Sven Kums (born 26 February 1988) 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

. He represented Belgium internationally at youth levels U18 through U21.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Asse Asse () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. It comprises the towns of Asse proper, Bekkerzeel, Kobbegem, Mollem, Relegem and Zellik. Asse is also situated in the Pajottenland. ...

, Kums began his career at Dilbeek Sport, before joining

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

in 1996.

Anderlecht

He played in the youth and reserve teams for 10 years, and in 2006 he became part of the first team. In the first half of the 2006–07 season he did not feature in a single first team game. He was hoping to finally get a chance to play for Anderlecht's first team, but ended up playing for the second team every week.

Lierse (loan)

In January 2007, Kums moved to Lierse S.K. on loan. He made his debut in professional football on 10 February 2007 against

FC Brussels Racing White Daring Molenbeek Brussels Football Club, often simply referred to as RWDM Brussels, F.C. Brussels or simply Brussels, was a Belgian professional association football club based in the municipality of Molenbeek, in the Brussels, Bru ...

. Kums played 14 games during his loan spell, scoring one goal. Lierse were relegated, and Kums returned to Anderlecht.

Kortrijk

In January 2008, he joined Second Division team

K.V. Kortrijk Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk (often simply called KV Kortrijk or KVK) is a Belgian professional football club based in Kortrijk, West Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division, and they achieved their best ranking ever during the 20 ...

on loan. There, Kums played 16 games, scoring 5 goals, helping KVK win the title and secure promotion to the Belgian Pro League. In June 2008, Kortrijk signed him to a permanent deal.

Heerenveen

In March 2011,

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

announced that Kums would join their team for the 2011–12 season, the transfer fee was rumoured to be around €500.000. He played his first match in the

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 ...

on 6 August 2011 against

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

. After two relatively successful seasons with Heerenveen, Kums returned to Belgium, signing a three-season deal with

SV Zulte Waregem Sportvereniging Zulte Waregem (), commonly known as Zulte Waregem or by their nickname Essevee (), is a Belgian professional football club based in Waregem, West Flanders. The club set to play in Belgian Pro League from 2025–26 after promotion f ...

Zulte Waregem

He signed for Zulte Waregem in 2013. In one season for ''Essevee'', he played 41 games, scoring 5 goals. The team finished 4th, and Kums' performances didn't go unnoticed.

Gent

On 1 July 2014,

KAA Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (; English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Gent or by their nickname ' (), is a Belgian professional sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football tea ...

announced that Kums would join their squad that summer, signing a four-year contract. Kums had a successful season, and for the first time in club history, Ghent became Belgian champions.

Watford and Udinese

On 29 August 2016, Kums was sold to

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 ...

but immediately sent on a season-long loan deal to

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

Return to Anderlecht

On 2 June 2017, it was announced that

acquired Kums from Watford. In his debut 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, ...

away in the

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 ...

, he was sent off after just 11 minutes.

Return to Gent

On 21 August 2019, Kums rejoined

on loan. His permanent transfer to the club was agreed upon on 20 January 2020. On 18 April 2022, he featured in the Belgian Cup final which ended in a 4–3 win on penalties over his former club Anderlecht. In May 2025, he announced his decision to retire from professional football at the end of the 2024–25 season.

International career

On 5 September 2008, Kums made his debut for the Belgium U21 national team against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. On 2 October 2015, senior national team 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 ...

announced that he would call up Kums, along with teammates

Matz Sels Matz Willy Els Sels (born 26 February 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Nottingham Forest and the Belgium national team. Club career Lierse Sels started his youth career at Kontich, and transferred ...

and

Laurent Depoitre Laurent Depoitre (born 7 December 1988) is a retired Belgian professional footballer who played as a striker. He made one senior appearance for the Belgium national team. Club career Eendracht Aalst When a large number of players had to leave ...

, for the international games against

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 ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Personal life

His father Ludo Kums is youth coach at his current club

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 ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Gent *

Belgian Pro League 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 ...

: 2014–15 *

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 ...

: 2021–22 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

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 ...

Anderlecht *Belgian Super Cup:

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 ...

Individual * UEFA Champions League Team of the Group Stage: 2015 *

Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe (, , German: ''Goldener Schuh'') is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian Pro League for the past year. The trophy is sponsored by the B ...

: 2015 *Honorary Citizen of

Dilbeek Dilbeek () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek (with Sint-A ...

: 2016

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kums, Sven 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Asse Men's association football midfielders Belgian men's footballers R.S.C. Anderlecht players Lierse S.K. players K.V. Kortrijk players SC Heerenveen players SV Zulte Waregem players KAA Gent players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Eredivisie players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Udinese Calcio players Serie A players Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Footballers from Flemish Brabant 21st-century Belgian sportsmen