Thibaut Courtois stands among the top goalkeepers of his era; however, he has had disagreements with various teammates over the years.

At higher levels of competition, conflicts tend to arise frequently, and Courtois is particularly prone to making news headlines regularly.

We've examined the Real Madrid goalkeeper more closely and discovered six players who have had conflicts with him for various reasons.

Koen Casteels

In Courtois' absence from the national team, Casteels stepped in as Belgium's primary choice for goalkeeper.

It wasn't until the Real Madrid player reversed his stance and opted to be available for international duty again after Domenico Tedesco, the previous Belgium coach, left office.

Casteels has been displeased with how easily the 32-year-old has managed to come back and as a result, he has chosen to leave the national team in objection.

"It's peculiar how the football association has completely reversed its stance and is now rolling out the red carpet and warmly embracing his return," Casteels said to MidMid.

I find it somewhat odd that Courtois gets to choose whether he can return.

Courtois has subsequently provided his account of what happened and has criticized Casteels' remarks in response.

"I can relate to Koen since he used to be at the top, and now I am coming back," the Real Madrid goalkeeper stated.

But the football association immediately expressed their desire for my return, so I became available once more. This wasn’t something I orchestrated entirely.

I have no idea what Koen is referring to regarding players who hold such views. Actually, if you can't be entirely honest, it’s better to remain silent.

Jordan Pickford

Following Belgium's 1-0 victory over England in the 2018 World Cup group stage, Courtois found it hard to pass up an opportunity to criticize England's goalkeeper.

"After the match, Courtois commented on Belgium's goal, saying, 'Goalkeeper Pickford is about 10 centimeters shorter than me,'" he stated.

I would have stopped it. He was preoccupied with kicking his legs around.

Pickford quickly responded by saying, "It doesn't matter to me whether I am the tallest goalkeeper."

Subsequently in the competition, Courtois attempted to mend his bridge with the Everton goalkeeper, stating that he didn't mean to ridicule him regarding his stature through his remarks.

This issue with Jordan — I feel compelled to address it since I've come across many different opinions. Let me be explicit: I have never made fun of his stature, and I want to ensure this point is understood, as ridiculing a goalie’s height would be out of bounds for me.

I merely mentioned that if he had gotten a bit closer, I could have stopped it since I'm 15 cm taller, but I didn't mock his height at all. He's an excellent goalkeeper, and I wanted to clarify this.

Kevin De Bruyne

It's widely known that De Bruyne has disagreements with his Belgian teammate.

The disagreement between them arose in 2013 when Courtois was accused of having an affair with De Bruyne’s girlfriend at the time.

Today, it appears that they've both moved beyond the drama, though it’s fair to say they aren’t particularly close friends.

Romelu Lukaku

In 2023, tensions emerged between Lukaku and Courtois following the decision to give the Belgian national team captaincy armband to Lukaku, who is a forward.

It is claimed Courtois felt disrespected after being denied the captaincy position and as a result, he decided to withdraw from Belgium’s European Championship qualifier against Estonia.

The goalkeeper stated that his absence was due to an injury; however, the ex-Belgium manager provided a contrasting account of the situation.

"We had agreed that Romelu would serve as captain for the Austria game and Thibaut for the Estonia clash. Initially, everything seemed to be in order. However, after the match, he felt hurt by this decision," Tedesco stated to reporters.

I am taken aback and astonished. This was not what I anticipated occurring.

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Diego Simeone

Courtois had some excellent seasons during his time on loan at Atletico Madrid, yet his personal relationship with Simeone has deteriorated over the years.

earlier in the season, they engaged in a verbal spat after the intense match between Atletico and Real Madrid in La Liga.

Courtois appeared to provoke the supporters at home by celebrating Eder Militão’s first goal in their direction. This led Atletico Madrid fans to throw various items at him, causing the match to be temporarily halted by the referee.

After the game, Simeone pointed the finger at Courtois and said: “If we provoke people, they get angry.

You can commemorate a goal, however, you shouldn't do so by gazing into the stands, mocking the spectators, or gesturing. Such behavior isn’t warranted, just as what ensued wasn’t.

Next, after their latest confrontation in the Champions League, Courtois couldn't help taking a shot at his previous coach.

"I'm tired of this constant victim mentality, constantly lamenting over such incidents," Courtois responded after Simeone expressed dissatisfaction with Julian Alvarez's disallowed penalty.

Gerard Pique

Considering how intense El Clasico matches can get, it's not surprising that Real Madrid and Barcelona players frequently exchange barbs through media outlets.

This situation occurred in 2022 when Pique stated that Real Madrid had defeated Barcelona solely through counter-attacks.

"They secured victory solely through counterattacks," Pique stated to journalists following Madrid's 3-2 win.

Courtois became the first player to respond to Pique's remarks by stating, "Our team doesn’t solely rely on playing through counterattacks."

We can accomplish anything; it all relies on our opponent.