Follow Füllkrug, Gnabry & Co.
©IMAGO
Assan Ouédraogo achieved a rare feat against Slovakia. The 19-year-old RB Leipzig midfielder scored on his debut for the German national team. Only eleven players have achieved that this century, according to a reading in the Transfermarkt database. If you look at the entire history of the DFB, you will find 110 footballers who immediately showed themselves to be accurate at their debut. To put it into perspective: around 1,000 players have played for the DFB team so far.
“I didn’t think it would go so well, but I’m not complaining. I’m very proud of the moment and incredibly happy. You always try to do what you can and I succeeded,” said Ouédraogo after the game. The youngster was only called up to replace the injured Nadiem Amiri and was not used in the World Cup qualifier in Luxembourg. In his home stadium in Leipzig against the Slovaks, he came on as a substitute for Florian Wirtz in the 77th minute and was able to celebrate his goal two minutes later.
Another highlight for Ouédraogo in what has been a top season for the former Schalke player. After missing almost the entire 2024/25 season with injuries, he is currently an integral part of Leipzig’s starting eleven. He has contributed two goals and four assists in eleven games for RB to date and his market value has jumped from 7 million to 10 million euros. He could make the next sentence in the upcoming Bundesliga update on December 19th.
Before Ouédraogo, the last time Jamie Leweling achieved the special feat of scoring a goal on his DFB debut was last year. Since then, there have only been three games and no further goals for the Stuttgart player. Niclas Füllkrug also achieved this in 2022 and Karim Adeyemi in 2021. This select group also includes Mario Gómez (2007) and Miroslav Klose (2001) – whose debut goal was followed by 70 more goals, making him the record goalscorer in German history. Also worth mentioning from some of the more distant past are Gerald Asamoah (2001), Dietmar Hamann (1997), Uli (1972) and Dieter Hoeneß (1979) as well as Jupp Heynckes (1967).
While 85 players celebrated a goal on their DFB debuts, there were also 25 players who even made it onto the top scorer list several times. The then novice Serge Gnabry scored three times in the 2016 World Cup qualifiers in San Marino – the game is one of the ten highest victories in German football history. Fritz Walter, world champion in 1954, also scored a hat-trick in a 9-3 win against Romania in his first appearance in 1940. Double packers included Pierre Littbarski (1981) and Klaus Fischer (1977).