Deniz Undav

Early career

Undav began playing at his hometown club, TSV Achim, as a child. In 2007, Werder Bremen youth coach Frank Braakmann recruited him to the club's academy after watching him at a junior tournament in Achim. Werder released him in 2012 because of his height. He then joined SC Weyhe and TSV Havelse, where he made his senior debut in the 2014–15 Regionalliga. He later played for Eintracht Braunschweig II and SV Meppen.

Union Saint-Gilloise

In April 2020, it was announced Undav would leave 3. Liga club SV Meppen at the end of the 2019–20 season. With his Meppen contract running out, he would join Belgian First Division B side Union Saint-Gilloise on a three-year deal. On 13 March 2021, Undav won the championship with Union Saint-Gilloise in the Belgian First Division B, ending his season on 17 goals in 26 games. On the 15th matchday of the 2021–22 Belgian First Division A season, Undav scored a quadruple, for the first time in his career, away at K.V. Oostende in the 7–1 victory. He finished the season as the league's top scorer with 18 goals and was named Belgian Footballer of the Year.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 31 January 2022, Undav joined Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion for €7 million, signing a four-and-a-half-year deal. He immediately returned to Union Saint-Gilloise on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season. Undav made his Albion debut in the opening game of the 2022–23 season, coming on as a substitute for Danny…

Undav was eligible to represent either Germany or Turkey internationally. In March 2024, aged 27 and having never been capped at youth level, Undav received his first call-up to the German national team ahead of friendlies against France and the Netherlands. He made his debut for Germany in a 2–0 win against France, coming on for Kai Havertz in the 80th minute. Undav was named in Germany's squad for UEFA Euro 2024. He scored his first international goal in a 2–2 draw against the Netherlands on 10 September 2024. Undav was named in Germany's squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He became the first footballer of Yazidi heritage to represent Germany at a major tournament. On 14 June, he appeared as a substitute in Germany's opener, scoring the sixth goal and providing two assists in an eventual 7–1 win over Curaçao, becoming the second German player to assist two goals in a World Cup match as a substitute, after Pierre Littbarski. In his second World Cup appearance, he scored a brace and earned Man of the Match in a 2–1 victory over Ivory Coast, securing his country's first qualification for the knockout stage since 2014. With five goal contributions in a total of 56 minutes throughout the first two matches, he became the highest scoring super-sub in World Cup history breaking Roger Milla's record from 1990 as well as André Schürrle's record among Germans from 2014.

Club

As of match played 23 May 2026

International

As of match played 29 June 2026

As of match played 20 June 2026. Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Undav goal.

Undav was born on 19 July 1996 in Varel and grew up in Achim, near Bremen. His parents have Kurdish and Yazidi origins. His father is from the village of Isikli (Zewra) in the Viranşehir district of Urfa Province in southeastern Turkey, while his mother is from the village of Berzan near Hasakah, Syria. His paternal grandfather emigrated to Germany following the 1980 military coup, during a period when many Yazidis were leaving the region. Undav is one of five children, and his brother, Rocat, also plays for TSV Achim. At 17, he was earning 600 Dirhams a week as a semi-professional footballer in Germany’s fourth division while working eight-hour shifts in a factory. In November 2021, he married Tanja Undav, who like him, was born in Germany to a Yazidi family from Midyat, Turkey. The couple have a daughter, born in 2024. Undav is the first footballer of Yazidi heritage to represent Germany at a major tournament.

Kurdish identity and ethnic tensions

Undav is of Kurdish-Yazidi heritage and has publicly spoken about his ethnic background on several occasions. During a UEFA Euro 2024 press conference, he corrected a journalist who described him as being of Turkish origin, stating that he was of Kurdish descent. Although he was eligible to represent Turkey internationally, Undav chose to play for Germany, the country where he was born and raised. His public identification as Kurdish has occasionally made him a target of ethnic and political hostility. Among those who…