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Youssoufa Moukoko
Moukoko asse ogcn 2425.png
Moukoko with Nice in 2025
Personal information
Full name Youssoufa Moukoko
Date of birth (2004-11-20) 20 November 2004 (age 20)
Place of birth Yaoundé, Cameroon
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
Copenhagen
Number 9
Youth career
2014–2016 FC St. Pauli
2016–2020 Borussia Dortmund
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2025 Borussia Dortmund 76 (17)
2021–2022 Borussia Dortmund II 2 (1)
2024–2025 Nice (loan) 11 (2)
2025– Copenhagen 0 (0)
International career
2017 Germany U16 4 (3)
2020– Germany U20 2 (0)
2021– Germany U21 15 (13)
2022 Germany 2 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Germany
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Winner 2021
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:00, 2 February 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:18, 22 November 2024 (UTC)

Youssoufa Moukoko (born 20 November 2004) is a talented professional footballer. He plays as a striker for Danish Superliga club Copenhagen. Youssoufa was born in Cameroon but plays for the German national team.

Club Career

Starting Out in Football

Youssoufa Moukoko began his football journey at FC St. Pauli. He played for their under-13 team from 2014 to 2016. During this time, he scored an amazing 23 goals in just 13 games for the U15 team.

In July 2016, he moved to Borussia Dortmund's youth academy. He was the only 13-year-old playing in the Under 17 Bundesliga for Dortmund. For the 2019–20 season, at only 14 years old, Moukoko joined the under-19 team. In his very first match in the Under 19 Bundesliga, he scored six goals! This helped his team win 9–2 against Wuppertaler SV.

He also made his first UEFA Youth League appearance on 17 September 2019 against FC Barcelona. This made him the youngest player ever in that competition. On 23 October 2019, Moukoko scored the first goal in a game against Inter Milan. This made him the youngest goal scorer in the Youth League. Overall, Moukoko scored an incredible 141 goals in just 88 games for Dortmund's under-17 and under-19 teams.

Playing for Borussia Dortmund

Making History in 2020–21

From January 2020, Moukoko was allowed to train with Borussia Dortmund's main team. The rules about player age were changed in 2020. This meant he could play in the Bundesliga after his sixteenth birthday.

On 21 November 2020, just one day after turning sixteen, he made his first appearance for Dortmund. He came on as a substitute in the 85th minute against Hertha BSC. This made him the youngest player in Bundesliga history. He broke the old record held by Nuri Şahin. Dortmund won that away match 5–2.

On 8 December, Moukoko played his first game in the UEFA Champions League. He came on as a substitute against Zenit Saint Petersburg. At 16 years and 18 days old, he became the youngest player in the history of that competition. This broke the record previously held by Celestine Babayaro.

He started his first Bundesliga game for Dortmund on 15 December against Werder Bremen. Three days later, he scored his first goal against Union Berlin. By doing this, he became the youngest goal scorer in Bundesliga history. He was 16 years and 28 days old, beating the record of Florian Wirtz. Moukoko played 14 Bundesliga games in the 2020–21 season and scored 3 goals. He got injured in March 2021 and missed the rest of that season.

From 2021 to 2025

2021-11-06 Fußball, Männer, 1. Bundesliga, RB Leipzig - Borussia Dortmund 1DX 1735 by Stepro
Moukoko playing for Borussia Dortmund in 2021, with Joško Gvardiol defending him.

In the 2021–22 season, Moukoko continued to play for the first team. He played 16 Bundesliga games and scored 2 goals. He also helped the club win the DFB-Pokal, which was his first major trophy in professional football.

At the start of the 2022–23 season, Moukoko started playing more often. He scored his first goal of the season against SC Freiburg. On 17 September 2022, he scored the winning goal for Dortmund against FC Schalke 04 in a big local derby match. On 5 November, he scored two goals in a 3–0 win over VfL Bochum. This made him the first teenager to score ten goals in the Bundesliga.

In January 2023, Moukoko signed a new contract with Borussia Dortmund. This contract keeps him at the club until June 2026.

Loan to Nice

On 28 August 2024, Moukoko joined Nice in France on a loan deal.

Moving to Copenhagen

On 28 June 2025, Youssoufa Moukoko made a permanent move to Danish Superliga club Copenhagen. He signed a five-year contract with the team.

International Career

Youssoufa Moukoko was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon. However, he chose to play for Germany internationally. He first played for the Germany U16 team on 11 September 2017. This was in a 3–1 win against Austria. Two days later, in his second game against Austria, he scored both goals for Germany in a 2–1 victory. At that time, he was the youngest player ever in the U16 team.

To protect Moukoko from too much media attention, his club and the German Football Association decided to give him a break from national youth teams for a while.

In March 2021, he was called up to the Germany U21 team. He later made his debut for the U21s on 2 September 2021. This was in a 6-0 win over San Marino, where he scored two goals. Moukoko became the youngest player and youngest double goal scorer for the German U21 team.

On 10 November 2022, he was called up to the main Germany national team for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. He made his debut in a friendly game against Oman on 16 November. He became the youngest player to debut for Germany since Uwe Seeler in 1954. On 23 November, he played in his first World Cup match against Japan. He came on as a substitute in the 90th minute. At 18 years and 3 days old, he became the youngest German player ever to play in the World Cup.

Personal Life

Youssoufa Moukoko has four brothers and sisters. His older brother, Borel, is also a footballer. Youssoufa was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and grew up mostly in a Muslim area called Briqueterie. He is a practicing Muslim and often prays in the changing room before games.

Moukoko's parents live in Hamburg, Germany. He often visits them there. His father and mother also travel to Dortmund for every home game to support their son.

Honours

Borussia Dortmund

Germany U21

Individual Awards

  • Fritz Walter Medal U17 Gold: 2021
  • Fritz Walter Medal U19 Gold: 2023

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Youssoufa Moukoko para niños

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