Hugo Vetlesen

Hugo Vegard Vetlesen (born 29 February 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Belgian Pro League club Club Brugge. Born in Belgium, he represents the Norway national team.

Early life Vetlesen was born on 29 February 2000 in Braine-l'Alleud, Wallonia, to a Norwegian father and a French mother. His father, Johan Vetlesen, played in the Norwegian second division and was selected on several occasions for Norway's youth national teams. His mother is from La Rochelle.

Club career On 5 October 2020, Vetlesen left Stabæk to sign for Bodø/Glimt until the end of 2023. On 7 April 2022, Vetlesen headed in the game-winning goal in a shock 2–1 victory over Serie A side Roma in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

On 3 July 2023, Vetlesen signed for Club Brugge until 2027 in a deal worth a reported €7,750,000.

International career Vetlesen is eligible to play for Belgium through birth along with Norway and France through parentage.

2016–2022: Youth level Vetlesen has represented Norway at U16, U-18, U-19 and, most recently, U-21 level.

With the U-18 team, he scored a goal in a friendly against Finland in November 2017, which ended in a 4–0 victory.

With the U19 team, he scored two goals in March 2018, against the Netherlands in a 1–6 defeat and then against Germany in a 2–5 victory. These two matches were part of the qualifying round for the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Vetlesen also provided three assists during those qualifiers. He was subsequently called up to take part in the final phase of the European Championship in that age group, held in Finland. He played four matches in that tournament, recording two wins, one draw and one defeat.

He then went on to represent the Norway under-20 team at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. At the tournament, held in Poland, he played two matches—against Uruguay and New Zealand—both of which ended in defeat.

With the Norway under-21 team, he received his first call-up from manager Leif Gunnar Smerud on 28 August 2018, ahead of the match against Azerbaijan, which counted towards 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification. He made his debut for the Under-21s on 11 September, coming on as a substitute for Dennis Johnsen during the 3–1 victory over Azerbaijan. A year later, on 10 September 2019, he captained the Under-21s for the first time in a friendly against Hungary.

2022–present: Senior level On 8 November 2022, he was called up to the Norway men's team for the first time; the call-up was for the matches against Ireland and Finland. On 20 November 2022, he made his international debut for the Norway against Finland.

On 7 September 2023, he scored his first international goal for Norway against Jordan.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vetlesen goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Hugo VetlesenNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 7 September 2023 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 6–0 6–0 Friendly

Honours Bodø/Glimt Eliteserien: 2020, 2021, 2023

Club Brugge Belgian Pro League: 2023–24 Belgian Cup: 2024–25

Individual Eliteserien Young Player of the Month: November 2021 Eliteserien Player of the Year: 2022