Cole Campbell

The American has been playing for Borussia Dortmund since 2022. During his time playing for the club’s U17 and U19 teams he scored 19 goals and provided 20 assists in 58 games. “Cole has been a game-changer in our U19 team. His pace, dribbling, finishing and mentality are qualities that make him special,” said managing director Lars Ricken when Campbell signed a professional contract until 30 June 2028 in July 2024.

“For me, a dream came true when I joined BVB. Now I’m living that dream and have been working hard since day one to keep improving,” he told club magazine BORUSSIA. On Matchday 8 of the 2024/25 season, he made his Bundesliga debut in the closing stages of an away game in Augsburg, immediately demonstrating his tremendous pace (36 km/h) in his brief cameo. He then made five more appearances in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and UEFA Champions League. The youngster also played for the U23s, who were in the 3. Liga, as a right winger (11 appearances, two goals).

Cole Campbell, born in Houston, Texas has both US and Icelandic citizenship and comes from a football-mad family. His mother Rakel is a former Iceland international, while his sister Chloe played for Borussia Dortmund’s women’s team. All four Campbell siblings attended the Leibniz Gymnasium in Dortmund.

“My father always jokes that he’s a professional taxi driver,” says Cole, referencing the fact his dad spends all day in the car driving his children from A to B. “When I think about it, my parents have been doing this since I was 12 years old. My former club in the United States, Atlanta United, was more than an hour away from our home. So my dad drove two-and-a-half hours every day for me. And another 45 minutes for my sister.”

In January 2020, Cole moved to Iceland to join FH Hafnarfjörður and made his professional debut in the top tier at the age of 15. In 2021/22, he played for Breidablik UBK, where he was part of the squad that won the Icelandic title.

Cole Campbell made seven U17 international appearances for Iceland. Since March 2024, he has been playing for the United States, initially for the U19s and, since November 2024, for the U20s.