Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois (born 11 May 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Real Madrid. He is widely considered the best goalkeeper in the world when fit. Standing at 2 meters tall, he combines immense reach with elite reflexes. His performance in the 2022 Champions League Final against Liverpool (making 9 saves) is regarded as the greatest goalkeeping performance in a European final ever. Courtois missed most of the 2023-24 season with an ACL injury but returned just in time to win the 2024 Champions League final, proving his elite mentality. In 2024, he publicly quit the Belgium national team due to a rift with coach Domenico Tedesco over the captaincy, stating he would not return while Tedesco was in charge.