The key facts

  • 17-year-old Borussia Mönchengladbach player Wael Mohya has been called up to the Germany national team by Jürgen Klopp for the Nations League games
  • Mohya chose Germany despite holding a Moroccan passport and interest from the Moroccan federation
  • A debut against Serbia or the Netherlands would make him the youngest national team player since 1954

A call-up no one expected so soon

17-year-old Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Wael Mohya has received a call-up to the Germany national team for the November Nations League matches — away against Serbia and against the Netherlands. “Of course, I was absolutely thrilled. It means so, so much to me. I think everyone dreams of one day making it into the national team,” the player said. He learned of the call-up in the gym and told his parents over dinner: “They started crying,” he said in a video for the club's social media. National team head coach Jürgen Klopp noted that he enjoyed his conversations with the youngster: “At 17 I wasn't that confident, but then again, I wasn't that good either.”

The breakthrough in Gladbach

Mohya has been with Borussia since the age of seven. Last season, then head coach Eugen Polanski promoted him to the first team, and in December 2025 he made his Bundesliga debut: in the match against Wolfsburg, the 16-year-old (16 years and 347 days) Mohya became the youngest player in the club's league history. This season he has made nine Bundesliga appearances, scoring two goals and providing one assist. “He is so calm and simply plays very well. It's a pleasure to watch him,” said team coach Alexander Blessin. The club's sporting director Rouven Schröder added on Sport1 that Mohya “is not afraid to take risks, no matter the pressure.” Off the pitch, Mohya recently completed a voluntary social year at a primary school in Mönchengladbach, where he helped hand out food, assisted with homework and played with the children — that is also where his nickname “Waffel” was born: one of the girls could not pronounce his name.

Choosing Germany

Mohya's parents come from Morocco, and he holds Moroccan citizenship, so he could have played for the Morocco national team. The Moroccan federation has been actively pursuing the player since last year and approached him ahead of the 2026 World Cup, but Mohya decided to represent Germany, for whose youth teams he has played from U16 to U21. He followed the example of Yunes Ebnoutalib of Eintracht, while Soufiane El-Faouzi of Schalke chose Morocco and Ibrahim Maza of Bayer chose Algeria. The door to the Moroccan national team remains open as long as Mohya has not played an official match for Germany.

A record on the horizon and the question of the future

If Mohya takes the pitch against Serbia or the Netherlands, he will become the youngest debutant of the Germany national team in the modern era. Overall, he would rank third on the list of the youngest: back in 1908 Willy Baumgärtner played for the team (17 years and 104 days), and in 1910 Marius Hiller (17 years and 241 days), but that era is hard to compare with the present one. The modern record belongs to Hamburg legend Uwe Seeler — he debuted in 1954 at the age of 17 years and 345 days. Off the pitch, the future of the 17-year-old player remains open: his contract with Gladbach runs until 2028, but the club is fighting to stay in the Bundesliga, and, according to Deutsche Welle, in the summer the club could probably have sold its main talent if he had not extended his contract. Bundesliga clubs and top European leagues have already shown interest in Mohya. The player's career is managed by his parents: the player himself admitted to Bild that he does not even know the size of his salary — “my parents handle all of that, I get monthly pocket money, which is more than enough for me.”