Eden Hazard
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or
attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...
club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity,
dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...
, passing and vision, Hazard is considered one of the best players of his generation. Hazard is the son of two former footballers and began his career in Belgium playing for local youth clubs. In 2005, he moved to France, where he began his senior career with Ligue 1 club
Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...
. Hazard spent two years in the club's academy and, at the age of 16, made his professional debut in November 2007. He 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 the manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr. Early life Rudi Garcia's father, José, was a Spanish expatriate who played ...
. 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 was a part of the Lille team that won the league and cup double and, as a result of his performances, was named the Ligue 1 Player of the Year, the youngest player to win the award. After making over 190 appearances and scoring 50 goals for Lille, Hazard signed for English club
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in June 2012. He won the
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
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 s ...
in his second. In the 2014–15 season, Hazard helped Chelsea win the
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
and
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
, 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 knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
, and was named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI. He won the Europa League again with Chelsea in June 2019. 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 €150 million, making it one of the highest transfer fees ever, however continuous injuries resulted in Hazard playing a limited amount of games and declining in performances. Having represented his country at various youth levels, Hazard made his senior debut for the Belgium national team in November 2008, aged 17, in a
friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
against
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. Nearly three years after his debut, Hazard scored his first international goal against
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
in October 2011. 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,
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 football championship of Europe ...
, and
UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...
. At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 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

Hazard was born in La Louvière and grew up in
Braine-le-Comte Braine-le-Comte (; nl, ’s-Gravenbrakel, ; wa, Brinne-e-Hinnot) 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 whic ...
. His mother Carine, and father Thierry, were both footballers. His father spent most of his career at semi-professional level with La Louvière in the Belgian Second Division, playing mainly as a
defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...
. His mother played as a striker in the Belgian Women's First Division and stopped playing when she was three months pregnant with Eden. After playing football, both parents became sports teachers. Thierry retired from his position in 2009 in order 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 Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in 2012 but then moved to Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2015 and further to
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...
in 2019. Thorgan had previously progressed through the youth ranks of Lille's biggest rivals
Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which 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 ...
. Hazard's other younger brothers are Kylian and Ethan. On 15 July 2013, Kylian joined White Star Bruxelles, but then went on to play for Hungarian side
Újpest Újpest (; german: Neu-Pest, en, New Pest) 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 i ...
, before also joining Chelsea, while Ethan remains playing in the youth academy of Eden's former club
Tubize Tubize (; nl, Tubeke ) is a city and municipality 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 ...
. 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 in order to hone and develop their skills. Growing up his idol was French playmaker Zinedine Zidane, 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 Royal Stade Brainois, often called just Stade Brainois was a Belgian football club from Braine-le-Comte, Hainaut, Wallonia. History The club was founded on 1 July 1923 as Amicale Athlétique Brainoise. Two years later it received the matricu ...
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
A.F.C. Tubize 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 club was founded in 1990 as the result of a merger of two clubs, F.C. Tubize and Amis Réunis de ...
. While at Tubize, he was spotted by a Lille 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

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 fourth level of
French football Association football is the most popular sport in France. The French Football Federation (FFF, Fédération Française de Football) is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of association football in the cou ...
, though he still played with Lille's under-18 team in its league and the
Coupe Gambardella The Coupe Gambardella is a French football cup competition held between the under-18s of the French football clubs, organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). The cup is regarded as an opportunity for young hopefuls to showcase their s ...
. Hazard made his amateur debut on 1 September 2007 in a league match against Racing Club de France 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. He spent his entire playing career with Monaco, before becoming manager of the club, leading them to the league title in his first full season in char ...
to participate in a friendly match against Belgian club
Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...
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 ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
,
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 S ...
, and
Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
. 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.


2008–10: Debut season and individual success

For the 2008–09 season, Hazard was given the number 26 shirt after playing with the number 33 shirt in his debut season. He was also promoted to the senior team permanently by new manager
Rudi Garcia Rudi José Garcia (; ; born 20 February 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr. Early life Rudi Garcia's father, José, was a Spanish expatriate who played ...
. Early on, he made substitute appearances regularly, including against
Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...
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 injury time following a goal from Tulio 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 in the Coupe de la Ligue. 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, 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 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 S ...
. 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,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
. 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 newly created
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
. After the season, he was named the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Young Player of the Year, becoming the first international 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 and Manchester United, 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 football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...
, and Spanish clubs
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...
and Real Madrid. 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 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'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...
match in the
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
. On 27 August, he scored his second career European goal in the club's second leg tie in the playoff round against Belgian club
Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. It is one of the most important industrial towns in Flanders, located on the Albert Canal, ...
. 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 ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
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 ...
as he was partly responsible for the opening goal– slicing through the defense and delivering a cross near post, which went off Slavia player Marek Suchý resulting in an
own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...
. On 20 December, Hazard scored his first league goal of the season in the club's 3–0 win over Le Mans, 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 A lens is a transmissive optical device which 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 ...
. 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 city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
in the first leg of the club's
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
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 The UNFP Player of the Month trophy is an award that recognises the best Ligue 1 player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 50% of the final tally, and the players of each ...
award. On 29 April, Hazard was nominated for the UNFP Ligue 1
Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...
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 UNFP 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 ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
. In late September, Hazard began to struggle with inconsistency and was benched by Garcia in an effort to "allow him to breathe and learn that his performances were insufficient". 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 recently managed the Iran national team and is now active at Raja CA. During his club career as attacking midfielder, he won trophies w ...
, 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 transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
, 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 Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...
. On 21 November, Hazard assisted both Lille's goals in a 2–1 win over
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
. 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 ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...
on 5 December. At the turn of the calendar year, Hazard scored in the team's first match against amateur club
Forbach Forbach ( , , ; gsw, Fuerboch) 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 co ...
in the
Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
. Lille won the match 3–1. In the team's following match, he assisted goals scored by Moussa Sow and
Gervinho Gervais Yao Kouassi (born 27 May 1987), known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club Aris and the Ivory Coast national team. Gervinho began his career at ASEC Abidjan and Toumod ...
in a 2–0 league victory over
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
. 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 Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
. 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 Coupe de France final, Hazard played 89 minutes as Lille defeated PSG 1–0 at the Stade de France. 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 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 ever to win the award. He was also rewarded with a place in the Team of the Year for the second consecutive season.


2011–12: Final season in France

Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Hazard switched to the number 10 shirt. In Lille's first competitive match of the season against Marseille in the 2011 Trophée des Champions, 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 (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
debut in a 2–2 group stage draw with Russian club
CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) 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 era, it was a central piece of the big So ...
. 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 equalizing 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 converting a penalty—described as an "
Antonín Panenka Antonín Panenka (born 2 December 1948) is a Czech retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He spent most of his career representing Czechoslovak club Bohemians Prague. Panenka won UEFA Euro 1976 with the national team of Czec ...
-style chipped penalty". Two days later, Hazard was among several players nominated for
UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
's Team of the Year 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, Hazard converted a penalty and assisted a goal by
Dimitri Payet Dimitri Payet (; born 29 March 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Marseille. A set-piece specialist, known for his accurate, bending free kicks, he primarily plays as an attacking midfielder, and is described a ...
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. Hazard later contributed to Lille's game-winning goal after delivering a ''
rabona In association football, the rabona is the technique of kicking the football where the kicking leg is crossed behind the back of the standing leg. There are several reasons why a player might opt to strike the ball this way: for example, a right ...
''-style cross into the box, which was laid onto the path of striker
Nolan Roux Nolan Roux (born 1 March 1988) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championnat National club Châteauroux. He is a former French youth international, having previously represented the France under-21 team. Club care ...
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 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 footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the France national team. Regarded for his work-rate, strength, acrobatic strikes, shot power, consistent goal-s ...
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 c ...
to achieve the honour in consecutive seasons. He was also included in the 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 wic ...
in a 4–1 win.


Chelsea

On 4 June 2012, Chelsea officially confirmed on its website that the club had agreed terms with Lille for the transfer of Hazard. The midfielder 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". Hazard was given the number 17, which was previously worn by José Bosingwa.


2012–13: Debut season and first trophy

On 12 August 2012, Hazard made his debut for Chelsea in the 2012 FA Community Shield against Manchester City, which ended in a 3–2 defeat at
Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...
. A week later, he made his league debut against Wigan Athletic at the
DW Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...
. In the contest, Hazard provided the assist for Branislav Ivanović's opening goal and, minutes later, won a penalty, which Frank Lampard converted, earning his side a 2–0 victory. He made his Stamford Bridge debut in the team's next fixture, against Reading on 22 August, 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 Stamford Bridge. Three days later, Hazard scored his first goal as a Chelsea player in a league match against Newcastle United 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. 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 in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
in the
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
, and an 8–0 league win against Aston Villa. In January 2013, Hazard scored a goal with his left-foot from 25 yards in Chelsea's 4–0 win over Stoke City, 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 in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
. On 23 January, he was sent off in the Football League Cup semi-final second leg game against Swansea City 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 in order 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, Hazard came on as a substitute against
Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...
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 Ramires Santos do Nascimento (; born 24 March 1987), known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. A midfielder, he was comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally played as a box-to-b ...
, as the Blues came back 2–0 down to salvage a 2–2 draw against Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
on 10 March, setting up a replay at Stamford Bridge. On 17 March, Hazard put in a Man of the Match performance at Stamford Bridge in a 2–0 victory over
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
, 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 Robert Victor Tambling (born 18 September 1941) is an English former professional association football, footballer, who played as a Forward (association football), forward, most notably for Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Pa ...
'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.


2013–15: Premier League winner and individual success

One of Chelsea's first games of the season was against Bayern Munich in the
2013 UEFA Super Cup The 2013 UEFA Super Cup was the 38th UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. In a re ...
, where 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, as a substitute, scored the game-clinching goal in a 3–1
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
clash against
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
at Carrow Road, before scoring twice and assisting
Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation from 11 December 2021. In his prime, Eto'o was regarded by pundits as one of ...
's first Chelsea goal in a comprehensive defeat of Cardiff City in the same competition. Hazard netted his fifth goal of the season against Schalke in a crucial 0–3 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 Ye ...
, awarded to the player who is voted the men's world footballer of the year. On 9 November, Hazard created Chelsea's first goal against
West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
, 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, with coach José Mourinho 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. He is currently the head coach of the Greece national football team. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his car ...
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." On 26 December, Hazard scored the only goal in Chelsea's 1–0 victory over Swansea. In Chelsea's next league match, Hazard scored a goal from 25 yards during Chelsea's 2–1 victory over
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
. After Hazard maintained his excellent form in Chelsea's 1–0 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium 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 Stamford Bridge on 8 February. On 27 April, Hazard won 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 s ...
award and finished as the runner-up to
Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...
for 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 ...
award for his fine attacking performances under José Mourinho. After Chelsea's Champions League exit against Atlético Madrid, 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 Stamford Bridge. Upon
Juan Mata Juan Manuel Mata García (born 28 April 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Galatasaray. He mostly plays as a central attacking midfielder, but he can also play on the wing. A gr ...
's departure from the club in January, Hazard was handed the number 10 shirt for Chelsea ahead of the 2014–15 season. On 5 October, 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. Born in Tulle, Koscielny began his football career playing for a host of youth clubs before moving to Guingamp in 2003, where he q ...
, 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 Juventus and the Poland national team. After starting his club career at Legia Warsaw, Szczęsny signed for Arsenal in Jan ...
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 Champions League campaign came on 21 October, netting from the penalty-spot and from open play in a 6–0 home win over Maribor. On 5 November, away to the Slovene team, he earned an 85th-minute penalty but had it saved by Jasmin Handanović 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." On 12 February 2015, Hazard signed a new five-and-a-half-year contract with Chelsea. 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 the full 90 minutes in the club's victory in the League Cup Final at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
on 1 March, a 2–0 win over Tottenham. On 18 April, Hazard scored the only goal in a home win over Manchester United, after he latched on to Oscar's backheel pass to score past
David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United. During the mid-2010s, he was widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Born in Madrid ...
. He was voted Man of the Match thereafter for his performance. As a result of Hazard's impressive performances throughout the 2014–15 campaign, 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 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 ...
. 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 professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Crystal Palace. McArthur started his career at Hamilton Academical and was part of the team that won the 2007–08 ...
, 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 footballer. Having started his career at Platense, he played three seasons in the Scottish Premier League with Dundee before joining Crystal Palace for £750,000 in ...
. On 26 May, Hazard was voted as Chelsea's
Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...
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 footballer who plays as a midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Galatasaray. He mostly plays as a central attacking midfielder, but he can also play on the wing. A gr ...
, Frank Lampard,
Ray Wilkins Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...
, and
John Hollins John William Hollins (born 16 July 1946) is an English retired footballer and manager. He was initially a midfielder who, later in his career, became an effective full-back. Hollins, throughout his footballing career, featured for clubs such a ...
.


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 ( he, מכבי תל אביב) 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 ...
. 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 Jack Butland (born 10 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United, on loan from Crystal Palace. Butland began his career with Birmingham City, and made his debut in the Football League ...
. 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 , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
in the fourth round of the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
. 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 at AFC Bournemouth; after the result, interim manager Guus Hiddink 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, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
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 Christian Benteke Liolo (born 3 December 1990) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club D.C. United and the Belgium national team. Benteke began his career at Standard Liège, playing a part in ...
scoring in extra time as the match finished in a 1–1 draw.


2016–18: Premier League winner and first FA Cup win

On 15 August, in Chelsea's opening Premier League match of the season, Hazard scored a penalty in a 2–1 win over
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
. Hazard recorded a total of 81 touches throughout the game, and his performance earned him the Man of the Match. 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 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
, 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 10 ...
award although
Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger and attacking midfielder for club Chelsea. Born in Jamaica, he represents the England national team. Born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents, S ...
was later named the Player of the Month by a Premier League panel. On 15 October, Hazard, along with Diego Costa 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 Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
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 win against Everton at Stamford Bridge 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 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 10 ...
for October. On 26 December, Hazard led the Blues to their twelfth consecutive league victory, a new club record, in the 3–0 victory over Bournemouth. 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 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
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
semi-final victory over rivals Tottenham Hotspur at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
. At the beginning of the summer, Hazard suffered an ankle injury in training during international duty. The injury ruled him out for 6 to 8 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 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 participant ...
Arsenal. Two goals against
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
on 20 January made it 100 league goals in his career. Hazard's double helped Chelsea to a 4–0 win at Falmer Stadium. On 12 February, Hazard scored a double in a 3–0 win over West Bromwich Albion. In the
2018 FA Cup Final The 2018 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Manchester United and Chelsea on 19 May 2018 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. It was the 137th FA Cup final overall and was the showpiece match of English football's primary c ...
on 19 May, Hazard won a penalty which he converted, sending it low to the right past Manchester United goalkeeper
David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United. During the mid-2010s, he was widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Born in Madrid ...
for the only goal of the game.


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. On 15 September, Hazard scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Cardiff City. He came off the bench to give Chelsea a 2–1 come-from-behind win over
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
in the third round of the EFL Cup at Anfield on 26 September. It was his sixth goal in seven appearances to start the season. In the next fixture, against Liverpool in the
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
, he made it seven goals in eight games, opening the scoring in a 1–1 draw at Stamford Bridge. 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, mean ...
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 Boxing Day win against
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
at
Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...
, the first of which was his 100th Blues and 150th career club goal. On 8 April 2019, Hazard scored a solo goal against
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
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 at Stamford Bridge 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 Premier League's Playmaker of the Season award. Hazard joined Thierry Henry, Matt Le Tissier and Eric Cantona to become the 4th player in premier league history to record at least 15 goals and 15 assists in a premier league season, and he also became player with most assists and goals for the season – 31. On 29 May, Chelsea won the Europa League following a 4–1 win over Arsenal in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
, in which Hazard scored twice, also assisting Pedro's goal. After the match, Hazard suggested that it probably was the last time he would play for the club.


Real Madrid


Transfer

At Chelsea, Hazard established himself as one of the best players in the world. On 7 June 2019,
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...
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, who was signed for €101 million in 2013. Should any of the variables be met, he would become Madrid's most expensive player in their history. Hazard was formally unveiled in front of 50,000 fans on 13 June at the Santiago Bernabéu, and was presented without a number on his shirt; he had been wearing the number 10 for both Chelsea and Belgium for a number of years, and admitted that he had asked
Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an a ...
for the number at Madrid but Modrić refused to give it away. On 9 August, Madrid confirmed that Hazard would wear the number 7, previously worn by club legends
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...
,
Raúl González Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
and
Emilio Butragueño Emilio Butragueño Santos (; born 22 July 1963) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker. He was best known for his spell with Real Madrid. Nicknamed ''El Buitre'' (The Vulture), he was a member of the '' La Quinta del Buitre'' ...
. 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.


2019–22: Two La Liga titles, Champions League win, injuries and struggle

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 victory over Levante in
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...
at the Bernabéu. On 5 October, he scored his first competitive goal for Los Blancos, right before half time against Granada 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. On 26 November, Hazard suffered an ankle injury against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League group stage after a rash challenge by Belgium teammate Thomas Meunier. Hazard went on to miss 16 Madrid matches across four competitions, which included the first
El Clásico El Clásico or el clásico (; ca, El Clàssic, ; ) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions held in the Spanish championship, the term now includes every m ...
of the season, the Supercopa de España victory in Jeddah and the entire
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
campaign which ended with a quarter-final exit to Sociedad. At the end of the season he had made 16 league appearances, as Madrid won 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 31 October, Hazard scored his first 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 (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...
. On 25 November, he scored his first Champions League goal with Madrid in a 2–0 away win against
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 football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...
. On 5 May 2021, Hazard apologised following criticism for laughing with Chelsea players Kurt Zouma and
Édouard Mendy Édouard Osoque Mendy (born 1 March 1992) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Chelsea and the Senegal national team. Starting his career in his native France, Mendy played in the Le Havre academy before ...
after Real Madrid's 3–1 aggregate defeat in the Champions League semi-final. Four days later, Hazard scored his first goal in over three months, a backheel goal against
Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) 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 ...
in the sixth minute of stoppage time, which temporarily kept Madrid in the title race. In the 2021–22 season, Hazard was playing respectably well early in the season, but
Vinícius Júnior Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior (born 12 July 2000), commonly known as Vinícius Júnior or Vini Jr. (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazil national team. Consi ...
, who shares the same position as Hazard, thrived by scoring three goals in the opening two games of the season, causing Hazard 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 La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...
'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 and gastro, is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of energy, and dehydra ...
. On 20 January 2022, Hazard scored his first goal of the season, a 115th–minute winner against
Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
. On 25 March, Real Madrid announced that Hazard will 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 Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...
. On 28 May, Hazard won his first
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
title after Real Madrid defeated
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
1–0 in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
; Hazard remained an unused substitute throughout the match.


International career


Youth

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 ( he, גביע הטוטו, ''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), and the second division Liga Leumit. F ...
, a yearly international youth tournament held in Austria and, also, played in the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, which Belgium hosted. In the tournament, Hazard scored his only goal in the team's opening match against the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
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, ...
. Belgium suffered elimination in the semi-finals of the competition, losing to
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
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 Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...
striker
Bojan Krkić Bojan Krkić Pérez (; sr-Cyrl, Бојан Кркић Перез, ; born 28 August 1990), also known as simply Bojan, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for J1 League club Vissel Kobe. Bojan began his career at Barce ...
equalized 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, 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 Football Championship qualification match against
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
coming on as a substitute in a 4–0 victory. He subsequently played in the next two group stage matches against
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
and
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. 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 Football 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 o ...
, 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, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. Three days later, he scored a double in a 2–2 draw with
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
. In the
Elite Round In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...
, Hazard led the team in goals scoring three. In the opening match against the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
, he scored the lone goal. In the next match, Hazard was influential in the team's 5–0 thrashing of
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
scoring a goal and assisting on two others. In the team's final match, they faced
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Belgium needed an outright victory to progress to the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, but were eliminated from qualifying after drawing 1–1 with the Swiss, despite Hazard opening the scoring for Belgium in the 21st minute.


Early senior

On 18 November 2008, Hazard was called up to the Belgium senior team, for the first time, by manager
René Vandereycken René Vandereycken (born 22 July 1953) is a Belgian football manager and a former player. He was the head coach of the Belgium national team from 1 January 2006 to 7 April 2009. Club career Vandereycken was born in Spalbeek. He played for C ...
for the team's match against
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. Prior to making his national team debut with Belgium, Hazard was courted by
French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the over ...
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 football manager and former player who manages the Belgium U19 national team. He played as a striker for Molenbeek, Germinal Ekeren, Germinal Beerschot, Genk, Ajax, Borussia Mönch ...
. 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 François Vercauteren (born 28 October 1956), nicknamed "The Little Prince", is a Belgian former footballer who played as a left winger. He is currently unemployed after most recently managing Antwerp. Club career Vercauteren made his first ...
in the team's 3–1 friendly loss to the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
. Following the resignation of Vercauteren, he was replaced with manager
Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three sti ...
. 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 ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the 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 a ...
, 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 match against
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. 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 for club Inter Milan, on loan from club Chelsea, and the Belgium national team. Lukaku began his senior club career playing for Ander ...
. After featuring as a starter in the team's 1–1 draw with
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
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 over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw for the qualifying rounds was hel ...
matches as Leekens preferred
Nacer Chadli Nacer Chadli (born 2 August 1989) is a Belgian professional footballer who currently plays as a winger for Belgian First Division A club K.V.C. Westerlo on loan from Turkish Super Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir and the Belgium national footbal ...
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 ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
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 burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically Ground beef, beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles ...
while the match was still ongoing. Following the episode, which has become known as ''Burgergate'' in Belgium, Hazard apologized 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 match against
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
, 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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
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, criticized 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 organized by the player's agent. On 7 October 2011, nearly three years after his debut, Hazard scored his first international goal against
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
in a 4–1 victory. The victory inserted Belgium into second-place position in its group in qualifying for
UEFA 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 is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
on 11 October to secure a place in the qualifying playoffs. In the match against Germany, Hazard played the entire match as Belgium failed to earn a place in the European Championship, losing 3–1 in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
.


2014 World Cup

Hazard made nine appearances in the ''Red Devils successful 2014 World Cup qualification campaign, scoring twice. The first of these came on 22 March against the
Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
at the
Philip II Arena Philip, also Phillip, is a male given 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 popularize ...
, converting a penalty to conclude a 2–0 win after being fouled by
Aleksandar Lazevski Aleksandar Lazevski (; born 21 January 1988) is a Macedonian footballer who plays for OFK Vršac. Club career Lazevski has passed Partizan's youth academy after which he was transferred to FK Teleoptik to gain experience. Lazevski was promoted ...
. 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 FIFA World Cup. He assisted
Dries Mertens Dries Mertens (; born 6 May 1987), nicknamed "Ciro", is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team.
' winning goal in the team's first game of the tournament, a 2–1 win against
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
in
Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...
. 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 forward for club AC Milan and the Belgium national team. Origi began his career at Lille, and scored on his professional debut for them in 2013. A ...
's 88th-minute goal, giving the Red Devils a 1–0 win over
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
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 each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
, eventually reaching the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.


Euro 2016

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 football manager and former player who played as a centre-back and is the current manager of EFL Championship club Burnley. He most notably played for Manchester Ci ...
, Hazard captained Belgium for the first time in a friendly against
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
at the Stade de France, scoring a penalty for Belgium's final goal in a 4–3 victory. He won another penalty in a
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...
match on 3 September when fouled by
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
's
Ognjen Vranješ Ognjen Vranješ (; born 24 October 1989) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Süper Lig club Hatayspor. Vranješ started his professional career at Borac Banja Luka, before joining Red Star Belgrade in 2009. He ...
, 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 ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
. On 10 October, Hazard scored a spot-kick again after
Óscar Sonejee Óscar Sonejee Masand (born 26 March 1976) is an Andorran former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He began his club career as a youth player with Sant Julià before playing for several teams based in Andorra, including three ...
's handball, in a 4–1 win over
Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
which sealed Belgium's qualification to the continental championship for the first time since co-hosting
UEFA 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 the
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 football championship of Europe ...
finals. He scored a solo goal against
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the 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 a ...
in the last 16, before Belgium were eliminated by
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
in the quarter-finals. Alongside
Aaron Ramsey Aaron James Ramsey (born 26 December 1990) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nice and the Wales national team. Ramsey mainly plays as a box-to-box midfielder, but has also been deployed on the left ...
, he finished as the top assist provider of the tournament with four assists.


2018 World Cup

Hazard was appointed
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of Belgium for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. In the first game against
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
, 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 ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
. His penalty goal in the 6th minute was the team's second quickest goal in the history of the tournament. Hazard was also selected the
Man-of-the-match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award 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 chosen from the winn ...
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 Martinez. In Belgium's 3–2 victory over
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
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 the Man of the match by FIFA sponsors,
Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...
. 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 ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. 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 defense. 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
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in their third-place play-off, his nation's best ever World Cup finish. At the end of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on 15 July 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 in total, as well as being selected the Man of the match on three different occasions – more than any other player.


Euro 2020

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 A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
. On 17 May 2021, he was selected to the final squad for the
UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...
. 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 footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester City and the Belgium national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world. Pundits have often des ...
to score the winning goal against
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
. Due to later injury, he could not play in the quarter-final match and witnessed the team being ousted by
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.


2022 World Cup and retirement

Hazard was selected for Belgium's FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign, assisting once in a 5–2 win vs
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, and scoring in a 3–0 victory over the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
. He was later praised by Belgium manager
Roberto Martinez The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
. On 7 December 2022, following Belgium's group stage exit at the 2022 World Cup, Hazard announced his retirement from the national team at the age of 31.


Player profile


Style of play

Hazard primarily plays as either an
attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...
or a winger and has been credited as being "possibly the outstanding talent in Europe right now". At Lille under former manager
Rudi Garcia Rudi José Garcia (; ; born 20 February 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr. Early life Rudi Garcia's father, José, was a Spanish expatriate who played ...
, 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 player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...
s
Yohan Cabaye Yohan Cabaye (; born 14 January 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Cabaye began his football career playing for hometown club US Tourcoing at the age of six. After seven years developing in the club's ...
and
Gervinho Gervais Yao Kouassi (born 27 May 1987), known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club Aris and the Ivory Coast national team. Gervinho began his career at ASEC Abidjan and Toumod ...
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 are 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), allow 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 utilised as a left midfielder, a position which enables 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
Jose Mourinho Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...
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 Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Rio Mavuba Rio Antonio Zoba Mavuba (born 8 March 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He works as assistant manager at Bordeaux II. He spent most of his professional career with Bordeaux and Lille, winning the 201 ...
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 r ...
saw him sliding on his knees; since 2018 he has stayed on his feet. Although Hazard's favoured role is as a left winger, he is a versatile
attacker In some team sports, an attacker is a specific type of player, usually involved in aggressive play. Heavy attackers are, usually, placed up front: their goal is to score the most possible points for the team. In association football, attackers a ...
, and has also been deployed as a
second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
, 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 is also an accurate
penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...
and
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 ...
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 Claude Jacques Puel (; born 2 September 1961) is a French football manager and former player. He spent his entire playing career with Monaco, before becoming manager of the club, leading them to the league title in his first full season in char ...
dubbing him "little
Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine Professionalism in association football, professional footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for club Paris Saint-Germain F.C ...
", in reference to the former
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...
player. Puel's sentiments were later echoed by former
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
manager and
media personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
Rolland Courbis Rolland Courbis (; born 12 August 1953) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a defender. He was most recently manager of Stade Rennais F.C., having replaced Philippe Montanier on 20 January 2016. Career Bo ...
who commented "At times it looks to me like Lionel Messi on the right-hand side". Hazard's "flair and tricky" style of play has been described as being similar to Manchester United player
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...
; a comparison later repeated by former French international
Christophe Dugarry Christophe Jérôme Dugarry (born 24 March 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. His clubs include Bordeaux, Milan, Barcelona, Marseille, Birmingham City and Qatar SC. He was also a member of the France team ...
. 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, enables 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 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, ...
. 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 manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea. He spent the first decade of his playing career playing i ...
likened Hazard to himself in 2019, a view which was 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 fouled".


Outside football


Personal life

Hazard is married to Natacha Van Honacker. On 19 December 2010, it was reported that she had given birth to a baby boy, Yannis. She gave birth to their second son, Leo, in February 2013; a third son, Samy, in September 2015; and a fourth son in October 2019.


Sponsorship

In 2012, Hazard signed a sponsorship deal with sportswear and equipment supplier,
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
. He appeared in an advert for the Nike Green Speed II alongside
Mario Götze Mario Götze (born 3 June 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Germany national team. Although his favoured position is that of a playmaker, Götze has also played as a false ni ...
,
Theo Walcott Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Southampton and previously for the English national team. Walcott is a product of the Southampton Academy and started his career with ...
,
Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger and attacking midfielder for club Chelsea. Born in Jamaica, he represents the England national team. Born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents, S ...
,
Christian Eriksen Christian Dannemann Eriksen (born 14 February 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United and the Denmark national team. He is renowned for his vision, technique, passing, and fre ...
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 tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...
' ''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 26 September in the United Kingdom ...
'' in Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands and France, along with
Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...
. Hazard,
Marco Reus Marco Reus (; born 31 May 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward. He captains Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and plays for the Germany national team. Reus spent his youth career at Borussia ...
,
James Rodríguez James David Rodríguez Rubio (born 12 July 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Super League Greece club Olympiacos and the Colombia national team. He has been praised in the past ...
and
Anthony Martial Anthony Jordan Martial (; born 5 December 1995) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester United and the France national team. After playing youth football for Les Ulis, Martial began his pr ...
were announced as the official ambassadors of the game and were the finalists to be the new face of '' FIFA 17''. Hazard was named the new face of the franchise in 2019 – taking over from
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...
– 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 is a Belgian biscuit company, founded in 1932, with its headquarters in Lembeke, Kaprijke, Belgium. Lotus is known for its speculoos biscuits and biscuit-based products, branded as Lotus Biscoff in the United States, United Kingd ...
promoting their Biscoff biscuit range. The advert shows him successfully taking 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 ...
, 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 may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
franchise
San Diego 1904 FC San Diego 1904 FC was an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, United States. In December 2021, the team was absorbed by Albion San Diego, which effectively took over 1904's membership in the National Independent S ...
to begin play in 2018, alongside
Demba Ba Demba Ba (born 25 May 1985) is a former professional footballer. He serves as the chairman of National Independent Soccer Association side ASC San Diego. He made his first-team debut with French team Rouen in 2005 before moving to Mouscron an ...
,
Yohan Cabaye Yohan Cabaye (; born 14 January 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Cabaye began his football career playing for hometown club US Tourcoing at the age of six. After seven years developing in the club's ...
and Moussa Sow.


Career statistics


Club


International

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


Honours

Lille * Ligue 1: 2010–11 *
Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
: 2010–11 Chelsea *
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
: 2014–15, 2016–17 *
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
: 2017–18; runner-up: 2016–17 * Football League/EFL Cup: 2014–15; runner-up: 2018–19 *
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
: 2012–13, 2018–19 Real Madrid *
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...
: 2019–20, 2021–22 *
Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...
: 2021–22 *
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
: 2021–22 *
UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup 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 official name was originall ...
:
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
Belgium *
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
third place: 2018 Individual *
Belgian Sportsman of the year The Belgian Sportsman of the Year is elected at the end of each year by professional sportjournalists and former winners, annually since 1967. A Belgian Sportswoman of the Year title has been given out since 1975. Top winners include Ingrid Berghm ...
: 2018 *
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
Player of the Season: 2018–19 * UNFP Ligue 1
Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...
: 2010–11, 2011–12 *
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 ...
: 2014–15 *
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 the ...
: 2014–15 *
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 ...
2014–15 *
PFA Fans' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Fans' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Fans' Player of the Year, or simply the Fans' Player of the Year) award is given to footballers in the top four flights of English football, the Premier Leag ...
: 2018–19 *
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
Player of the Year: 2017, 2018, 2019 * Best Belgian Footballer abroad: 2017, 2018, 2019 *
Chelsea Player of the Year Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. Th ...
: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19 * Chelsea Players' Player of the Year: 2014–15, 2018–19 *
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
Silver Ball: 2018 *
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 footballer. The first winner of the award was Englishman Jimmy Case. The first non-European to win the ...
: 2011 *
RBFA The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA; ; ; ) is the governing body of football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. Since October 2021, ...
Belgium Ultimate Icon: 1895–2020 * UNFP Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year: 2008–09, 2009–10 *
France Football ''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusiv ...
Best Foreign Player: 2011 *
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 s ...
: 2013–14 * UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Month: March 2010, March 2011, March 2012, April 2012 *
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 10 ...
: October 2016, September 2018 * PFA Fans' Premier League Player of the Month: October 2016 * Premier League Playmaker of the Season: 2018–19 * Premier League Goal of the Month: February 2017, April 2019 * Chelsea Goal of the Year: 2015–16 (vs. Tottenham Hotspur), 2016–17 (vs. Arsenal), 2018–19 (vs. Liverpool) * UNFP Ligue 1
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 ...
: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 * FIFA FIFPro World11: 2018, 2019 *
PFA Premier League 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 English football; the Premie ...
: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17 *
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, 2018 * UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2018–19 *
ESM Team of the Year The European Sports Media (ESM), formerly European Sports Magazines, is an association of football-related publications in Europe. Members European Sports Media was established in 1989 as an international body for football journalism. Its nine fo ...
: 2014–15, 2018–19 * FIFA World Cup Fantasy Team: 2018 * IFFHS Men's World Team: 2018 *
IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...
All Time Belgium XI


See also

*
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps In men's association football, a cap is traditionally awarded in international football to a player making an official match appearance for their national team. In total, over 600 players have played in 100 or more international matches. The re ...
*
List of association football families This is a list of association football families. The countries are listed according to the national teams of the senior family member if the other family member played for a different country. If the senior members of the given member did not ...


References


External links


Eden Hazard
at
Real Madrid CF Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally worn ...
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazard, Eden 1991 births Living people People from La Louvière Footballers from Hainaut (province) Belgian footballers Association football wingers A.F.C. Tubize players Lille OSC players Chelsea F.C. players Real Madrid CF players Ligue 1 players Premier League players La Liga players FA Cup Final players UEFA Europa League winning players UEFA Champions League winning players Belgium youth international footballers Belgium 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 Century Club Belgian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Belgian expatriate sportspeople in France Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Walloon sportspeople Hazard family