Matz Sels

Matz Sels

Sels playing for Gent in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Matz Willy Els Sels [1]
Date of birth	(1992-02-26) 26 February 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	Lint, Belgium
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Nottingham Forest
Number	26
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2014	Lierse	30	(0)
2014–2016	Gent	94	(0)
2016–2018	Newcastle United	9	(0)
2017–2018	→ Anderlecht (loan)	32	(0)
2018–2024	Strasbourg	164	(0)
2024–	Nottingham Forest	11	(0)
International career‡
2009	Belgium U17	2	(0)
2009–2010	Belgium U18	8	(0)
2010–2011	Belgium U19	5	(0)
2012–2014	Belgium U21	3	(0)
2021–	Belgium	8	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 April 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2024

Matz Willy Els Sels (born 26 February 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and the Belgium national team.

Club career

Lierse SK

Sels started his youth career at Kontich, and transferred to Lierse at the age of seven. Over there, he made his first-team debut in 2010. After the departure of Eiji Kawashima to Standard Liège in the summer of 2012, Sels became the first choice keeper. In his first game in the First Division, on 29 July 2012 against Gent, he saved a penalty. At the start of the 2013–14 season, when he refused to sign a new contract, he was demoted to the second team.

Gent

On 31 December 2013, it was announced that Sels would complete a transfer to K.A.A. Gent once the transfer window opened. He would become the number one goalkeeper as Frank Boeckx's contract was due to expire at the end of the season. Sels made his debut for Gent on 14 January 2014 against K.V. Kortrijk, in the quarter-finals of the Belgian Cup. He helped Gent qualify for the next round after penalties; with the game ending 1–1 on aggregate.

Sels played a key role in helping Gent become champions of the 2014–15 Belgian Pro League, the first national championship in the club's history. This triumph allowed Gent to qualify for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League.

On his Champions League debut Sels dramatically saved an Alexandre Lacazette penalty to help his side secure a 1–1 draw with Olympique Lyonnais. ^[2] On 13 January 2016 he was voted Best Goalkeeper of Belgium 2015. ^[3]

Newcastle United

On 29 June 2016, Sels completed a transfer to Premier League club Newcastle United on a five-year contract for a reported transfer fee of £6.5 million. Sels made his Newcastle debut in the Championship on 5 August against Fulham. ^[4] Sels kept a run of four clean sheets spanning 20 August to 13 September. ^[5] Sels came under considerable fire from Newcastle fans for allowing a late equaliser from Aaron Tshibola at Aston Villa on 24 September. ^[6] Despite receiving endorsement from manager Rafa Benítez during the week, ^[7] Sels lost his place in the lineup to Karl Darlow against Norwich City on 28 September. ^[8] His displacement from the lineup also received notable media coverage in his native Belgium. ^[9] When Newcastle's next League Cup tilt came up, it was Sels who got the start, enjoying a clean sheet in a 6–0 victory over Preston North End on 25 October. ^[10]

Loan to Anderlecht

On 22 June 2017, Sels signed for Anderlecht on a season-long loan. ^[11]

Strasbourg

On 27 July 2018, Sels moved to Ligue 1 side RC Strasbourg Alsace for £3.5 million. ^[12]

Nottingham Forest

On 1 February 2024, Sels moved to Nottingham Forest. ^[13] He made his Premier League debut for Forest 3 days later, in a 1–1 draw away to Bournemouth. ^[14] On 2 March, Sels made a point-blank save in a match against Liverpool that earned him the Premier League Save of the Month award. By achieving that honour, he became the first ever Nottingham Forest player to win a Premier League monthly award. ^[15]

International career

Sels was called up to the Belgium squad in October 2015 for Euro 2016 qualifiers against Andorra and Israel. ^[16] He was named in the Roberto Martinez Belgian squad for the friendly against Saudi Arabia in Brussels on 27 March. ^[17]

In May 2018 he was named in Belgium's preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. ^[18] However, he did not make the final 23. ^[19]

In May 2021, Sels was named in Belgium's provisional squad for the rescheduled UEFA Euro 2020. ^[20]

He made his debut on 3 June 2021 in a friendly against Greece, coming on as a substitute for Simon Mignolet in the 90th minute. ^[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 April 2024 ^{[22] [23]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		League cup [lower-alpha 2]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lierse	2010–11	Belgian Pro League	0	0	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
	2011–12	Belgian Pro League	0	0	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
	2012–13	Belgian Pro League	30	0	1	0	—		—		—		31	0
	Total		30	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	0
Gent	2013–14	Belgian Pro League	9	0	3	0	—		—		6 [lower-alpha 3]	0	18	0
	2014–15	Belgian Pro League	30	0	6	0	—		—		9 [lower-alpha 3]	0	45	0
	2015–16	Belgian Pro League	30	0	4	0	—		8 [lower-alpha 4]	0	11 [lower-alpha 5]	0	53	0
	Total		69	0	13	0	0	0	8	0	26	0	116	0
Newcastle United	2016–17	Championship	9	0	3	0	2	0	—		—		14	0
Anderlecht (loan)	2017–18	Belgian Pro League	22	0	1	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 4]	0	11 [lower-alpha 5]	0	37	0
Strasbourg	2018–19	Ligue 1	37	0	1	0	0	0	–		–		38	0
	2019–20	Ligue 1	27	0	2	0	0	0	6 [lower-alpha 6]	0	–		35	0
	2020–21	Ligue 1	6	0	0	0	–		–		–		6	0
	2021–22	Ligue 1	37	0	1	0	–		–		–		38	0
	2022–23	Ligue 1	38	0	1	0	–		–		–		39	0
	2023–24	Ligue 1	20	0	0	0	–		–		–		20	0
	Total		165	0	5	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	176	0
Nottingham Forest	2023–24	Premier League	11	0	0	0	–		–		–		11	0
Career total			306	0	23	0	2	0	17	0	37	0	385	0

1. Includes Belgian Cup, FA Cup, Coupe de France
2. Includes EFL Cup
3. Appearances in Belgian Pro League play-offs
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
5. Ten appearances in Belgian Pro League play-offs, one appearance in Belgian Super Cup
6. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 26 March 2024 ^[24]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Belgium	2021	1	0
	2022	1	0
	2023	4	0
	2024	2	0
Total		8	0

Honours

Gent

• Belgian Pro League: 2014–15
• Belgian Super Cup: 2015 ^[25]

Newcastle United

• EFL Championship: 2016–17

Anderlecht

• Belgian Super Cup: 2017

Strasbourg

• Coupe de la Ligue: 2018–19 ^[26]

Individual

• Belgian Professional Goalkeeper of the Season: 2015–16
• Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Season: 2021–22 ^[27]
• Premier League Save of the Month: March 2024 ^[28]

References

1. "Latest updated Premier League squad lists for 2023/24". Premier League. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
2. "Nine-man Gent claim heroic 1–1 draw with Lyon in Group H". The Guardian. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
3. "Matz Sels weer trapje hoger: Beste doelman van 2015". HLN. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
4. Starforth, Miles (5 August 2016). "Matz Sels starts in goal for Newcastle at Fulham". The Shields Gazette. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
5. Robertson, Jim (24 September 2016). "The case of Matz Sels is a strange one". The Mag.
6. Banerjee, Rohan (25 September 2016). "Newcastle United goalkeeper Matz Sels deletes Twitter account after abuse from angry supporters". Daily Mirror.
7. "Rafa Benitez backs goalkeeper Matz Sels after error". Sky Sports. 27 September 2016.
8. Wilson, Scott (28 September 2016). "Newcastle boss drops Matz Sels for Norwich game". The Northern Echo.
9. Douglas, Mark (4 October 2016). "Matz Sels is down, but not out – how Newcastle goalkeeper plans to revive his United career". Evening Chronicle.
10. "Coach én fans lovend voor herboren Matz Sels: "Alles positief aan zijn match"" [Coach and fans laud reborn Matz Sels: "Everything positive in his match"]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 26 October 2016.
11. Easterby, Tom (22 June 2017). "Sels makes Anderlecht loan move". Newcastle United F.C.
12. "Newcastle confirm departure of Matz Sels to Strasbourg". Sky Sports. 26 July 2018.
13. "FOREST COMPLETE MATZ SELS SIGNING". Nottingham Forest F.C. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
14. "Bournemouth 1-1 Nottingham Forest: Justin Kluivert and Callum Hudson-Odoi score in draw". BBC Sport . 4 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
15. "Sels makes history with Castrol Save of the Month award". Premier League. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
16. "Belgium make sweeping changes for Euro 2016 double-header". Sky Sports. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
17. "Limbombe gets first Belgium call, Nainggolan back in the squad". Yahoo. 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
18. "Belgium World Cup squad: Radja Nainggolan left out of initial 28-man squad for Russia 2018" . The Independent. 21 May 2018. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
19. "World Cup 2018: Belgium include Vincent Kompany but Christian Benteke misses out". BBC Sport. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
20. Das, Andrew (18 May 2021). "Euro 2020 Rosters: France Recalls Karim Benzema". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
21. "Belgium v Greece game report". ESPN. 3 June 2021.
22. "Matz Sels » Club matches". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
23. Matz Sels at Soccerway. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
24. "Matz Sels". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
25. "Gent v Club Brugge Starting XIs, Jul 16, 2015". goal.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
26. "Le Strasbourg de Matz Sels remporte la Coupe de la Ligue pour la 3e fois de son histoire" (in French). RTL Sport. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
27. "Matz Sels (Strasbourg) meilleur gardien de la saison en L1 pour les entraîneurs des gardiens" (in French).
28. "Sels makes history with Castrol Save of the Month award". Premier League. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.

External links

• Profile at the Nottingham Forest F.C. website
• Matz Sels at the Royal Belgian Football Association
• Matz Sels – UEFA competition record ( archive )