Leandro Bacuna

Leandro Jones Johan Bacuna (born 22 August 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or right-back for TFF First League club Bandırmaspor. Born in the Netherlands and a former Dutch youth international, he represents the Curaçao national team.

Leandro Bacuna

Bacuna playing for Aston Villa in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Leandro Jones Johan Bacuna[1]
Date of birth	(1991-08-21) 21 August 1991 (age 33)[2]
Place of birth	Groningen, Netherlands
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder, right-back
Team information
Current team	Bandırmaspor
Youth career
2002–2009	Groningen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2013	Groningen	109	(14)
2013–2017	Aston Villa	116	(7)
2017–2019	Reading	59	(4)
2019–2022	Cardiff City	111	(4)
2022–2023	Watford	14	(0)
2023–2025	Groningen	64	(5)
2025–	Bandırmaspor	0	(0)
International career‡
2007–2008	Netherlands Antilles U20	5	(3)
2009–2010	Netherlands U19	10	(1)
2011–2013	Netherlands U21	10	(1)
2016–	Curaçao	62	(15)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10 June 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 21 June 2025 (UTC)

Club career

Groningen

On 30 October 2009, Bacuna made his first team debut for Groningen in an Eredivisie match against PSV.^[3] Bacuna has also played for Groningen's youth teams. On 6 November 2009, he scored his first goal for the first team in a league match against Heracles Almelo, an eventual 4–1 victory for Groningen.^[4]

Aston Villa

It was announced on 13 June 2013 that Bacuna had signed a three-year contract with Premier League club Aston Villa. Handed the number 7 shirt, Bacuna impressed many with his debut season for the Villains, despite constantly playing out of position at right back.^[5][6] Bacuna scored his first Premier League goal on 28 September at home to Manchester City. His second goal came from a free-kick in the claret and blues' 2–0 victory over Cardiff City. He continued his goalscoring run with goals against West Bromwich Albion, Everton and Norwich. ^{[citation needed]}

In the 2014–15 season, however, Bacuna found it harder to break into the starting line-up, starting just one game in the Premier League. On 15 February 2015, he scored the first of two Villa goals in the fifth round of the FA Cup in a 2–1 win over Leicester City, taking the club into the quarter-finals.^{[citation needed]}

On 20 August 2015, Bacuna signed a new long-term contract with the club.^[7]

Reading

On 13 August 2017, Bacuna moved to Reading, signing a four-year contract.^[8] He scored his first goal for Reading in an EFL Cup tie against Millwall on 22 August 2017.^[9]

Cardiff City

On 31 January 2019, Bacuna moved to Premier League side Cardiff City, signing a four-and-a-half-year deal for a transfer fee believed to be around £3 million.^[10][11] On 10 June 2022, Cardiff announced Bacuna would leave the club when his contract expired on 30 June.^[12]

Watford

On 14 December 2022, Bacuna signed for Championship club Watford on a contract until the end of the 2022–23 season.^[13]

International career

Born in the Netherlands to parents of Afro-Curaçaoan descent, Bacuna played for the Netherlands Antilles under-20 side, as well as various youth Dutch teams. He received his first Curaçao national team call-up in March 2016,^[14] earning his first cap in a 1–0 loss to Barbados.^[15]

Personal life

He is the older brother of fellow professional football player Juninho Bacuna.^[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 8 May 2023^[17][18]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Groningen	2009–10	Eredivisie	20	2	2	1	—		2[a]	0	24	3
	2010–11	Eredivisie	24	0	3	0	—		4[a]	2	31	2
	2011–12	Eredivisie	32	7	1	0	—		0	0	33	7
	2012–13	Eredivisie	33	5	3	0	—		2[a]	0	38	5
	Total		109	14	9	1	—		7	2	125	17
Aston Villa	2013–14[19]	Premier League	35	5	1	0	2	0	—		38	5
	2014–15[20]	Premier League	19	0	4	1	1	0	—		24	1
	2015–16[21]	Premier League	31	1	2	0	2	0	—		35	1
	2016–17[22]	Championship	30	1	1	0	0	0	—		31	1
	2017–18[23]	Championship	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		116	7	8	1	5	0	0	0	129	8
Reading	2017–18[23]	Championship	33	1	3	0	2	1	—		38	2
	2018–19[24]	Championship	26	3	0	0	2	0	—		28	3
	Total		60	4	3	0	4	1	—		66	5
Cardiff City	2018–19[24]	Premier League	11	0	0	0	0	0	—		11	0
	2019–20[25]	Championship	41	1	2	0	0	0	2[b]	0	45	1
	2020–21[26]	Championship	41	2	1	0	1	0	—		43	2
	2021–22[27]	Championship	15	1	0	0	0	0	—		15	1
	Total		109	4	2	0	1	0	2	0	114	4
Watford	2022–23[28]	Championship	14	0	1	0	0	0	—		15	0
Career total			407	29	27	6	10	1	9	2	449	35

1. Appearance(s) in Eredivisie play-offs
2. Appearance(s) in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 21 June 2025^[29]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Curaçao	2016	6	4
	2017	9	1
	2018	5	4
	2019	11	2
	2021	8	2
	2022	5	1
	2023	6	0
	2024	7	1
	2025	5	0
Total		62	15

As of match played 9 September 2024. Curaçao score listed first, score column indicates score after each Bacuna goal.^[29]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	7 June 2016	Ergilio Hato Stadium, Willemstad, Curaçao	4	U.S. Virgin Islands	4–0	7–0	2017 Caribbean Cup qualification
2	5 October 2016		5	Antigua and Barbuda	1–0	3–0
3	11 October 2016	Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium, Bayamón, Puerto Rico	6	Puerto Rico	2–2	4–2
4					4–2
5	10 October 2017	Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar	15	Qatar	1–1	2–1	Friendly
6	26 March 2018	Ergilio Hato Stadium, Willemstad, Curaçao	17	Bolivia	1–0	1–0
7	10 September 2018		18	Grenada	4–0	10–0	2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League qualification
8					7–0
9	12 October 2018	IMG Academy, Bradenton, United States	19	U.S. Virgin Islands	3–0	5–0
10	5 June 2019	Chang Arena, Buriram, Thailand	22	India	3–1	3–1	2019 King's Cup
11	21 June 2019	BBVA Stadium, Houston, United States	25	Honduras	1–0	1–0	2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup
12	28 March 2021	Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala	33	Cuba	1–0	2–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
13	5 June 2021	Estadio El Trébol, Guatemala City, Guatemala	34	British Virgin Islands	3–0	8–0
14	6 June 2022	Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	41	Honduras	1–0	2–1	2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League A
15	9 September 2024	Kirani James Athletic Stadium, St. George's, Grenada	53	Saint Martin	3–0	4–0	2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League B

Honours

Aston Villa^[30]

• FA Cup runner-up: 2014–15

Curaçao^[30]

• Caribbean Cup: 2017
• King's Cup: 2019