Sari Kees
Belgian footballer (born 2001)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sari Kees (Flemish: [ˈsaːri ˈkeːs]; born 17 February 2001) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a defender for FA Women's Super League club Leicester City and the Belgium national team.
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Kees in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 17 February 2001 | ||
| Place of birth | Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Leicester City | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| SP Budingen | |||
| KSV Drieslinter | |||
| OH Leuven | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016–2019 | OH Leuven | 43 | (8) |
| 2019–2020 | Genk | 15 | (0) |
| 2020–2024 | OH Leuven | 89 | (11) |
| 2024– | Leicester City | 6 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015 | Belgium U15 | 1 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | Belgium U16 | 4 | (1) |
| 2016–2018 | Belgium U17 | 16 | (0) |
| 2018–2020 | Belgium U19 | 20 | (3) |
| 2021 | Belgium U23 | 2 | (0) |
| 2022– | Belgium | 34 | (5) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 9 February 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 5 December 2024[1] | |||
Club career
Kees started her youth career as a goalkeeper at SP Budingen. At age 10, she joined OH Leuven, and further developed as a central defender throughout their youth teams for the next eight seasons.[citation needed]
On 12 June 2019, it was announced that Kees joined Racing Genk for one season, becoming a team regular there.[2][3]
Kees returned to OH Leuven again in April 2020,[4] scoring the winning goal in their 1–0 win against defending champions Anderlecht in March 2022.[5] Leuven ended in second place behind Anderlecht for three straight seasons, from 2020-21 to 2022-23, and in 2023-24 won the regular season only to be overhauled in the title play-offs[6][7]
Kees stated that her ambitions for the coming years are becoming a full-time member of the national team, and earning a transfer to a foreign club, which came true when she signed for OHL's sister club Leicester City in July 2024.[8]
International career
Kees is a member of the national team since the under-15s. As a central defender, she played for the under-19s in the UEFA U19 Championship in 2019 in their group matches against Spain, Germany and England.[citation needed]
Kees made her debut for the Belgium national team on 16 February 2022, in a 4–0 win against Slovakia in the Pinatar Cup in Spain.[9]
Kees was named in the Belgium squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2022 in England, where the Red Flames were beaten in the quarter-finals 1-0 by Sweden. She went on to contribute to Belgium's successful qualification for UEFA Women's Euro 2025 via the play-offs, starting both legs of the play-off final against Ukraine.[10][11]
On 11 June 2025, Kees was called up to the Belgium squad for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025.[12]
Career statistics
- As of match played 6 October 2022[13]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium U15 | 2015 | 1 | 0 |
| Belgium U16 | 2015 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | 3 | 1 | |
| Total | 4 | 1 | |
| Belgium U17 | 2016 | 7 | 0 |
| 2017 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 16 | 0 | |
| Belgium U19 | 2018 | 6 | 0 |
| 2019 | 13 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 20 | 3 | |
| Belgium U23 | 2021 | 2 | 0 |
| Belgium | 2021 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 13 | 1 | |
| Total | 14 | 1 | |
| Career total | 57 | 5 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 6 September 2022 | Yerevan Football Academy Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia |  Armenia | 7–0 | 7–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 2. | 13 November 2022 | Joseph Marien Stadium, Brussels, Belgium |  Slovakia | 1–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
| 3. | 23 February 2024 | Pancho Aréna, Felcsút, Hungary |  Hungary | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League play-offs |
| 4. | 5–1 | |||||
| 5. | 9 April 2024 | Viborg Stadium, Viborg, Denmark |  Denmark | 1–4 | 2–4 | UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying |
Honours
Belgium