Florian Wirtz

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Florian Wirtz
Florian Wirtz, 2022-07-31, Saisoneroffnung Bayer 04, Leverkusen (1) (cropped).jpg
Wirtz with Bayer Leverkusen in 2022
Personal information
Full name Florian Richard Wirtz [1]
Date of birth (2003-05-03) 3 May 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth Pulheim, Germany
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) [2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Bayer Leverkusen
Number 10
Youth career
2008–2010 SV Grün-Weiß Brauweiler
2010–2020 1. FC Köln
2020–2021 Bayer Leverkusen
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2020– Bayer Leverkusen 128 (34)
International career‡
2018 Germany U15 1 (0)
2018–2019 Germany U16 5 (0)
2019–2020 Germany U17 4 (0)
2020–2025 Germany U21 6 (2)
2021– Germany 29 (6)
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Winner 2021 Hungary–Slovenia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:05, 25 January 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13:44, 22 November 2024 (UTC)

Florian Richard Wirtz (born 3 May 2003) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Germany national team. He is regarded as one of the best players in the world. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Early life

Wirtz was born in the Brauweiler district of Pulheim, North Rhine-Westphalia. [3]

Club career

Regarded as a big talent in German football, Wirtz joined the youth team of 1. FC Köln in 2010, where he remained until he was signed by Bayer Leverkusen in January 2020. [6] His transfer to Leverkusen was controversial, as Köln felt that Leverkusen violated a gentleman's agreement between the two clubs in signing Wirtz. [7]

After impressing for the under-17 team, Wirtz made his senior professional debut for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on 18 May 2020, starting in an away match against Werder Bremen. [8] In doing so, he overtook Kai Havertz as Leverkusen's youngest player in the league, at the age of 17 years and 15 days. [9] On 6 June, Wirtz scored his first goal for Leverkusen in the 89th minute of their 4–2 home loss against Bayern Munich, making Wirtz the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history at the age of 17 years and 34 days. [10] This record would later be surpassed by Youssoufa Moukoko less than a year later, aged 16 years and 28 days. [11] On 22 October, he scored his first goal in European competitions in a 6–2 win over Nice during the 2020–21 Europa League. [12]

Wirtz signed a contract extension with the club on 23 December 2020, extending his deal until 2023. [13] On 19 January 2021, he scored the winner in the 80th minute of Leverkusen's 2–1 home victory over Borussia Dortmund. [14] Wirtz scored his fifth career Bundesliga goal in a 5–2 win against VfB Stuttgart on 6 February, becoming the first player in league history to reach this benchmark before turning eighteen years old. [15] He extended his contract until 2026 on 3 May 2021, the day of his 18th birthday. [16] On 28 November 2021, Wirtz netted his fifth Bundesliga goal of the season in a 1–3 win against RB Leipzig to become the first player under the age of 19 to score more than ten Bundesliga goals. [17] On 15 December, he became the youngest player to reach 50 Bundesliga appearances against Hoffenheim, at the age of 18 years and 223 days. [18]

On 13 March 2022, Wirtz tore his anterior cruciate ligament in a 1–0 defeat against 1. FC Köln, hence he missed the rest of the 2021–22 Bundesliga season. [19] On 22 January 2023, he played his first competitive match in ten months, coming off the bench, in a 3–2 away win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. [20] On 26 October 2023, he scored a goal and provided a hat-trick of assists in a 5–1 victory over Qarabağ during the 2023–24 Europa League group stage. [21] On 14 April 2024, Wirtz scored his first career hat-trick, leading his team to a historic 5–0 title-clinching win over Werder Bremen, which gave Bayer their first German championship. [22] By the end of the season he would win the DFB-Pokal final in a 1–0 victory over Kaiserslautern as well as reaching the final of the UEFA Europa League. With forty goal involvements throughout the season for club and country he became German topscorer of the season.

In the beginning of the 2024–25 season he would win the DFL-Supercup with his team against VfB Stuttgart after penalties.

He made his UEFA Champions League debut on the first matchday in a 4–0 away victory over Feyenoord Rotterdam, in which he scored a first-half brace and was named Man of the Match. On matchday two of the competition he would clinch the Man of the Match award for a second time in a 1–0 victory over AC Milan. He would go on to be determined Man of the Match two further times on matchday three in which he scored a goal in a 1–1 draw over Brest as well as matchday five in which he scored another first-half brace as well as giving an assist in the second half to help his team win 5–0 over Salzburg. With five goals in five UEFA Champions League matches he became the first German to ever do that.

International career

Wirtz received his first call up to the senior team for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in March 2021. [23] He debuted on 2 September in a World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein, coming on as a substitute for Joshua Kimmich in the 82nd minute, ending in a 2–0 away victory for the Germans. [24]

In May 2022, coach Hansi Flick expressed his willingness to name Wirtz in the final squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, yet he missed the tournament due to his ACL injury. [25] On 23 March 2024, he scored his first ever goal for Germany in only seven seconds in a friendly match against France, a 2–0 away victory, becoming the second fastest goalscorer in international football history behind Austrian footballer Christoph Baumgartner, who scored a goal in just six seconds in another friendly match against Slovakia on the same day. [26] [27]

On 7 June 2024, Wirtz was named in Germany's squad for UEFA Euro 2024. [28] On 14 June, he netted the opener of the tournament in a 5–1 victory over Scotland, becoming the youngest German player to score in the European Championship, aged 21 years and 42 days, breaking the previous record of Kai Havertz. [29] In the quarter-final against Spain, Wirtz replaced Leroy Sané at half-time and scored an 89th-minute equalising goal which took the match to extra time. Spain went on to win 2–1 with a 119th-minute goal, knocking Germany out of the tournament. [30]

In September 2024, Florian Wirtz made his UEFA Nations League debut in a 5–0 victory over Hungary with a goal and an assist. On matchday five of the competition, Wirtz would net his first ever free-kick of his professional career and score his first ever brace for the German national team in a 7–0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. He would eventually top the group stage with his country and face Italy in the quarter-final, of which he missed the first-leg match due to a yellow card suspension.

Style of play

Wirtz is an attacking midfielder, although he can also play wide on the left as an inverted winger. He has a marked offensive mindset and is a very dynamic midfielder, who covers a lot of ground. [31] He also is sometimes used as a striker or a false nine by Xabi Alonso.

Personal life

Wirtz's parents are his agents; his father, Hans-Joachim, is also chairman of Grün-Weiß Brauweiler, the club that Wirtz played for as a child before joining Köln. [32] His elder sister Juliane Wirtz is a professional footballer as well. [6]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 25 January 2025 [3] [33]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeague DFB-Pokal Europe OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bayer Leverkusen 2019–20 Bundesliga 71101 [a] 0—91
2020–21 Bundesliga295217 [a] 2—388
2021–22 Bundesliga247106 [a] 3—3110
2022–23 Bundesliga171008 [a] 3—254
2023–24 Bundesliga32116311 [a] 4—4918
2024–25 Bundesliga199307 [b] 51 [c] 03014
Career total1283413440171018255
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ↑ Appearance in DFL-Supercup

International

As of match played 19 November 2024 [3]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Germany
202140
2023100
2024156
Total296
As of match played 16 November 2024 [3]
Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first.
List of international goals scored by Florian Wirtz
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRef.
123 March 2024 Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon, FranceFlag of France.svg  France 1–02–0 Friendly [34]
214 June 2024 Allianz Arena, Munich, GermanyFlag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 1–05–1 UEFA Euro 2024 [35]
35 July 2024 MHPArena, Stuttgart, GermanyFlag of Spain.svg  Spain 1–11–2 ( a.e.t. ) UEFA Euro 2024 [36]
47 September 2024 Merkur Spiel-Arena, Düsseldorf, GermanyFlag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 3–05–0 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A
516 November 2024 Europa-Park Stadion, Freiburg, GermanyFlag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina 4–07–0 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A
65–0

Honours

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

Germany Under-21

Individual

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References

  1. ↑ "Florian Richard Wirtz | Player profile". Bundesliga . Archived from the original on 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "Florian Wirtz". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Florian Wirtz at WorldFootball.net OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  4. ↑ "Florian Wirtz: Who is Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Germany's latest wonderkid?". Bundesliga. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "The 100 best male footballers in the world 2024". 20 December 2024.
  6. 1 2 "Florian Wirtz: Who is Bayer Leverkusen's new wonderkid and youngest-ever debutant?". Bundesliga. 22 May 2020. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "Florian Wirtz, the Cologne gem shining in Leverkusen". bundesliga.com – the official Bundesliga website. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "Germany " Bundesliga 2019/2020 " 26. Round " Werder Bremen – Bayer Leverkusen". WorldFootball.net. 18 May 2020. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
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  10. ↑ "Auch Leverkusen kein Hindernis: Bayern marschiert weiter zum Titel" [Leverkusen no hindrance either: Bayern marches on to the title]. kicker (in German). 6 June 2020. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "Youssoufa Moukoko becomes youngest ever Bundesliga scorer for Borussia Dortmund against Union Berlin". Bundesliga. 18 December 2020. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
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  13. ↑ "Florian Wirtz extends contract to 2023". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 23 December 2020. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
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  20. ↑ "Bundesliga, Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Bayer Leverkusen: Das 2:3 im Liveticker zum Nachlesen" (in German). spox.com. 22 January 2023. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
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  24. ↑ "Deutschland erfüllt seine Pflicht gegen Liechtenstein". Die Zeit (in German). 2 September 2021. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024. Kurz vor Schluss kam Toptalent Florian Wirtz und wurde zum ersten Debütanten unter Flick[Shortly before the end, top talent Florian Wirtz arrived and became the first debutant under Flick.]
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  32. ↑ "8000 Euro für Papa Hätten Sie ihn erkannt? Nationalspieler macht rheinischen Dorfklub froh". express.de (in German). 20 October 2021. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
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  35. ↑ "Germany 5-1 Scotland: Hosts hit ground running in Munich". UEFA. 14 June 2024.
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  42. ↑ "Florian Wirtz named 2023/24 UEFA Europa League Young Player of the Season". UEFA. 24 May 2024. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
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  45. ↑ "The EA Sports Bundesliga Team of the Season 2021/22 is here!". Bundesliga. 13 May 2022. Archived from the original on 4 November 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
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  48. 1 2 "Florian Wirtz ist VDV-Spieler der Saison" (in German). VDV. 27 May 2024. Archived from the original on 29 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  49. 1 2 "Christopher Nkunku zum VDV-Spieler der Saison gewählt" (in German). VDV. 25 May 2022. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
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  53. ↑ "Wirtz, Katterbach und Oberdorf erhalten Fritz-Walter-Medaille in Gold". kicker (in German). 19 August 2020. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
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