Konstantinos Karetsas


Konstantinos Karetsas is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Belgian Pro League club Racing Genk. Born in Belgium, he represents the Greece national team.

Club career

Karetsas came through the system at his home town club Genk before spending three years at Anderlecht. He then returned to Genk in January 2023.
He made his professional debut as a fifteen year-old for Jong Genk in the opening game of the 2023–24 season. He scored three goals in his first seven league games. When he scored his first professional goal on 1 September 2023, in the Challenger Pro League against RSCA Futures, he became the youngest goalscorer in Belgian pro-league history.
After a few strong months at Jong Genk, Karetsas was promoted to Genk's first team in February 2024 together with teammate Noah Adedeji-Sternberg. He was given his official debut by coach Wouter Vrancken in the league match against Cercle Brugge on 4 May. In the 88th minute, Karetsas came on for Bilal El Khannouss. Two weeks later, interim head coach Domenico Olivieri give him a first-team start for the first time for the league match against Royal Antwerp and in the 28th minute, he provided the assist for the only goal of the game, scored by Andi Zeqiri.
Karetsas continued to impress in the opening weeks of the 2024–25 season, while still 16 years old, and was selected among The Guardian's 60 best young talents in world football selection for 2024.

International career

Karetsas was born in Belgium to Greek parents. He chose to represent the Greek international team. He is a former Belgian youth international.
Karetsas was selected by the Belgian Under-21s for European qualifiers against Scotland and Hungary in October 2024, coming on as a substitute in the latter match for this debut at that level.
In March 2025, FIFA approved the change of association Karetsas could represent from Belgium to Greece. He made his international debut as a substitute against Scotland on 20 March 2025 during the Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs. Three days later, he scored his first goal in a 3–0 away win against the same opponent, at the age of 17 years and 124 days, making him the youngest scorer in Greece's history as well as Nation League's history.

Career statistics

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
123 March 2025Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland2–03–02024–25 UEFA Nations League
25 September 2025Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece1–05–12026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
315 November 2025Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece2–03–22026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers