Thibaut Courtois is one of the best goalkeepers of his generation, although he has fallen out with several of his teammates throughout the years.
When it comes to high-level spots, bust-ups are usually quite common and Courtois especially tends to be in the headlines quite often.
We’ve taken a closer look at the Real Madrid shot-stopper and have found six stars who’ve had beef with him for one reason or another.
Koen Casteels
During Courtois’ absence from the national squad, Casteels took his place as Belgium’s first-choice goalkeeper.
That was until the Real Madrid star made a U-turn on his position and decided to make himself available for international selection, following the dismissal of former Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco.
Casteels has been miffed by how seamlessly the 32-year-old has been able to return and he’s now decided to quit the national team in protest.
“It’s strange that the football association has turned 180 degrees and is rolling out the red carpet and welcoming him back with open arms,” Casteels told MidMid.
“I think it’s a bit strange that Courtois can decide for himself whether he can come back.”
Courtois has since given his version of events and has hit out at Casteels’ comments in the process.
“I can understand Koen, because he was number one and now I’m returning,” the Real Madrid goalkeeper explained.
“But the football association wanted me back from the start, so I made myself available again. It’s not like I arranged all this myself.
“I don’t know what Koen is talking about when he says there are still players who think like that. In fact, if you don’t tell the whole truth, you should keep quiet.”
Jordan Pickford
After Belgium beat England 1-0 in the 2018 World Cup group stages, Courtois couldn’t resist having a dig at England’s number one.
“The goalkeeper [Pickford] is 10cm smaller than me,” Courtois said after the game when discussing Belgium’s goal.
“I would have caught it. He was too busy throwing his legs in the air.”
Pickford promptly fired back and said: “I don’t care if I’m not the biggest keeper.”
Later in the tournament, Courtois did try and smooth his relationship with the Everton goalkeeper as he claimed he wasn’t trying to mock him with his comments about his height.
“This thing about Jordan – I want to say and clarify it because I heard a lot of stuff. I never mocked his height, I want to make that clear, because I would never mock the height of a goalkeeper.
“I only said that, because he got a touch, I would have saved it because I am 15cm taller, but I never mocked his height. He is a great goalkeeper. I want to make that clear.”
Kevin De Bruyne
It’s been well-documented that De Bruyne doesn’t see eye-to-eye with his Belgium teammate.
The rift between the pair came in 2013 when Courtois had an alleged affair with De Bruyne’s girlfriend at the time.
Nowadays it seems as if they have both moved past the drama, but safe to say they aren’t the best of pals.
Romelu Lukaku
Back in 2023, tensions between Lukaku and Courtois arose after the striker was handed the Belgium captain’s armband.
Courtois reportedly felt disrespected when not given the captaincy role and he subsequently pulled out of Belgium’s European Championship qualifier against Estonia.
The goalkeeper claimed this was because of an injury, but the former Belgium manager gave a different version of events.
“We had decided that Romelu would be captain against Austria and Thibaut against Estonia. Everything was fine. After the match, he felt offended by that,” Tedesco told reporters.
“I’m surprised and shocked. I didn’t expect something like this to happen.”
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Diego Simeone
Courtois enjoyed some fabulous years while on loan at Atletico Madrid, but his personal relationship with Simeone has soured over the years.
Earlier this season, the pair got into a war of words following Atletico’s heated clash with Real Madrid in La Liga.
Courtois seemed to rile up the home fans by celebrating Eder Militao’s opening goal in front of them. Atletico fans then pelted the goalkeeper with several objects and the game was briefly suspended by the referee.
After the game, Simeone pointed the finger at Courtois and said: “If we provoke people, they get angry.
“You can celebrate a goal, but not by looking at the stands, taunting them and making gestures. It is not justified, but neither is what followed.”
Then, following their recent clash in the Champions League, Courtois couldn’t resist having a pop at his former manager.
“I’m sick of this victimhood, always crying about things like this,” Courtois said in response to Simeone being unhappy about Julian Alvarez’s disallowed penalty.
Gerard Pique
Given how heated El Clasico can be, it’s no wonder that Real Madrid and Barcelona players often fire shots and one another in the press.
That was certainly the case in 2022 when Pique claimed Real Madrid had only beaten Barcelona by playing on the counter-attack.
“They’ve won the game only by counterattacking, that’s it,” Pique told reporters after Madrid claimed a 3-2 triumph.
Courtois was the first player to bite back at Pique’s comments as he said: “We are not this kind of team who only play through counterattacks.
“We can do everything. It all depends on the rival.”