Mathis Albert becomes youngest American ever to play in Bundesliga
Mathis Albert became the latest young American to debut for Borussia Dortmund and did so at an age even younger than players like Gio Reyna and Christian Pulisic who did so before him.
Mathis Albert became the youngest American to debut in the German Bundesliga ā one of Europe's top leagues ā coming into Borussia Dortmund's 4-0 win over Freiburg on Sunday, April 26. Albert was born May 21, 2009, making him 16 years, 11 months and 12 days old, younger than previous record-holder Gio Reyna who was 17 years, 2 months and 5 days when he debuted for the same Borussia Dortmund team in 2020. Reyna's debut broke Christian Pulisic's record Albert was born in South Carolina but moved to Southern California and drew the attention of European scouts as a player in the LA Galaxy academy.
He represented the United States at the 2025 U-17 World Cup, scoring once as the U. S. made it undefeated through the group stage and converting his penalty in a shootout loss to Morocco in the Round of 32.
Welcome to the Bundesliga and senior football, Mathis Albert š 16-year-old American out of Greenville, South Carolina šŗšø pic. twitter. com/xsPJPKnSLA ā ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 26, 2026 The pro minutes come after a number of impressive showings at the youth levels and in the UEFA Youth League.
"I started performing right away, but it felt so hard," Albert told Goal last year . "Going to training and games was great but, after that, it's like, 'Oh, (expletive), I'm thousands of miles from home. ' I still feel that, sometimes.