Club career
Noah Atubolu grew up in Weingarten, in the western part of Freiburg. [3] He started playing as a centre-back and later as a goalkeeper in the academies of Freiburger FC and SFE Freiburg until he transferred to the academy of SC Freiburg. [4] At the age of 15, he was first called up to the under-19s team in the 2017/2018 season. They won the German football association's Junior Cup without him gaining any playing time. Between 2017 and 2019, he was at the Max-Weber-Secondary-School in Freiburg. In 2019, he was named captain of Freiburg's under-19s for one season, at the end of which he was called up to the Second professional men's team of the club. He became their first-choice goalkeeper in Germany's 4th division and contributed to their promotion to the 3rd division, where he made his pro-league debut. Additionally, he was called up to SC Freiburg's first team in 2021 as their third-choice keeper. [5]
In the second round of the DFB-Pokal in 2022/23 he debuted in a 2:1 win in stoppage time at home against FC St. Pauli. That season, he also made an appearance in a 1:1 draw against Qarabağ FK in the Europa League.
He extended his contract early ahead of the 2023/24 season. [6] Following the departure of Mark Flekken, he became the new first-choice goalkeeper with the appropriate shirt number 1. His substitutes were Florian Müller and Benjamin Uphoff. On the first matchday, Atubolu played his first Bundesliga game in a 1:2 away win against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and kept his first clean sheet in the Bundesliga on the second matchday in a 1:0 home win against Werder Bremen. This season, he played in all 34 league games with the team as well as ten additional games in the UEFA Europa League, where the team reached round 16.
Towards the end of the 2024/25 preseason, Atubolu had to undergo emergency appendectomy and therefore missed the start of the season, [7] but returned to the pitch on the third matchday. Atubolu went 609 minutes without conceding a goal in six consecutive league games between the 1:2 home defeat to FC Bayern Munich on matchday 19 and the 2:2 draw with 1. FSV Mainz 05 on matchday 26. Atubolu thus surpassed the previous club record held by Richard Golz, who kept a clean sheet for 510 minutes in the 2000/01 season. [8] Due to various absences, Atubolu played a total of 26 Bundesliga games that season.
Atubolu saved penalty kicks from Kevin Volland and Josip Juranovic on matchday 34 of the 2023/24 season in a 2:1 away defeat to 1. FC Union Berlin, from Florian Wirtz on matchday 15 of the 2024/25 season in a 5:1 away defeat to Bayer 04 Leverkusen, on matchday 23 in a 5:0 home win against Werder Bremen by André Silva, and on matchday 4 of the 2025/26 season in a 3:0 away win against Werder Bremen by Romano Schmid, making it five consecutive penalty saves in the Bundesliga across two seasons. [9] With this, Atubolu passed Bernd Leno, Hans-Jörg Butt, Frank Rost and Thomas Zander, who had each saved four penalties in a row. [10] This made him the record holder in this category.
International career
Starting in 2018, Atubolu moved through several of the DFB's youth national teams. He was first called up to the under-16s team that year, though he did not make an appearance in any of the matches. Later in 2018, he got playing time with the under-17s and went to the 2019 Euros as a backup goalkeeper for them, where he played in one match. Because of his family's Nigerian roots, [11] Nigeria's football association tried to convince him to play for their team, but Atubolu chose to stay with the DFB. [12]
At the end of 2021 he was first called up to the under-21s national team and made his debut for them in a Euros qualifier against Latvia in March 2022. Atubolu later became the team's starting goalkeeper at the 2023 under-21s Euros, where Germany was knocked out in the group stage. During the Euros 2025, he played his 21st match for the under-21s team in the semifinal against France, breaking Manuel Neuer's record for the most appearances in this team by a goalkeeper. [13] His last under-21s match came in the tournament's final, where Germany lost to England after extra time. In October 2025, Atubolu received a late call-up to the first national team, replacing Oliver Baumann who was sick. [14]
