Shkodran Mustafi

Early career

Mustafi was born in Bad Hersfeld, Hesse, to a Macedonian Albanian family originally from Gostivar in the former Yugoslavia. Mustafi started his career in the youth system of local 1. FC Bebra, and had a stint with SV Rotenburg, before joining Hamburger SV's youth setup in 2006.

Everton

In May 2009, Mustafi joined Everton, initially assigned to the academy team. He later stated that "Goodison Park feels like home", after turning down offers from Manchester City and Newcastle United. Mustafi made his competitive debut on 16 December 2009, replacing Tony Hibbert in the 75th minute of a 0–1 home loss against BATE Borisov, for the season's UEFA Europa League. He was also named on the bench for the Premier League matches against Arsenal and Manchester City in January. Mustafi only appeared on the bench nine times in the following two campaigns, but never played in any further matches.

Sampdoria

In January 2012, Mustafi moved to Italian Serie B side Sampdoria, on a free transfer. Mustafi was released by Everton after he asked manager David Moyes to allow him to move on for more game time. Mustafi made his Samp debut on 26 May 2012, starting and playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–3 loss at Varese. It was his maiden appearance in the competition, as Sampdoria returned to Serie A at first attempt. He made his debut in the Italian top flight on 11 November 2012, starting in a 0–2 loss at Palermo. On 26 October of the following year he scored…

Eligible to represent Germany, North Macedonia and Albania, Mustafi played for his country of birth at youth level; with the under-17 team he won the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. Joachim Löw called up Mustafi to the Germany national squad for a friendly match against Chile in February 2014, he made his full international debut in a friendly match against Poland, playing the full 90 minutes of a goalless draw at the Volksparkstadion on 13 May 2014. Mustafi was selected in Germany's 30-man provisional squad before the 2014 FIFA World Cup by Löw. After initially not making the squad for the finals, he was subsequently nominated as the replacement for the injured Marco Reus. He appeared as a substitute in Germany's opening World Cup game against Portugal, coming on in the 73rd minute in place of Mats Hummels to win his second cap. In the team's second match, he again came on as a substitute, replacing Jérôme Boateng at half time against Ghana. He was selected to start at right-back in Germany's round of 16 match against Algeria, but was substituted in the 70th minute for Sami Khedira due to an injury in his left thigh. It was later confirmed by the DFB that Mustafi would take no further part in the World Cup due to the torn fibre muscle. Mustafi was also called up for UEFA Euro 2016. In Germany's opening match against Ukraine in Lille, he headed a delivery from Toni Kroos to open a 2–0 win. That was his first goal for Germany. He was also part of their squad that…

Club

International

Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Mustafi goal.

Mustafi is an ethnic Albanian from Gostivar, North Macedonia. He was born and grew up in Germany and holds both Albanian and German citizenship. Mustafi is a practising Muslim. In July 2016, he married Albanian model Vjosa Kaba in Gostivar. The couple have a daughter, Noemi (born in July 2017), and a son, Amar (born in January 2019).