 Coufal warming up withWest Ham United in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vladimír Coufal[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1992-08-22)22 August 1992 (age 32) | ||
| Place of birth | Ludgeřovice, Czechoslovakia | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Right-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | West Ham United | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Baník Ostrava | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2010 | Bílovec | ||
| 2010–2012 | Hlučín | 14 | (0) |
| 2012 | →Opava (loan) | 13 | (1) |
| 2012–2018 | Slovan Liberec | 118 | (3) |
| 2018–2020 | Slavia Prague | 65 | (6) |
| 2020– | West Ham United | 140 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2014 | Czech Republic U21 | 2 | (0) |
| 2017– | Czech Republic | 53 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:35, 3 February 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:36, 25 March 2025 (UTC) | |||
Vladimír Coufal (Czech pronunciation:[ˈvlaɟɪmiːrˈtsoufal]; born 22 August 1992) is a Czech professionalfootballer who plays as aright-back forPremier League clubWest Ham United and theCzech Republic national team. He has previously played for Bílovec,Hlučín,Opava,Slovan Liberec andSlavia Prague.
Coufal began his career at local clubBaník Ostrava, playing in the club's academy, before being released at the age of 17 as he was considered to be too small.[3] In 2009, following his release from Baník Ostrava, Coufal joined amateur club ŠSK Bílovec. He believed Baník had destroyed his opportunity to become a professional footballer and described his time with Bílovec as playing "with 40-year-old men. These guys played for sausages and beer after the game, just to drink after work".[3][4]
Coufal began his professional career withHlučín, making his debut againstDukla Prague in September 2010 in2. Liga just after his 18th birthday.[5] During the 2010–11 season, Coufal made 14 appearances for the club.[6]
Coufal spent the 2011–12 season on loan with 2. Liga clubOpava where he made 13 appearances and scored one goal for the club.[6]
After impressing in the second division with Hlučín and Opava, Coufal was signed byCzech First League clubSlovan Liberec in 2012, following a trial withSparta Prague, who saw Coufal as a replacement for the outgoingOndřej Kušnír, who had joined Liberec himself in the summer of 2012. Despite playing for Sparta Prague in a pre-seasonfriendly againstViktoria Žižkov, Sparta opted to signPablo Gil over Coufal.[7]
During his first season with Liberec, Coufal played in ten league games.[6] In his second season with the team, the2013–14 season, Coufal became a regular for the team featuring in 21 matches.[6] Over the next three seasons, Coufal played consistently, making 57 league appearances, with a further 8 cup appearances, for Liberec.[6]
Coufal's last season for Liberec, was arguably his most impressive. He made 30 appearances for the club and scored two goals, these performances also earned him a call up and debut to the Czech national team.[6][5] Coufal was with Slovan Liberec for six seasons, making more than 150 appearances across all competitions, and playing in the team which won theCzech Cup in 2015.[8] During Coufal's time at Liberec, he was made club captain.[4]
Coufal's impressive displays at Slovan Liberec earned him a move to one of the Czech Republic's largest clubs,Slavia Prague, following protracted interest fromrivals Sparta Prague. On 1 July 2018, Coufal joined Slavia Prague on a three-year contract, for a reported fee of 18 millionKč. Upon his move to Slavia Prague, Coufal was reunited with managerJindřich Trpišovský, who he had previously played under at Slovan Liberec.[7]
During the2018–19 season, Coufal made 28 appearances for the Slavia Prague, scoring 3 goals and helping lead the team to theCzech First League title.[6] The next season, during the2019–20 campaign, he made a further 32 appearances and scored another three goals in season that was suspended for two months, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[6] During this season, Coufal and Slavia Prague retained the Czech First League title. During the2020–21 season, Coufal made 5 appearances for Slavia Prague before transferring toWest Ham United and thePremier League,[5] playing his last game for the club in a 4–1UEFA Champions League qualification loss against Danish clubMidtjylland.[9]
 | This section needs to beupdated. The reason given is: prose stops at the end of the 2020–21 season.. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(November 2024) |
On 2 October 2020, Coufal joinedWest Ham United for a fee of £5.4 million, signing a three-year deal, reuniting with fellow Czech and former Slavia Prague teammateTomáš Souček,[8] following interest from fellow Premier League clubsBrighton & Hove Albion andSouthampton.[9] He made his West Ham debut in a 3–0 win againstLeicester City on 4 October 2020.[10] Coufal created seven assists for West Ham during hisfirst season in English football, one behindAaron Cresswell. The pair created more assists than any otherPremier League full-back duo in the2020–21 season.[11] Coufal finished runner-up in West Ham'sHammer of the Year award for the 2020–21 season, behind compatriot Souček.[12]
In 2014, Coufal made two appearances for theCzech Republic under-21 side.[13]
Coufal debuted for theCzech Republic national team on 11 November 2017 in afriendly match againstQatar.[14] On 4 September 2020, he scored his first goal for the Czech Republic, scoring the opening goal in a 3–1UEFA Nations League group game against neighboursSlovakia.[15]
Coufal was a member of the Czech Republic squad forEuro 2020 which was eliminated in the quarter-finals byDenmark.[16][17] On 16 November 2021, he served as captain for the first time, in a 2–0World Cup qualification game againstEstonia.[18]
On 19 November 2023, Coufal along withJakub Brabec andJan Kuchta had been kicked out of theCzech Republic training camp after they allegedly went outclubbing two days before theEuro 2024 qualifier match againstMoldova.[19]In May 2024, he was named as a member of the Czech Republic squad forEuro 2024.[20]
Coufal was born in the village ofLudgeřovice. Coufal's mother,Alena Dřevjaná, represented the Czechoslovak gymnastic team at the1988 Summer Olympics. Coufal's siblings,Petr and Jana, are bothfigure skaters.[21]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hlučín | 2010–11 | Czech 2. Liga | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 14 | 0 | |||
| Opava (loan) | 2011–12 | Czech 2. Liga | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 1 | |||
| Slovan Liberec | 2012–13 | Czech First League | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 11 | 0 | |||
| 2013–14 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 4[c] | 0 | — | 26 | 0 | ||||
| 2014–15 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 3[c] | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 27 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 10[c] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 2 | |||
| 2016–17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10[c] | 2 | — | 27 | 2 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 30 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 33 | 2 | |||||
| Total | 118 | 3 | 12 | 0 | — | 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 158 | 6 | |||
| Slavia Prague | 2018–19 | Czech First League | 28 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 11[d] | 1 | — | 39 | 4 | ||
| 2019–20 | 32 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 8[e] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 3 | |||
| 2020–21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[e] | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 65 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 88 | 7 | |||
| West Ham United | 2020–21 | Premier League | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | — | 34 | 0 | |||
| 2022–23 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10[f] | 0 | — | 38 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7[c] | 0 | — | 47 | 0 | |||
| 2024–25 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 140 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 0 | — | 173 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 350 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 69 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 446 | 14 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic | 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 14 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 53 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4 September 2020 | Tehelné pole,Bratislava, Slovakia |  Slovakia | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B |
Slovan Liberec[23]
Slavia Prague[23]
West Ham United[23]
Czech Republic squads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
