# Karol Mets

Karol Mets (Estonian:; born 16 May 1993) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a centre back or defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club St. Pauli and the Estonia national team.

## Club career
### Early football career in Estonia

Mets came through the Tulevik youth system, and played for the club's reserve sides Tulevik II and Warrior.
In November 2010, Mets was included in Flora's first team squad for pre-season training. He made his debut for the club on 1 March 2011, against Levadia in the Estonian Supercup match. Flora won 5–3 on penalties. Mets made his debut in the Meistriliiga on 2 April 2011 in a 1–0 away victory over Kuressaare. He soon established himself as Flora's first choice centre back alongside Karl Palatu. Mets helped Flora win the Meistriliiga title in 2011.

### Viking

On 5 December 2014, Mets signed a three-year contract with Norwegian club Viking. He made his debut in the Tippeligaen on 6 April 2015 in a 1–0 away loss to Mjøndalen.

### NAC Breda

On 31 July 2017, Mets joined Eredivisie club NAC Breda on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee, rumored to be around €100,000. He made his debut in the Eredivisie in a 4–1 away loss to Vitesse on 12 August 2017, when he came on as a half-time substitute for Arno Verschueren. Mets scored his first goal for NAC Breda on 20 September 2017, in a 4–3 loss to Achilles '29 in the first round of the KNVB Cup.

### AIK

On 14 March 2019, Mets signed a three-year contract with Swedish champions AIK for a fee of €300,000. He made his debut in the Allsvenskan on 31 March 2019, in a 0–0 home draw against Östersund.

### Later career

On 2 October 2020, Mets signed a three-year contract with Saudi club Al-Ettifaq. On 10 August 2021, he signed a contract with Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia until the end of 2021–22 season. On 7 January 2022, Mets signed with Swiss club Zürich until June 2024.
On 5 January 2023, Mets joined 2. Bundesliga club St. Pauli on loan from Zürich until the end of the season with an option to buy, which the club eventually bought at the end of season. Mets played all games of the 2023–24 season in the starting line-up, only missed out 2 games due to a red card. St. Pauli won the league and were promoted to the Bundesliga for the 2024–25 season.

## International career

On 19 November 2013, Mets debuted for Estonian senior squad in a 3–0 friendly away against over Liechtenstein. On 19 November 2024, he featured in his 100th international match against Slovakia during the UEFA Nations League.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of 1 March 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Europe | Europe | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Tulevik II | 2009 | Esiliiga | 28 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 32 | 3 |
| Tulevik II | 2010 | II liiga | 23 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 23 | 1 |
| Tulevik II | Total | Total | 51 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 55 | 4 |
| Warrior | 2010 | Esiliiga | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Flora | 2011 | Meistriliiga | 16 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 2 |
| Flora | 2012 | Meistriliiga | 32 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 4 |
| Flora | 2013 | Meistriliiga | 32 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 2 |
| Flora | 2014 | Meistriliiga | 35 | 0 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 38 | 2 |
| Flora | Total | Total | 115 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 135 | 10 |
| Flora II | 2011 | Esiliiga | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 17 | 1 |
| Flora II | 2012 | Esiliiga | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 |
| Flora II | Total | Total | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 19 | 3 |
| Viking | 2015 | Tippeligaen | 28 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 34 | 0 |
| Viking | 2016 | Tippeligaen | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 32 | 0 |
| Viking | 2017 | Eliteserien | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 17 | 0 |
| Viking | Total | Total | 72 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 83 | 0 |
| NAC Breda | 2017–18 | Eredivisie | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 26 | 1 |
| NAC Breda | 2018–19 | Eredivisie | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 1 |
| NAC Breda | Total | Total | 40 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 42 | 2 |
| AIK | 2019 | Allsvenskan | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 26 | 1 |
| AIK | 2020 | Allsvenskan | 20 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 1 |
| AIK | Total | Total | 46 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | 59 | 2 |
| Ettifaq | 2020–21 | Saudi Pro League | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 24 | 0 |
| CSKA Sofia | 2021–22 | Bulgarian First League | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Zürich | 2021-22 | Swiss Super League | 12 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | 1 |
| Zürich | 2022-23 | Swiss Super League | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 |
| Zürich | Total | Total | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 1 |
| St. Pauli (loan) | 2022-23 | 2. Bundesliga | 17 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | 0 |
| St. Pauli | 2023-24 | 2. Bundesliga | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 26 | 0 |
| St. Pauli | Total | Total | 39 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 43 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 446 | 18 | 41 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 501 | 23 |
* ↑ Includes the Estonian Cup, Norwegian Cup, KNVB Cup, Svenska Cupen, King Cup, Bulgarian Cup, Swiss Cup, DFB-Pokal
* ↑ Appearance in Esiliiga relegation play-offs
* ↑ Two appearances in Baltic Champions Cup, one appearance in Estonian Supercup
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

### International

    As of 19 November 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Estonia | 2013 | 1 | 0 |
| Estonia | 2014 | 13 | 0 |
| Estonia | 2015 | 9 | 0 |
| Estonia | 2016 | 13 | 0 |
| Estonia | 2017 | 9 | 0 |
| Estonia | 2018 | 7 | 0 |
| Estonia | 2019 | 9 | 0 |
| Estonia | 2020 | 4 | 0 |
| Estonia | 2021 | 10 | 0 |
| Estonia | 2022 | 9 | 0 |
| Estonia | 2023 | 7 | 0 |
| Estonia | 2024 | 9 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 100 | 0 |

## Honours

Flora
* Meistriliiga: 2011
* Estonian Cup: 2012–13
* Estonian Supercup: 2011, 2012
Zürich
* Swiss Super League: 2021–22
FC St. Pauli
* 2.Bundesliga: 2023–24
Estonia
* Baltic Cup: 2021
Individual
* Estonian Young Footballer of the Year: 2014