Dortmund wonderkid Moukoko makes Germany history with first U21 goals

Borussia Dortmund's 16-year-old prodigy Youssoufa Moukoko became Germany's youngest-ever goalscorer at Under-21 level on Thursday as he opened his account with two goals against San Marino.

Moukoko, who burst onto the scene at just 15 at Signal Iduna Park, has already sent a number of records tumbling at club level in his short career.

And he looks set to do the scene on the international stage as he showed he has made a full recovery from recent injury woes.

A debut to remember

Moukoko, who had previously represented Germany at U16 when he was just 12 years old, received his first U21 call-up back in March 2021.

The teenager then suffered a serious ligament injury which stopped him making his bow and also ruled him out for the rest of the 2020-21 season.

Now back to full fitness and raring to go, having featured in all three of Dortmund's Bundesliga matches so far this term, Moukoko started against San Marino on Thursday in his side's opening European Championship qualifier.

Having become the nation's youngest-ever U21 participant 16 years and 286 days when the game began, he notched twice in the first half to ensure he would also bag the record of youngest goalscorer.

The forward already holds the distinction of being the youngest player to feature in the Bundesliga and the Champions League, as well as the youngest scorer in the former.

Tough times

It has not all been easy for the youngster, however.

Moukoko admitted that the pressure of bursting onto the scene at such a tender age was almost too much for him, and made him consider cutting short his professional career.

"In the beginning, the reports were very stressful for me, especially when my age was discussed," the teenager told German publication WAZ.

"I didn't want to do this to myself anymore. I wanted to quit, but my trainer helped me a lot, he supported me. I could forget everything on the pitch."