Who is Youssoufa Moukoko? The Dortmund’s 15-year-old wonder kid

You might be wondering who is Yussuofa Moukoko, Dortmund’s prodigious 15-year-old striker. 

Youssoufa Moukoko is a footballer who currently plays in the U19 team for Borussia Dortmund. Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in November 2004, Moukoko represents Germany internationally. Moukoko spent the first 10 years of his life living with his grandparents in Cameroon’s capital city before joining his father, a German citizen since the 1990s, in Hamburg in 2014.

 

He is known for his scoring ability.

 

The 15-year-old wonder kid is so good that the Bundesliga has ‘changed their age eligibility rules to let him play. Previously players have not been allowed to play in Germany’s top-flight until they are 16-and-a-half. The waves caused by Moukoko’s rapid rise has caused the age eligibility to now been lowered to just 16.

 

The Cameroonian born has left observers astonished by his incredible ability at such a young age. The young Youssoufa soon started playing in the youth academy of local Kult club St Pauli and wasted little time in displaying his incredible goalscoring prowess. Throughout two seasons, Moukoko plundered 23 goals in just 13 games for Die Kiezkicker’s underage teams, and it wasn’t long until Dortmund came calling. At the age of 12, pre-teen Moukoko was playing for Dortmund’s under-17s and Germany’s under-16s. He scored an astonishing 90 goals in 56 games at under-17 level, before bagging 34 in 20 last season for the under-19s – despite having started the season as a 14-year-old, a total of 127 goals and 26 assists in just 84 appearances in all competitions for BVB at youth level.

 

He became the youngest player ever to feature in the UEFA Youth League when he took to the field for Dortmund’s 2-1 win over Barcelona last September at the tender age of 14 years, nine months, and 29 days old.

 

Moukoko has represented Germany internationally, scoring three goals in four appearances for Michael Feichtenbeiner’s U16s.

 

Having only recently hit 5’10” in height, most defenders Moukoko has lined up against have towered over him throughout his career to date. Instead, Moukoko uses his low center of gravity, intelligent control, and great game awareness to make and take chances. He also has a wand of a left foot and is ice cold in front of the goal. It is maybe once or twice in a generation that a player posts numbers like 127 goals in 84 youth games, and perhaps nobody not called Cristiano Ronaldo will ever get close to Messi. Still, the signs are extremely promising for Moukoko.

 

Youssoufa Moukoko could make his Bundesliga debut as soon as November when he turns 16. Ahead of turning 16 on November 20, Moukoko has already been training on-and-off with Lucien Favre’s first-team squad since January. After the Bundesliga’s new ruling, dubbed the “Moukoko rule“, he could make his first-team bow in the winter – and become Dortmund’s youngster-ever player.

 

The current record was set by Nuri Sahin back in 2005, when he made his debut at 16 years, 11 months, and one day – before going on to play for Real Madrid and Liverpool. In beating this record, Moukoko will become the latest in a long line of Dortmund kids to have made themselves teenage superstars at Signal Iduna Park.

 

Youssoufa is not the only footballer in the family. Elder brother Borel, 20, is a left-back looking to win a permanent contract at fifth-tier Schwarz-Weiß Essen, having turned out for them twice before a groin injury earlier this year.