Hans Vanaken

Hans Vanaken (born 24 August 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Belgian Pro League club Club Brugge and the Belgium national team. Vanaken is well known in Belgium for his prolific goal scoring ability despite playing in midfield.

Hans Vanaken

Vanaken with Lommel United in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Hans Vanaken[1]
Date of birth	(1992-08-24) 24 August 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	Pelt, Belgium
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)[2]
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team	Club Brugge
Number	20
Youth career
2002–2008	PSV Eindhoven
2008–2010	Lommel United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2013	Lommel United	80	(21)
2013–2015	Lokeren	76	(19)
2015–	Club Brugge	378	(109)
International career‡
2012	Belgium U20	2	(0)
2013–2014	Belgium U21	3	(0)
2018–	Belgium	26	(5)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:27, 9 August 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:01, 6 June 2025 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Vanaken began his career at the youth team of Lommel United before leaving the club to join the PSV Eindhoven academy in 2002 when the former declared bankruptcy.^[3] He returned to a revamped Lommel in 2008 and made his senior debut for the club in the Belgian Second Division in 2010.^[3] He caught the eye of a number of top division clubs after a string of standout performances for Lommel and joined Lokeren in 2013.^[3]

He made top flight debut for Lokeren on 28 July 2013, when he scored two goals in a 3–2 win against defending champions Anderlecht.^[3] Vanaken was instrumental in Lokeren's run to the final of the 2013–14 Belgian Cup, playing in six of their seven matches and scoring one goal as his side edged out Zulte Waregem for the title.^[4] Vanaken further excelled in his second season in the top flight, scoring eight league goals and finishing third in the voting for the Belgian Golden Shoe award.^[5]

Club Brugge

It was announced in May 2015 that Lokeren had reached an agreement with Club Brugge over the transfer of Vanaken to the latter with the player signing a five-year deal subject to a medical.^[5][6] His maiden season at Club Brugge came with a spot in the starting line-up, where he proved instrumental in helping the club lift their 14th league championship.^[3]

In 2018, Vanaken scored 21 goals and provided a further 21 assists as he helped his team to its 15th league title and the Belgian Supercup. On 16 January 2019, Vanaken won the Belgian Golden Shoe award after having won the Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year award in May 2018.^[7][8]

Vanaken signed a new contract with Brugge on 9 August 2019, tying him to the club until 2024.^[6]

On 11 December 2019, Vanaken scored Brugge's equalizing goal in their Champions League home match against Spanish club Real Madrid; but Brugge would eventually fall to a 3–1 defeat and be parachuted into the UEFA Europa League Round of 32.^[9][10]

Vanaken with Club Brugge against Red Bull Salzburg in the 2018–19 Europa League

On 15 January 2020, Vanaken became the first player since Jan Ceulemans in 1986 to win back-to-back Belgian Golden Shoe awards. Vanaken won the award on the back of 20 goals and 7 assists during 2019.^[11] Club Brugge would win their third title in five seasons when the 2019-20 campaign was halted in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with one round to go in the regular season. The play-offs were cancelled, and CLub were crowned champions by virtue of being top.

On 20 May 2021, Vanaken scored twice as Brugge drew 3–3 with rivals Anderlecht to retain the Belgian First Division A title, winning it for the fourth time in six years and 17th time overall.^[12] It was the first time since 1973 that Club Brugge had been crowned champions at Anderlecht's ground and the first time since 1976–77 and 1977–78 that Brugge had won back-to-back league titles.^[13]

Vanaken went on to help inspire Club to a third successive title in 2022, their first three-in-a-row since the 1970s, as they overhauled long-time leaders Union Saint-Gilloise in the play-offs, something that would happen again for Club's next title in 2023-24. On 6 November 2024, Vanaken scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in a 1-0 win over Aston Villa in the UEFA Champions League.^[14]

Vanaken won his third golden shoe in February 2025, which brought him level with Jan Ceulemans and Wilfried van Moer. Only Paul van Himst has won the award more times (4 times).^[15]

International career

Vanaken made his debut for the Belgium national team on 7 September 2018, replacing Eden Hazard in a 4–0 victory against Scotland at Hampden Park.^[16][17]

He scored his first two goals for Belgium on 30 March 2021, coming in an 8–0 win over Belarus in qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.^[18]

On 17 May 2021, Vanaken was one of two Belgium-based players to be selected for the final 26-man squad for the UEFA Euro 2020, along with club teammate Simon Mignolet.^[19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 12 August 2025^[4]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Belgian Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lommel United	2010–11	Belgian Second Division	16	1	0	0	–		–		16	1
	2011–12	Belgian Second Division	32	10	2	0	–		–		34	10
	2012–13	Belgian Second Division	32	10	0	0	–		–		32	10
	Total		80	21	2	0	–		–		82	21
Lokeren	2013–14	Belgian Pro League	39	11	6	1	–		–		45	12
	2014–15	Belgian Pro League	37	8	3	0	6[a]	2	1[b]	0	47	10
	Total		76	19	9	1	6	2	1	0	92	22
Club Brugge	2015–16	Belgian Pro League	36	10	6	2	8[c]	0	1[b]	0	51	12
	2016–17	Belgian Pro League	39	9	2	1	6[d]	0	1[b]	0	48	10
	2017–18	Belgian Pro League	39	11	5	3	4[e]	0	0	0	48	14
	2018–19	Belgian Pro League	40	14	1	0	8[d]	2	1[b]	1	50	17
	2019–20	Belgian Pro League	29	13	6	0	12[f]	4	–		47	17
	2020–21	Belgian Pro League	36	11	3	2	6[d]	3	–		45	16
	2021–22	Belgian Pro League	39	11	5	1	6[d]	3	0	0	50	15
	2022–23	Belgian Pro League	40	14	2	0	8[d]	0	1[b]	0	51	14
	2023–24	Belgian Pro League	38	5	5	0	16[g]	7	–		59	12
	2024–25	Belgian Pro League	39	10	6	1	12[d]	1	1[b]	0	58	12
	2025–26	Belgian Pro League	3	1	0	0	2[d]	1	1[b]	1	6	3
	Total		378	109	41	10	89	21	6	2	513	142
Career total			534	149	52	11	94	23	7	2	687	185

1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
2. Appearance in Belgian Super Cup
3. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
5. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Ten appearances and four goals in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
7. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 6 June 2025^[4]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Belgium	2018	2	0
	2019	2	0
	2020	4	0
	2021	9	3
	2022	6	2
	2025	3	0
Total		26	5

As of match played 29 March 2022

Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vanaken goal.

List of international goals scored by Hans Vanaken

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	30 March 2021	Den Dreef, Leuven, Belgium	9	Belarus	2–0	8–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	[20]
2					8–0
3	2 September 2021	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	12	Estonia	1–1	5–2	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	[21]
4	26 March 2022	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland	18	Republic of Ireland	2–1	2–2	Friendly	[22]
5	29 March 2022	Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Anderlecht, Belgium	19	Burkina Faso	1–0	3–0	Friendly	[23]

Honours

Lokeren^[4]

• Belgian Cup: 2013–14

Club Brugge^[4][6]

• Belgian Pro League: 2015–16, 2017–18,^[24] 2019–20, 2020–21,^[12] 2021–22, 2023–24^[25]
• Belgian Cup: 2024–25
• Belgian Super Cup: 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2025

Individual

• Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year: 2017–18, 2018–19^[26][6]
• Belgian Golden Shoe: 2018, 2019, 2024^[27][26][28]
• Belgian Pro League top assist provider: 2018–19
• Honorary Citizen of Lommel, Belgium: 2021^[29]
• UEFA Europa Conference League Team of the Season: 2023–24^[30]