughout the season scoring 25 goals and providing 21 assists in 24 appearances. On 4 October 2023, Lestienne converted a penalty for his side in the

2023–24 AFC Champions League The 2023–24 AFC Champions League was the 42nd edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 21st and final under the AFC Champions League title, as the competition would be rebra ...

group stage match against Hong Kong club,

Kitchee Kitchee Sports Club (; ; ) is a Hong Kong professional Association football, football club based in Kowloon. It was founded in 1931 and currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. The club has won 12 List of Hong Kong football champion ...

in a 2–1 away win. On 9 December 2023, he scored in the

2023 Singapore Cup The 2023 Singapore Cup will be the 24th edition of the Singapore Cup, Singapore's annual premier club football knock-out tournament organised by the Football Association of Singapore. Hougang United is the defending champions, having won the tou ...

Final which ended up with a victorious 3–1 win against defending champions,

where he won the cup. Lestienne's performance in the 2023 season rewarded him with the 'Player of the Year' award, 'Top Scorer' award and being named in the league 'Team of the Year'. He managed to grab a total of 26 goals and providing 29 assists in 35 appearances in 2023. On 15 December 2023, Lion City Sailors announced that Lestienne had signed a two-year contract extension until 2025. On 4 May 2024, Lestienne helped his club to lift the 2024 Singapore Community Shield after providing an assist and scoring a goal in a 2–0 win over Albirex Niigata (S) which won him the 'Man of the Match' award. During the

2024–25 AFC Champions League Two The 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two was the 21st edition of the Asia's second-tier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and first since it was rebranded as the AFC Champions League Two. This was the fi ...

fixture against Chinese club Zhejiang Professional on 19 September 2024, Lestienne scored in the 80th minute to secured a 2–0 win for the Sailors in which he curved the ball above the opposition goalkeeper Dong Chunyu. In total for the

, he scored 2 goals and provide 5 assists in the group stage qualifying the Lion City Sailors to the round of 16 as group leaders making them the first ever Singaporean Club to do so. On 14 March 2025, Lestienne make his 100th appearance for the club in a 1–1 draw against

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

club

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

in the second leg of the

quarter-finals fixture. He holds the club's most goal contributions of 139 at that time. Lestienne helped the Sailors to create history, booking their spot 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 ...

after a 2-1 aggregate victory in the semi-finals against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

. Lestienne won his first ever Singapore Premier League

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

after scoring the winning goal through a 21st-minute penalty against

on 10 May 2025. The trophy and medals were presented on 14 May, after the match against

Balestier Khalsa Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Toa Payoh, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League. Founded in 1898, the club is considered as the oldest Football in Singapore, foot ...

. Lestienne scored the equaliser in the 91st minute of the

2025 AFC Champions League Two final The 2025 AFC Champions League Two final was the final match of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two, the 20th season of Asia's secondary club football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the first since it was ...

against

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

. However, the Sailors were unable to hold on and eventually conceded in the 97th minute to finish the game in a 1–2 defeat. Lestienne finished the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two campaign as a runner-up with 5 goals, placing him in the joint top 5 goalscorer of the campaign. As of 21 May 2025, after scoring and assisting in the first leg of the semi-final match against

DPMM Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club ( English: His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Brunei Football Club; abbrev: DPMM or Brunei DPMM) is a professional football club based in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. The club set to play ...

in the

2024–25 Singapore Cup The 2024–25 Singapore Cup will be the 25th edition of the Singapore Cup, Singapore's annual premier club Association football, football knock-out tournament organised by the Football Association of Singapore. Lion City Sailors are the defendin ...

, Lestienne made a total of 152 goals and assists (64 goals and 88 assists) after 166 games. Lestienne assisted the winning goal for Bart Ramselaar in a 1–0 against

to seal the Singapore Cup final. Lion City Sailors completed a domestic treble including the Community Shield, the league title and the Singapore Cup. Lestienne was named in the Team of the Year for the third season in a row.

International career

Lestienne has appeared seven times for the Belgium U21 team and scored once, when he converted a penalty in the 53rd minute in a 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Group 9 game against Cyprus U21 won by Belgium 2–0. Lestienne was called up to the senior Belgium national team for the 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 ...

in May 2013, but did not play. He wore the number 17 jersey on the match-day squad. He was called up again to the squad in November 2019 to play 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 ...

and

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 ...

for Belgium last two Euro 2020 qualifiers match which he didn't make any appearances.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

PSV *

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

: 2015–16 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Lion City Sailors *

AFC Champions League Two The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC Ch ...

runner-up: 2024–25 *

: 2024–25 *

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost prestigious cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, 2024–25 *

Singapore Community Shield The Singapore Community Shield (also known as the AIA Community Shield due to sponsorship reasons; formerly the Charity Shield) is the curtain-raiser to the football season in Singapore. The match is contested between the champions of the previou ...

: 2022, 2024 Individual *

Player of the Year:

* Singapore Premier League Team of the Year:

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 ...

, 2024–25 * Singapore Premier League Top goalscorer:

* Singapore Premier League Top assist provider:

, 2024–25 * Singapore Premier League Player of the Month: May 2022, August 2022, April/May 2023, June 2023

References

External links

*
Player info
at walfoot.be *
Player info
at the Royal Belgian Football Association {{DEFAULTSORT:Lestienne, Maxime 1992 births Living people Footballers from Mouscron Belgian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Royal Excel Mouscron players Club Brugge KV players Genoa CFC players PSV Eindhoven players Jong PSV players FC Rubin Kazan players Málaga CF players Standard Liège players Lion City Sailors FC players Belgian Pro League players Serie A players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Russian Premier League players La Liga players Singapore Premier League players Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Belgian expatriate men's footballers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Singapore Expatriate men's footballers in Singapore 21st-century Belgian sportsmen