Sven Kums (born 26 February 1988) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Gent. He represented Belgium internationally at youth levels U18 through U21.

Sven Kums
Kums with Gent
Personal information
Date of birth (1988-02-26) 26 February 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Asse, Belgium
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Gent
Number 24
Youth career
1995–1996 Dilbeek Sport
1996–2006 Anderlecht
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Anderlecht 0 (0)
2007Lierse (loan) 14 (1)
2008Kortrijk (loan) 16 (5)
2008–2011 Kortrijk 100 (10)
2011–2013 Heerenveen 69 (4)
2013–2014 Zulte Waregem 29 (4)
2014–2016 Gent 65 (14)
2016–2017 Watford 0 (0)
2016–2017Udinese (loan) 29 (0)
2017–2020 Anderlecht 66 (5)
2019–2020Gent (loan) 22 (1)
2020– Gent 151 (8)
International career
2005 Belgium U18 3 (1)
2006–2007 Belgium U19 6 (0)
2008–2009 Belgium U20 2 (0)
2008–2010 Belgium U21 12 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:02, 18 June 2012 (UTC)

Club career

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Early career

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Born in Asse, Kums began his career at Dilbeek Sport, before joining Anderlecht in 1996.[citation needed]

Anderlecht

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He played in the youth and reserve teams for 10 years, and in 2006 he became part of the first team. In the first half of the 2006–07 season he did not feature in a single first team game. He was hoping to finally get a chance to play for Anderlecht's first team, but ended up playing for the second team every week.

Lierse (loan)

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In January 2007, Kums moved to Lierse S.K. on loan.[1] He made his debut in professional football on 10 February 2007 against FC Brussels. Kums played 14 games during his loan spell, scoring one goal. Lierse were relegated, and Kums returned to Anderlecht.

Kortrijk (loan)

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In January 2008 he joined Second Division team K.V. Kortrijk on loan. There, Kums played 16 games, scoring 5 goals, helping KVK win the title and secure promotion to the Belgian Pro League.

Kortrijk

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In June 2008, Kortrijk signed him to a permanent deal.[2]

Heerenveen

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In March 2011, sc Heerenveen announced that Kums would join their team for the 2011–12 season, the transfer fee was rumoured to be around €500.000. He played his first match in the Eredivisie on 6 August 2011 against NEC.

After two relatively successful seasons with Heerenveen, Kums returned to Belgium, signing a three-season deal with SV Zulte Waregem.

Zulte Waregem

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He signed for Zulte Waregem in 2013. In one season for Essevee, he played 41 games, scoring 5 goals. The team finished 4th, and Kums' performances didn't go unnoticed.

Gent

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On 1 July 2014, KAA Gent announced that Kums would join their squad that summer, signing a four-year contract. Kums had a successful season, and for the first time in club history, Ghent became Belgian champions.

Watford and Udinese

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On 29 August 2016, Kums was sold to Watford but immediately sent on a season-long loan deal to Udinese.[3][4][5]

Return to Anderlecht

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On 2 June 2017, it was announced that Anderlecht acquired Kums from Watford. In his debut against Bayern Munich away in the UEFA Champions League, he was sent off after just 11 minutes.[6]

Gent (loan)

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On 21 August 2019, he rejoined Gent on loan.[7]

International career

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On 5 September 2008, Kums made his debut for the Belgium U21 national team against Slovakia.[8]

On 2 October 2015, senior national team coach Marc Wilmots announced that he would call up Kums, along with teammates Matz Sels and Laurent Depoitre, for the international games against Andorra and Israel.[9]

Personal life

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His father Ludo Kums is youth coach at his current club R.S.C. Anderlecht.

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 26 December 2024[10]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[a] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Lierse (loan) 2006–07 Belgian Pro League 14 1 0 0 14 1
Kortrijk (loan) 2007–08 Belgian Second Division 16 5 2 0 18 5
Kortrijk 2008–09 Belgian Pro League 33 7 3 0 36 7
2009–10 29 1 4 0 9[b] 0 42 1
2010–11 28 2 2 0 1[b] 0 31 2
Kortrijk total 106 15 11 0 10 0 127 15
Heerenveen 2011–12 Eredivisie 33 2 5 1 38 3
2012–13 32 2 3 0 4[c] 0 39 2
2013–14 4 0 0 0 4 0
Total 69 4 8 1 4 0 81 5
Zulte Waregem 2013–14 Belgian Pro League 21 3 6 1 6[c] 0 8[b] 1 41 5
Gent 2014–15 Belgian Pro League 17 0 3 0 9 1 29 1
2015–16 30 12 4 1 8[d] 2 10[e] 1 52 16
2016–17 5 0 0 0 3[c] 0 8 0
Total 52 12 7 1 11 2 19 2 89 17
Udinese (loan) 2016–17 Serie A 29 0 0 0 29 0
Anderlecht 2017–18 Belgian Pro League 25 0 2 0 5[d] 0 11[f] 0 43 0
2018–19 21 5 1 0 3[c] 0 10[b] 0 35 5
Total 46 5 3 0 8 0 21 0 78 5
Gent 2019–20 Belgian Pro League 22 1 1 0 9[c] 0 32 1
2020–21 30 3 2 0 7[g] 0 6[b] 0 45 3
2021–22 32 0 5 1 11[h] 2 6[b] 0 54 3
2022–23 32 2 1 0 13[i] 1 7[j] 1 53 4
2023–24 23 1 3 1 12[h] 0 7[k] 0 45 2
2024–25 12 1 1 0 10[h] 1 0 0 23 2
Total 151 8 13 2 62 4 26 1 252 15
Career total 488 48 48 5 91 6 84 4 711 63
  1. ^ Includes Belgian Cup, KNVB Cup
  2. ^ a b c d e f Appearance(s) in play-off
  3. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ One appearance in the Belgian Super Cup, nine appearances and one goal in play-off
  6. ^ One appearance in the Belgian Super Cup, ten appearances in play-off
  7. ^ One appearance in the UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League
  8. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in UEFA Conference League
  9. ^ Two appearances in the UEFA Europa League, eleven appearances and one goal in UEFA Conference League
  10. ^ One appearance in the Belgian Super Cup, six appearances and one goal in play-off
  11. ^ Appearances in play-off

Honours

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Gent

Anderlecht

  • Belgian Super Cup: 2017

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Sven Kums transfers op de transfermarkt".
  2. ^ "Tonight at h Club Brugge KV Kortrijk". www.clubbrugge.be. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011.
  3. ^ "Kums è un giocatore dell'Udinese!". www.udinese.it (in Italian). Udinese Calcio. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Official: Udinese take Kums on loan | Football Italia". www.football-italia.net. Football Italia. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Udinese, Kums è ufficiale. Arriva in prestito dal Gent". www.gazzetta.it (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "WELKOM SVEN!" (Press release) (in Dutch). Gent. 21 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ "Belgium make sweeping changes for Euro 2016 double-header". Sky Sports. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  10. ^ Sven Kums at Soccerway
  11. ^ "Kums in de voetsporen van Van Himst". Sport.be (in Dutch). 5 March 2016.
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