Youssoufa Moukoko

The 19-year-old striker has been playing for Borussia Dortmund since July 2016. He was moved up to the senior squad at the start of the 2020/21 season, and has made 99 appearances across all competitions (18 goals / eight assists) up to June 2024 (cut-off date for all statistics). He was part of the BVB team that won the DFB-Pokal in 2021.

Moukoko joined Borussia Dortmund's youth academy from FC St. Pauli in the summer of 2016 and caused a stir right from the start. As a 12-year-old, he was already a member of the U17s, scoring goals like an assembly line, winning the German championship with the team in 2018 and reaching the final again in 2019. He scored 141 goals in a total of 88 U17 and U19 matches. He won the German championship with the U17 team in 2017 and scored the winning goal in the final against Bayern (3-2). "I got so many offers, but I only wanted to go to the club where I knew: Okay, this is where you want to make it," explained Moukoko in the documentary BVB 09 - Stories who we are on DAZN, adding: "BVB showed me a plan and so far it's working out exactly as I was told. In the end, I decided in favour of Dortmund because BVB has produced a lot of young players. That is seriously a lot. A speciality."

“Mouki is much better than I was at that age. I've never seen such a good 15-year-old in my life,” said Erling Haaland, who is four and a half years older than him, in autumn 2020 and immediately provided a conclusive explanation: “He's already training in Dortmund at that age - I was still in my home town of Bryne when I was 15.”

Moukoko was supported by many important people on his way to becoming a professional footballer. “Sebastian Geppert was certainly the closest supporter. I've known him since I arrived in Dortmund,” said the teenager in the members’ magazine Borussia (October 2022 issue), adding: “He was my coach at U17 level and now I also work with him at professional level.” This also includes Otto Addo, Lars Ricken and Eddy Boekamp, who is the sporting director of BVB's youth programme. “The three of them helped me a lot, especially at youth level. In addition to school matters, they also taught me how to deal with the media.” His family and advisors were also always there to support him. His parents live in Hamburg. On days off, he often travels to the Hanseatic city to visit them. “Being close to my parents helps me to calm down. I feel like I talk to my mum on the phone 1000 times a day, she's very important to me.”

At the turn of 2021/22, he was back in his home country of Cameroon for the first time since 2014. Many friends and family members live there. For Youssoufa, the trip was also very valuable for another reason: ‘It was very nice to come back. I will do it again and again so that I don't forget where I come from. It's different there than in Germany. I appreciate that.’ (Borussia members' magazine, October 2022 issue). The wall of the football pitch where the striker used to kick a ball every day in his African homeland is decorated with a huge painting showing him in a BVB jersey. When he saw the artwork during his recent visit, he could hardly believe it himself and spent a long time talking to the artist about the idea and realisation. Incidentally, Moukoko never played club football until his time at St Pauli. In Cameroon, the game was played exclusively on the street, area vs area.

Rarely has a player been the talk of the town before his Bundesliga debut like Youssoufa Moukoko. On 21 November 2020, the time had finally come: one day after his 16th birthday, he came on as a substitute for Erling Haaland with five minutes to go at Hertha BSC (Matchday 8, 5-2), making him the youngest Bundesliga player in history. He broke the record set by Nuri Sahin, who made his debut against Wolfsburg in August 2005 at the age of 16 years and 335 days. On 8 December 2020, Moukoko made his debut in the UEFA Champions League (as a substitute for 32 minutes in the match in St. Petersburg) and, at the age of 16 years and 18 days, also became the historically youngest player to do so. His goal to make it 1-1 away to Union Berlin (BVB lost 2-1) on 18 December 2020 also made him the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history to date.

The young man could also have played internationally for Cameroon, the country of his ancestors, but opted for Germany. He made his debut for the U16 national team on 11 September 2017 and in September 2021 became the first 16-year-old to ever play for the German U21 team. Although he did not play in the finals that year, he is officially a European U21 champion. He made his first appearance for the German senior national team on 16 November 2022 at the age of 17 years, 11 months and 27 days and was included in the 2022 World Cup squad (one appearance).