*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:04, 21 December 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13:44, 22 November 2024 (UTC)
Regarded as a big talent in German football, Wirtz joined the youth team of 1. FC Köln in 2010, where he remained until he was signed by Bayer Leverkusen in January 2020.[6] His transfer to Leverkusen was controversial, as Köln felt that Leverkusen violated a gentleman's agreement between the two clubs in signing Wirtz.[7]
After impressing for the under-17 team, Wirtz made his senior professional debut for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on 18 May 2020, starting in an away match against Werder Bremen.[8] In doing so, he overtook Kai Havertz as Leverkusen's youngest player in the league, at the age of 17 years and 15 days.[9] On 6 June, Wirtz scored his first goal for Leverkusen in the 89th minute of their 4–2 home loss against Bayern Munich, making Wirtz the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history at the age of 17 years and 34 days.[10] This record would later be surpassed by Youssoufa Moukoko less than a year later, aged 16 years and 28 days.[11] On 22 October, he scored his first goal in European competitions in a 6–2 win over Nice during the 2020–21 Europa League.[12]
Wirtz signed a contract extension with the club on 23 December 2020, extending his deal until 2023.[13] On 19 January 2021, he scored the winner in the 80th minute of Leverkusen's 2–1 home victory over Borussia Dortmund.[14] Wirtz scored his fifth career Bundesliga goal in a 5–2 win against VfB Stuttgart on 6 February, becoming the first player in league history to reach this benchmark before turning eighteen years old.[15] He extended his contract until 2026 on 3 May 2021, the day of his 18th birthday.[16] On 28 November 2021, Wirtz netted his fifth Bundesliga goal of the season in a 1–3 win against RB Leipzig to become the first player under the age of 19 to score more than ten Bundesliga goals.[17] On 15 December, he became the youngest player to reach 50 Bundesliga appearances against Hoffenheim, at the age of 18 years and 223 days.[18]
On 13 March 2022, Wirtz tore his anterior cruciate ligament in a 1–0 defeat against 1. FC Köln, hence he missed the rest of the 2021–22 Bundesliga season.[19] On 22 January 2023, he played his first competitive match in ten months, coming off the bench, in a 3–2 away win over Borussia Mönchengladbach.[20] On 26 October 2023, he scored a goal and provided a hat-trick of assists in a 5–1 victory over Qarabağ during the 2023–24 Europa League group stage.[21] On 14 April 2024, Wirtz scored his first career hat-trick, leading his team to a historic 5–0 title-clinching win over Werder Bremen, which gave Bayer their first German championship.[22] By the end of the season he would win the DFB-Pokal final in a 1–0 victory over Kaiserslautern as well as reaching the final of the UEFA Europa League. With forty goal involvements throughout the season for club and country he became German topscorer of the season.
He made his UEFA Champions League debut on the first matchday in a 4–0 away victory over Feyenoord Rotterdam, in which he scored a first-half brace and was named Man of the Match. On matchday two of the competition he would clinch the Man of the Match award for a second time in a 1–0 victory over AC Milan. He would go on to be determined Man of the Match two further times on matchday three in which he scored a goal in a 1–1 draw over Brest as well as matchday five in which he scored another first-half brace as well as giving an assist in the second half to help his team win 5–0 over Salzburg. With five goals in five UEFA Champions League matches he became the first German to ever do that.
In May 2022, coach Hansi Flick expressed his willingness to name Wirtz in the final squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, yet he missed the tournament due to his ACL injury.[25] On 23 March 2024, he scored his first ever goal for Germany in only seven seconds in a friendly match against France, a 2–0 away victory, becoming the second fastest goalscorer in international football history behind Austrian footballer Christoph Baumgartner, who scored a goal in just six seconds in another friendly match against Slovakia on the same day.[26][27]
On 7 June 2024, Wirtz was named in Germany's squad for UEFA Euro 2024.[28] On 14 June, he netted the opener of the tournament in a 5–1 victory over Scotland, becoming the youngest German player to score in the European Championship, aged 21 years and 42 days, breaking the previous record of Kai Havertz.[29] In the quarter-final against Spain, Wirtz replaced Leroy Sané at half-time and scored an 89th-minute equalising goal which took the match to extra time. Spain went on to win 2–1 with a 119th-minute goal, knocking Germany out of the tournament.[30]
In September 2024, Florian Wirtz made his UEFA Nations League debut in a 5–0 victory over Hungary with a goal and an assist. On matchday five of the competition, Wirtz would net his first ever free-kick of his professional career and score his first ever brace for the German national team in a 7–0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. He would eventually top the group stage with his country and face Italy in the quarter-final, of which he missed the first-leg match due to a yellow card suspension.
Style of play
Wirtz is an attacking midfielder, although he can also play wide on the left as an inverted winger. He has a marked offensive mindset and is a very dynamic midfielder, who covers a lot of ground.[31] He also is sometimes used as a striker or a false nine by Xabi Alonso.
Personal life
Wirtz's parents are his agents; his father, Hans-Joachim, is also chairman of Grün-Weiß Brauweiler, the club that Wirtz played for as a child before joining Köln.[32] His elder sister Juliane Wirtz is a professional footballer as well.[6]
^"Deutschland erfüllt seine Pflicht gegen Liechtenstein". Die Zeit (in German). 2 September 2021. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024. Kurz vor Schluss kam Toptalent Florian Wirtz und wurde zum ersten Debütanten unter Flick [Shortly before the end, top talent Florian Wirtz arrived and became the first debutant under Flick.]
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