Julian Draxler (born 20 September 1993) is a German professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

club Al Ahli. He has also played for the Germany national team at international level. He made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut for

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

aged 17 in January 2011, and in May of that year scored the first goal as the side won the DFB-Pokal final. In total, he played 171 competitive matches for Schalke, scoring 30 goals, before transferring to

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

in 2015. In January 2017, he joined

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. A full international with over 50 caps since 2012, he was part of the Germany squad who won the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, reached the semi-finals of

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

and was the captain of the side that won the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the tenth and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's Association football, football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, ...

, a tournament in which Draxler was awarded the Golden Ball trophy as the best player of the competition.

Club career

Schalke 04

Draxler made his

debut on 15 January 2011 in a 0–1 loss to

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

. At that time, he was the fourth-youngest Bundesliga player ever and the youngest in Schalke's history. One week later, in Schalke's 1–0 win against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

, he became the second-youngest field player after

Nuri Şahin Nuri Şahin (born 5 September 1988) is a German and Turkish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently head coach of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. He began his playing career at Dortmun ...

to start a Bundesliga match. On 25 January 2011, Julian Draxler came on as a substitute for Peer Kluge in the quarter-finals of the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

against 1. FC Nürnberg in the second half of extra time. He scored his first goal for Schalke 04 in the dying seconds of the same match to ensure a 3–2 for his club. He scored his first Bundesliga goal on 1 April 2011 against

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St. Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St. Pauli (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg. The team plays in the Bundesliga from the 2024–25 Bundesli ...

. Draxler opened the scoring in Schalke's 2011 DFB-Pokal final victory over

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

, volleying in from outside the area, scoring the first of what proved to be five unanswered goals for Schalke. He finished the 2010–11 season with 1 goal in 15 league appearances, two goals in three DFB-Pokal appearances and six

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

appearances. In the 2011–12 season, Draxler played an important part in securing third place and

2011–12 UEFA Champions League The 2011–12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 20th season in its current Champions League format. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa Lea ...

qualification for Schalke, appearing in 30 of 34

matches, mainly on the left side of midfield to accommodate

Lewis Holtby Lewis Harry Holtby (born 18 September 1990) is a German professional footballer who most recently played as a midfielder for and captained Holstein Kiel. Holtby began his professional career with Alemannia Aachen before signing for Schalke 04 t ...

in a central role. He also had a goal in two

matches, two goals in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, and an appearance in the

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

. The following season, Draxler continued to prove himself to be an important first team player, scoring in matches against Greuther Fürth,

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

and in a high-scoring 5–4 victory against Hannover 96. Draxler continued to play an important role after Holtby's departure and the signing of

Michel Bastos Michel Fernandes Bastos (born 2 August 1983) is a Brazilian retired professional Association football, footballer who mainly played as a winger (association football), left winger. Bastos started his career at hometown club Esporte Clube Pelot ...

, allowing Draxler to impress in his favoured attacking midfield position, including two goals in a 4–1 victory at

. While scoring in a 2–1 win to complete a league double over rivals Borussia Dortmund, Draxler became Schalke's youngest ever player to appear in 100 competitive games. On 3 May, he scored the match's only goal as Schalke defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 1–0 at

Borussia-Park Borussia-Park (; stylised as Stadion im BORUSSIA-PARK) is a Association football, football stadium in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany which serves as the home stadium of Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach. It replaced ...

. Draxler finished the 2012–13 season as Schalke's joint top goalscorer in the

– along with striker

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Dirk Jan Klaas Huntelaar (born 12 August 1983), known professionally as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (), is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Huntelaar played for PSV Ein ...

– after finishing the season with ten goals. He also scored two goals in three

matches and one goal in six

matches.

In May 2013, amid rumours of interest from English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

clubs as well as from Borussia Dortmund, Draxler extended his contract for a further two years, until 30 June 2018. On 2 October 2013, Draxler scored in a 1–0 away win against

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

in the

2013–14 UEFA Champions League The 2013–14 UEFA Champions League was the 59th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 22nd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was ...

. This win took Schalke 04 to the top of their group. In the final match of the Champions League group stage, Draxler opened the scoring for Schalke in a 2–0 victory against Basel, taking them through to the

knockout phase A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the tournament. He finished the 2013–14 season with 2 goals in 26 appearances in the

, two appearances in the

and four goals in ten appearances in the Champions League. He would go on to score 2 goals in 19 appearances in all competitions in the following season. On 27 July 2015, Schalke rejected a bid of €15 million from

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, after reports that the Italian side and Draxler had already agreed personal terms. Schalke general manager

Horst Heldt Horst Heldt (born 9 December 1969) is a German football executive and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the former general manager of 1. FC Köln. Playing career Heldt was born in Königswinter. He played at 1. FC Köln from 1990 ...

felt the offer was far too low and informed Juventus that there would be no further talks. On 31 August 2015, Draxler signed for VfL Wolfsburg. His final match was a 3–0 loss to Wolfsburg three days prior to the transfer. He finished his 2015–16 account for Schalke with one goal in three

matches and a

match.

VfL Wolfsburg

On 31 August 2015, Draxler signed for VfL Wolfsburg on a five-year deal for a reported initial fee of €36 million plus add-ons. He scored his first goal for Wolfsburg on 15 September 2015, in a 1–0 win over

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

on his Champions League debut for the club. On 31 October, he registered his first Bundesliga goal with the ''Wolves'', scoring the winner after appearing as a substitute against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. In the knockout phase of the 2015–16 Champions League, against

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

, Draxler scored twice in a 3–2 away win in the first leg. On 8 March in the second leg at the

Volkswagen Arena Volkswagen Arena (; also known as the VfL Wolfsburg Arena due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in the Germany, German city of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. It was opened in 2002 and named after the auto ...

, he assisted

André Schürrle André Horst Schürrle (; born 6 November 1990) is a German former professional footballer who played as a forward or winger. He began his career at Mainz 05 in 2009, spending two years at the club before a £6.5 million transfer to Bayer ...

for the only goal of the match as Wolfsburg reached the quarter-finals for the first time in club history. However, media sources reported that Draxler had failed to fulfill expectations with the ''Wolves'' and often appeared like a "foreign body" in the team. He ended the 2015–16 season with 8 goals and 7 assists from 28 appearances. Ahead of the 2016–17 season, Draxler announced that he wished to leave VfL Wolfsburg and that the club would allow him to transfer if it received an attractive offer. Despite reported interest from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

, Draxler could not secure a transfer away from Wolfsburg during the summer transfer window. On his return to the Wolfsburg team, Draxler was loudly booed by the club's supporters and described the following four months as "the worst first half of a season of my career".

Paris Saint-Germain

On 24 December 2016, it was announced on VfL Wolfsburg's website that Draxler would be joining Paris Saint-Germain on a four-year contract, for a reported fee of €42 million, pending a medical examination. The transfer was officially completed on 3 January 2017. On 7 January, Draxler made his competitive debut for PSG in a

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

fixture against

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

at the

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

. He scored the final goal of a 7–0 victory in the 89th minute, after being assisted by

Hatem Ben Arfa Hatem Ben Arfa (, ; born 7 March 1987) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger and attacking midfielder. Known for his flair and Dribbling#Association football, dribbling ability, ...

. Draxler debuted in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

seven days later and scored the match's only goal as the champions won 1–0 away at

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. On 1 February, he scored twice against the same opposition in the

to take him to four goals in five appearances in French football. On 14 February, Draxler scored on his first Champions League appearance for PSG, a 4–0 home win over

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. On 26 February, he scored after appearing as a substitute in PSG's 5–1 win against rivals

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in ''

Le Classique Le Classique (, The Classic) is the rivalry between French professional Association football, football clubs Paris Saint-Germain FC, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Olympique de Marseille (OM). The duo are the two Football records and statistics i ...

'' at the

Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...

. On 1 April, Draxler scored the opening goal in PSG's 4–1 win over

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

in the 2017 Coupe de la Ligue final. Between 2018 and 2020, Draxler won three Ligue 1, three Coupe de France, and three Coupe de la Ligue titles. He also played in the 2020 UEFA Champions League final, which PSG lost 1–0 against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. Draxler scored his first goal of the 2020–21 season in a 1–0 win against

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

on 16 September 2020. This was his first goal since the 2018–19 season. In a 4–0 victory against

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

on 24 October, Draxler suffered a hamstring injury; he made his return on 16 December in a 2–0 win over

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

. In May 2021, he extended his contract with PSG until 2024.

Loan to Benfica

Draxler joined Benfica on a season-long loan for a reported fee of €2.5 million on transfer deadline day, 1 September 2022. He made his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

debut nine days later, featuring in Benfica's 1–0 away win against Famalicão. He scored his first goal on 18 September, closing a 5–0 home win over Marítimo.

Al Ahli

On 16 September 2023, Draxler arrived in Doha to complete his transfer to

club Al Ahli. Two days later, he signed a two-year contract at the club.

International career

On 9 August 2011, Draxler scored on his debut for the Germany under-21 side in the 4–1 win over

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in a

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, or simply the 2013 Euro Under-21, was the 19th staging of UEFA's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Israel from 5–18 June 2013. The Is ...

qualifier. On 7 May 2012, he was one of two uncapped players called up into the provisional squad for the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

senior side for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. On 26 May 2012, he made his debut for the senior side in Germany's 5–3 loss to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, coming on as a substitute to replace

Lukas Podolski Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , 4 June 1985) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward or attacking midfielder for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. He is kno ...

in the 62nd minute. His first international goal was scored on 2 June 2013 in a friendly against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The goal was scored in the 81st minute to bring the score to 3–4, finishing a rebound off goalkeeper

Tim Howard Timothy Matthew Howard (born March 6, 1979) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He is the part-owner of club Dagenham & Redbridge as well as an international ambassador in the United States for Premie ...

. Draxler captained Germany in a goalless friendly against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

on 13 May 2014, a match in which seven of his teammates were debutants. In June 2014, Draxler was named in Germany's 23-man squad for the

. He made his first World Cup appearance as a 76th-minute substitute for

Sami Khedira Sami Khedira (; ; born 4 April 1987) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a central midfielder. He began his career at VfB Stuttgart, winning the Bundesliga in 2007, before moving to Real Madrid CF, Re ...

in the semi-final 7–1 victory over Brazil. On 13 July, he was an unused substitute as Germany defeated

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

at the

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium (, ; named after the Maracanã River), officially known as Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium (, ; , named after Mário Filho), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located in the Maracanã neighbor ...

to win its fourth

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. Draxler made only two appearances for the world champions during the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. However, he started on the left side of Germany's attack in four of their six matches at Euro 2016 finals, also appearing as a substitute in the quarter-final against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and converting his kick in the 6–5

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

win. He was named

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

for his performance against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, assisting

Mario Gómez Mario Gómez García (; born 10 July 1985) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He represented the Germany national football team, Germany national team ...

's second goal before scoring the third himself in a 3–0 win. Draxler was named

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of an inexperienced Germany squad for the

, scoring a penalty kick in the team's opening match as they defeated

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

3–2. Following Germany's title win, Draxler was awarded the Golden Ball as best player of the tournament. On 4 June 2018, Germany's manager

Joachim Löw Joachim "Jogi" Löw (; born 3 February 1960) is a German football coach and former player. He was the manager of the Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure as manager, he led Germany to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup i ...

included Draxler in his final 23-man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

. On 17 June, Draxler made a World Cup appearance during their opening match against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in which the Germans lost 1–0. He then played in a 2–1 win over

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. However, Germany finished last in their group after a 2–0 loss against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and were knocked out from the group stage of the World Cup. Later on, Draxler was not included in Germany's squad for

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organised by the Union of E ...

Style of play

Draxler is two-footed and known for his

speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

and intensity in one-on-one situations. He is mainly deployed as a left winger but he can also be deployed as a right winger and as an attacking midfielder. In his Schalke 04 youth career, Draxler was deployed mainly as an attacking midfielder where he always felt most at home. In addition, Draxler is known for possessing a powerful and impressive shot. In January 2014, Draxler was named by ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' as one of the ten most promising young players in Europe.

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

's official website describes Draxler as "tall, fast, with a keen eye for goal, and an exceptional talent in one-on-one situations from his regular position as a left-sided attacking midfielder".

Personal life

Draxler was born in

Gladbeck Gladbeck () is a town in the district of Recklinghausen (district), Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Gladbeck is quite a young town, first recognised 21 July 1919 when it was given town rights. The town established itself aroun ...

, North Rhine-Westphalia. He attended the Heisenberg-Gymnasium in Gladbeck before changing to

Gesamtschule Berger Feld Gesamtschule Berger Feld is a ''gesamtschule'' in Gelsenkirchen. It is located in the Erle region and has 1325 pupils and 118 teachers. It is known for the fact that a great number of its former students have become professional association footba ...

in 2011. In his childhood, he would regularly go with his father to watch Schalke 04's home matches and since then has been a fan of the club.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 7 October 2020. Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first.''

Honours

Schalke 04 *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22 *

: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

runner-up: 2019–20 Benfica *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Germany *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

Individual *

Fritz Walter Medal The Fritz Walter Medal is a series of annual awards given by the German Football Association to youth footballers in Germany. First awarded in 2005, it is named in honour of Fritz Walter, captain of West Germany's 1954 FIFA World Cup-winning team ...

U18 Gold:

* Sportschau Goal of the Year Award: 2013 (shared with Raúl) *''

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

Team of the Season: 2013–14 *Bundesliga Young Player of the Year: 2013–14 *FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball:

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Draxler, Julian 1993 births Living people Footballers from Gladbeck People educated at the Gesamtschule Berger Feld German men's footballers Germany men's youth international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Germany men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football wingers FC Schalke 04 players VfL Wolfsburg players Paris Saint-Germain FC players S.L. Benfica footballers Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players Primeira Liga players Qatar Stars League players 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France German expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal German expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar German expatriate sportspeople in Qatar 21st-century German sportsmen