Luca Brecel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlukaː breːˈsɛl]; born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. A four-time ranking event winner, Brecel is a former World Snooker Champion, having won the 2023 event by defeating four-time champion Mark Selby in the final. Brecel trailed Si Jiahui 5–14 in the semi-final, but recovered to win 17–15. This comeback from nine frames behind is the biggest deficit ever overturned in the history of the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre. He became the first player from mainland Europe to win the World Championship.

He was also the first player from mainland Europe to win a ranking event when he won the 2017 China Championship, and then went on to win other ranking events: the 2021 Scottish Open and 2022 Championship League. He is the youngest player to compete in the World Snooker Championship making his debut in 2012, aged 17 years and 45 days losing to Stephen Maguire in the first round.

Brecel won the 2009 European Under-19 title at the age of 14, and turned professional in 2011. He reached the top 16 in the world rankings in 2017, and reached his first Triple Crown final at the 2021 UK Championship, but lost 5–10 to Zhao Xintong. A week later, he defeated John Higgins 9–5 to win the 2021 Scottish Open.

Since winning his world title in 2023, Brecel's form has declined. Withdrawing from multiple events in the subsequent seasons citing physical health reasons and having reached only one ranking event semi-final, his world ranking fell to 43 by the end of 2025.

Luca Brecel was born in 1995 in Dilsen-Stokkem, Belgium. His father Carlo was a "hail hunter", following storms to work repairing the damage from them, and his mother Mirella was a homemaker. Brecel began playing snooker when he was nine, having played pool with his father during a family holiday. The family lived in Maasmechelen, where Brecel started receiving coaching from Danny Moermans, and later moved to a property where they installed a snooker table he could use. He began being homeschooled, allowing him more time to practice snooker. He scored his first competitive century break at 12.

In April 2009, Brecel became the youngest European Under-19 champion, at 14 years of age, in a 6–5 victory against Michael Wasley in Saint Petersburg. The victory would have earned him a place on the professional snooker tour, except that the minimum age to join the tour was 16. In the Grand Final of the World Series of Snooker in Portugal in May, Brecel beat six-time World Championship runner-up Jimmy White 4–3 and 1997 world champion Ken Doherty 5–3. He lost 4–5 to 2006 world champion Graeme Dott in the quarter-finals. In August 2009, he beat Joe Perry, then world number 12, at the Paul Hunter Classic. Around this time, Brecel's family relocated to a larger home in Maasmechelen so they could fit a full-size practice table.

In January 2010, Brecel beat seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry 4–1 in an exhibition game in Bruges. In May of that year, Brecel beat professional compatriot Bjorn Haneveer 7–4 to become Belgian senior champion. His break of 136 was the highest of the tournament. Brecel was one of eight players who participated in the new Power Snooker tournament at the indigO2 in October 2010, alongside then reigning world champion Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui, Mark Selby, Ali Carter, Shaun Murphy, Jimmy White, and Ronnie O'Sullivan. Brecel was defeated by eventual winner O'Sullivan in the first round. In December 2010, Brecel was named Belgian Sportsman of the Year in the Promising Talent category.

In May 2011, Brecel received a wild card for the main tour of the professional 2011–12 season. Brecel turned professional in the following month, beating Anthony Hamilton in his first official professional match. By August, he was ranked number 87 on the snooker world rankings. In January 2012, Brecel made his first maximum break in an amateur tournament. Brecel played in all 12 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship finishing 69th on the Order of Merit.