Matěj Kovář (born 17 May 2000) is a Czech professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

and the Czech Republic national team. Kovář joined the Manchester United youth system in 2018, from Czech club 1. FC Slovácko. He spent time on loan at

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

, where he made his senior debut, Burton Albion and

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

. A former Czech youth international, Kovář represented his country from under-18 to under-21 level.

Club career

Manchester United

Kovář began his career with 1. FC Slovácko in his native Czech Republic, but moved to England to join

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in January 2018 at the age of 17. After being an unused substitute for the under-19s in a 2017–18 UEFA Youth League match against rivals

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on 21 February 2018, he made his debut for the club's under-18s side in a 4–1 league win at home to Everton three days later. He played in all but two of the team's remaining matches that season, replacing Alex Fojtíček as first-choice goalkeeper. Kovář was again the first-choice goalkeeper for the reserve team the following season, playing in 17 of their 22 league matches; he also played in six of the seven matches for the under-19s in the

2018–19 UEFA Youth League The 2018–19 UEFA Youth League was the sixth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played on 29 April 2019 at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland, between English sid ...

. In 2019–20, he played in 11 of the 17 league matches the reserves played before the season was curtailed by the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...

, as well as all four matches they played in the 2019–20 EFL Trophy, in which they came up against the senior sides of the teams in

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

and

Two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and the only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many ...

. His performances for the reserves earned him a new contract with the club, signed in October 2019. With the first team's qualification for the knockout phase of the

2019–20 UEFA Europa League The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League was the 49th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Sevilla FC, Sevill ...

secure, manager

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who currently manages Süper Lig club Beşiktaş. He spent the majority of his playing career with Manchester United and made 67 appea ...

selected a young team for their matchday 5 game against

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

in Kazakhstan on 28 November 2019; Kovář was named on the bench as back-up for

Lee Grant Lee Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal; October 31, during the mid-1920s) is an American actress, documentarian, and director. In a career spanning over seven decades, she won an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Directors Guil ...

, but did not play in the match. Ahead of the 2020–21 season, Kovář moved on loan to

in August 2020. He made his debut on 5 September 2020, in a 3–1 defeat against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. In January 2021, Kovář was recalled by Manchester United after making 21 appearances for Swindon. Kovář was named in United's final Premier League squad submitted after the end of the transfer deadline for the 2021–22 season. On 31 January 2022, Kovář signed a new contract with United until June 2023 and moved on loan to Burton Albion until the end of the season. On 9 September 2022, Kovář moved on loan to Czech club

. He made his debut on 10 September 2022, in a 2–2 away draw against

FK Teplice FK Teplice is a Czech professional football club based in the city of Teplice. The club competes in Czech First League, the top tier of Czech football. The club was founded after World War II in 1945. The club advanced to the Czechoslovak First ...

in the

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

. Kovář helped the club to win its first championship title since 2014. He was awarded as the goalkeeper of the 2022–23 season by League Football Association (LFA).

Bayer Leverkusen

On 15 August 2023, Kovář signed a four-year contract with German

club

. A transfer fee of up to £7.7 million, including add-ons, was agreed between United and Leverkusen.

International career

Kovář has represented the Czech Republic at under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 youth levels. He was a member of the Czech squad at the

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Association ...

in March 2021, but did not make any appearances in the tournament. He made his debut for the under-21 team in September 2021 against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. Kovář was first called up to the Czech Republic senior team on 8 September 2021 for a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

after

Tomáš Vaclík Tomáš Vaclík (; born 29 March 1989) is a Czech professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Portuguese Primeira Liga club Boavista F.C., Boavista and the Czech Republic nationa ...

suffered an injury. He debuted on 26 March 2024 in a friendly match against

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. On 29 May 2024, Kovář was included in the final Czech squad for the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

, making his competitive debut in a 1–2 loss against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

which led the Czech Republic to be eliminated from group stage.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Sparta Prague *

: 2022–23 Bayer Leverkusen *

: 2023–24 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 2023–24 *

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual *

Goalkeeper of the Season: 2022–23

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovar, Matej 2000 births Living people Footballers from Uherské Hradiště Czech men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Czech Republic men's youth international footballers Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Czech Republic men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2024 players 1. FC Slovácko players Manchester United F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players AC Sparta Prague players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players English Football League players Czech First League players Bundesliga players Czech expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Czech expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany 21st-century Czech sportsmen