Lukas Hradecky facts for kids
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Hradecky with Bayer Leverkusen in 2022
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 24 November 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Bratislava, Czechoslovakia | ||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
|
Current team
|
Bayer Leverkusen | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2000 | TPK | ||
| 2001–2008 | TPS | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008 | TPS | 0 | (0) |
| 2008 | → ÅIFK (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2009–2013 | Esbjerg fB | 76 | (0) |
| 2013–2015 | Brøndby | 69 | (0) |
| 2015–2018 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 101 | (0) |
| 2018– | Bayer Leverkusen | 222 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2006 | Finland U17 | 1 | (0) |
| 2007 | Finland U18 | 11 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Finland U19 | 5 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Finland U20 | 2 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Finland U21 | 10 | (0) |
| 2010– | Finland | 101 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 May 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 June 2025 |
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Lukas Hradecky (born 24 November 1989) is a Finnish professional football player. He plays as a goalkeeper and is the captain for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. He also captains the Finland national team.
Lukas was born in Bratislava, which is now in Slovakia. He grew up in Turku, Finland, from when he was one year old. He started his senior football career playing for TPS. In 2009, when he was 19, he joined Esbjerg fB. He won his first trophy, the Danish 1st Division, in Denmark. In 2013, he helped Esbjerg win the Danish Cup.
The Football Association of Finland named Hradecky the Finnish Footballer of the Year three times in a row (2016 to 2018). In the 2023–24 season, Lukas Hradecky was the captain of Bayer Leverkusen. Under coach Xabi Alonso, he led the team to win their first ever Bundesliga championship title.
Hradecky played for Finland's national youth teams at many levels. He played for the under-17, under-18, under-19, under-20, and under-21 teams. He played his first game for the senior Finland team in May 2010 when he was 20. He played in nine of Finland's ten UEFA Euro 2020 qualification matches. He helped the national team play in the UEFA European Championship for the first time ever.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Starting at TPS
Hradecky began his football journey at Turun Palloseura (TPS) in Turku. This is the city where he grew up. In 2008, he played in a youth tournament in the Netherlands. He won an award there for being the best goalkeeper.
Playing for Esbjerg
On 10 January 2009, Hradecky moved to Esbjerg fB in Denmark. He signed a four-year contract with the team. In August 2010, he had a chance to try out for Manchester United. However, he decided to stay at Esbjerg to be their main goalkeeper. His contract with Esbjerg ended after the 2012–13 Superliga season.
Moving to Brøndby
On 12 June 2013, Hradecky joined Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF. He signed a four-year contract without a transfer fee. He played his first game for Brøndby in the Superliga on 21 June 2013.
Time at Eintracht Frankfurt
In August 2015, Hradecky moved from Brøndby to the German Bundesliga team Eintracht Frankfurt. The exact transfer fee was not made public. However, newspapers reported that Eintracht paid about €2.5 million for him. In the 2017–18 season, his last year with Eintracht, he was named the Bundesliga Goalkeeper of the Season. His team also won the DFB-Pokal title that year.
Success with Bayer Leverkusen
In May 2018, Bayer Leverkusen announced that Hradecky would join them for the 2018–19 season. He signed a contract until 2023. Hradecky played his first game for Leverkusen on 15 September 2018 against Bayern Munich. Since the 2021–22 season, Hradecky has been the captain of Leverkusen. On 6 August 2022, he was sent off in a game against Borussia Dortmund. This happened because he touched the ball with his hand outside his penalty box.
On 30 August 2022, Hradecky signed a new contract with Leverkusen. This deal keeps him with the club until June 2026.
Winning the Bundesliga Title
In the first half of the 2023–24 season, under coach Xabi Alonso, Hradecky helped his team start very strong. They led the Bundesliga and went 16 league games without losing. They were unbeaten in 25 games across all competitions. Hradecky kept seven clean sheets, which means he prevented the other team from scoring.
On 3 February 2024, in a 2–0 win against Darmstadt, Hradecky recorded his 80th clean sheet in 280 Bundesliga matches. This made him the foreign-born goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in the league's history. On 14 April 2024, after a 5–0 win against Werder Bremen, Hradecky and Leverkusen won the club's first ever Bundesliga championship title. They won it with five games left in the season.
A month later, on 5 May, he played his 292nd Bundesliga match. This was a 5–1 win against his old club Eintracht Frankfurt. He broke Yann Sommer's record to become the foreign goalkeeper with the most appearances in the German top league. On 12 May 2024, in a 5–0 win against VfL Bochum, Hradecky kept his 16th clean sheet of the season. He helped Leverkusen stay unbeaten for a record 50 games in the 2023–24 season.
Hradecky and Leverkusen also won the 2023–24 DFB-Pokal (German Cup). They kept a clean sheet by beating 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1–0 in the final on 25 May 2024. In June 2024, ESPN ranked Hradecky as the 9th best goalkeeper in the world.
On 17 August 2024, Hradecky and Leverkusen won the 2024 DFL-Supercup by beating VfB Stuttgart on penalties. This completed Leverkusen's first ever "triple" of trophies. On 19 October, Hradecky played his 300th Bundesliga game against his former club Eintracht Frankfurt. He became the first foreign goalkeeper to reach 300 appearances in the German top league. On 25 January 2025, after a 2–2 draw against RB Leipzig, Hradecky became only the second player in Bundesliga history to play at least 50 league matches in a row without losing. His unbeaten streak reached 54 matches.
International Career for Finland
Playing for Finland's Youth Teams
Hradecky played many games for Finland's national youth teams. He first played for a junior national team when he was 16 years old, on 16 November 2006. He was part of the Finland national under-20 football team. Hradecky was chosen for the Finland national under-21 football team for a big championship in 2009. However, he could not play because of a knee injury. He was the main goalkeeper for Finland's under-21 team during the 2011 UEFA European U21 Championship qualifiers.
Playing for the Senior Finland Team
In January 2010, Hradecky was called up to the Finland national football team. He made his first appearance for the senior team on 21 May 2010. He played his first UEFA European Championship qualification game on 3 June 2011. By autumn 2011, he became a regular player for the Finland national team. He played in several UEFA European Championship qualification matches.
Hradecky played in friendly matches before the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification. He started in the first qualification match against France.
Hradecky was called up for a friendly match before UEFA Euro 2020 on 29 May 2021. He played in all three international games at the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. Finland finished 3rd in their group and was knocked out of the tournament. Hradecky was named the best goalkeeper of the group stage.
On 7 June 2025, Hradecky played his 100th international game for Finland. This was a World Cup qualifying match against the Netherlands.
Personal Life and Interests
Lukas Hradecky was born in the Kramáre area of Bratislava. In September 1990, his father, who was a volleyball player, moved to Finland. He started playing for a team in Turku. That winter, Lukas's family settled in Runosmäki, Finland. His brothers, Tomas and Matej, are also professional football players.
Hradecky has dual citizenship for both Finland and Slovakia. He can speak Finnish, Slovak, English, Danish, German, and Swedish.
In January 2024, it was reported that Hradecky had invested in a restaurant business in Helsinki. He did this with fellow footballer Teemu Pukki and his brother Matej. Hradecky has also been a small shareholder in his former club, Turun Palloseura (TPS). In mid-August 2024, it was reported that Hradecky increased his share. He is now one of the club's main owners. He also started working as an advisor for the TPS board.
Career Statistics
Club Appearances
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| TPS | 2008 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Åbo IFK (loan) | 2008 | Kakkonen | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||
| Esbjerg fB | 2009–10 | Danish Superliga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | Danish Superliga | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| 2011–12 | Danish 1st Division | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 0 | |||
| 2012–13 | Danish Superliga | 33 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 0 | |||
| Total | 74 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 81 | 0 | ||||
| Brøndby | 2013–14 | Danish Superliga | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | Danish Superliga | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 37 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Danish Superliga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| Total | 69 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | – | 79 | 0 | |||
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 2015–16 | Bundesliga | 34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | Bundesliga | 33 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 39 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18 | Bundesliga | 34 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 0 | |||
| Total | 101 | 0 | 15 | 0 | — | — | 116 | 0 | ||||
| Bayer Leverkusen | 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 40 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 34 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | 50 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 37 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 41 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23 | Bundesliga | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 | — | 48 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | Bundesliga | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 35 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25 | Bundesliga | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 | |
| Total | 222 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 47 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 286 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 476 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 55 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 572 | 0 | ||
International Appearances
| National team | Year | Competitive | Friendly | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Finland | 2010 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2011 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 75 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 101 | 0 | |
Honours and Awards
Esbjerg fB
- Danish Cup: 2012–13
- Danish 1st Division: 2011–12
Eintracht Frankfurt
- DFB-Pokal: 2017–18
Bayer Leverkusen
- Bundesliga: 2023–24
- DFB-Pokal: 2023–24
- DFL-Supercup: 2024
Finland National Team
- Baltic Cup runner-up: 2012
Individual Awards
- Football Association of Finland Promising Player of the Year: 2007
- Football Association of Finland: Finnish Footballer of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2024
- Best Goalkeeper Award at International Karel Stegeman U-19 Youth Tournament: 2008
- Finland national under-21 football team Goalkeeper of the Year: 2010
- Finland national under-21 football team Player of the Year: 2010
- Danish Superliga Goalkeeper of the Year: 2013
- Danish Superliga Best Player of the Spring Season: 2013
- Esbjerg fB Best Player of the Season: 2013
- Finnish Sports Journalists Footballer of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023
- Finnish Sports Personality of the Year: 2020
- Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2017–18
See also
In Spanish: Lukáš Hrádecký para niños
- List of European association football families
- List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
