Antonio Rüdiger (born 3 March 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 ...

who plays as a centre-back for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

club Real Madrid and the Germany national team. Rüdiger began his career at

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

, representing their reserves in

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for th ...

and the first team in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

. In 2015 he joined Roma, initially on loan and a year later for a €9 million fee. He was signed by

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in 2017 for an estimated £27 million, where he won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in his first season, followed by the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

in his second season, and the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

in 2021. In 2022, Rüdiger signed for European champions Real Madrid. He made his international debut for

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in May 2014. He was forced to miss

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 football championship of Europe ...

due to an injury suffered earlier in the season but he was part of the squad that won the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the 10th and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, as a prelude to the 201 ...

. He kept his spot in the squad for the

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

, and later also took part at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

and the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first ...

Club career

VfB Stuttgart

On 23 July 2011, Rüdiger made his debut for

VfB Stuttgart II VfB Stuttgart II is a German football team located in Stuttgart, currently playing in the Regionalliga Südwest. From 2008 to 2016 the team played in the 3. Liga. They are the reserve team of VfB Stuttgart. Until 2005 the team played under the n ...

in the

against Arminia Bielefeld. Subsequently on 29 January 2012, Rüdiger made his

debut for

's first team in a home professional match against Borussia Mönchengladbach, he was replaced by

Raphael Holzhauser Raphael Holzhauser (born 16 February 1993) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for TSV 1860 Munich, on loan from Belgian First Division A club OH Leuven, and the Austria national team. Club career Hol ...

in the 79th minute of a 3–0 defeat. The following year in April 2013, Rüdiger extended his contract with Stuttgart until June 2017. On 1 June, he played in the final of the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

in a match lost 3–2 against Bayern Munich. He finished his second season in the first team with 24 appearances, plus 4 appearances and 2 goals in the reserve team. Rüdiger finished the 2013–14 season with 35 appearances and 2 goals. He finished the following season with only 20 appearances and one assist due to various injuries.

Roma

On 19 August 2015,

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club Roma signed Rüdiger on loan from Stuttgart for €4 million. The clubs agreed on an optional €9 million transfer fee at the end of the one-year contract. On 12 September, he made his debut in a 2–0 away win over

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the ...

. On 9 January 2016 he scored his first goal for Roma in the 4th minute of a 1–1 home draw against

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. He finished his season-long loan to Roma with 37 appearances and 2 goals. On 30 May, Roma officially signed Rüdiger from for €9 million + €0.5m bonuses on a four-year contract. On 23 February 2017, as a substitute replacing

Kostas Manolas Konstantinos "Kostas" Manolas ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μανωλάς; ; born 14 June 1991) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for UAE Pro League club Sharjah. Club career AEK Athens 2009–1 ...

in the 46th minute of a 1–0 home defeat against

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

in the round of 32 of the

, he was sent off with a double yellow card in the 81st minute. On 30 April he was sent off with a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

in the 93rd minute in

Derby della Capitale The Derby della Capitale ( en, Derby of the capital city), also known as Derby Capitolino and Derby del Cupolone, as well as The Rome Derby in English and Derby di Roma in Italian, is the football local derby in Rome, Italy, between Lazio and Ro ...

against Lazio in a 3–1 home defeat. Rüdiger finished his second season at Roma with 35 appearances and four assists.

Chelsea

On 9 July 2017, Rüdiger joined

from Roma for a reported initial fee of £29 million on a five-year deal. He was given the number 2 shirt. He made his debut on 6 August as a substitute replacing Marcos Alonso in the 79th minute in a 4–1 loss on penalties to Arsenal in the

2017 FA Community Shield The 2017 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield supported by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 95th FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League a ...

. He made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

debut six days later in a 3–2 defeat against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

at Stamford Bridge. He scored his first goal for Chelsea in the round of 16 of the EFL Cup in a 2–1 win over Everton, and his first league goal was the only one of a home win over Swansea City on 29 November 2017. On 20 October 2018, Rüdiger scored his first goal of the season, opening the scoring in a 2–2 home draw against Manchester United. On 22 December 2019, Rüdiger made a complaint about racist abuse directed against him during the away match against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, which received wide media coverage. It prompted a call for government action on racism in football. However, no evidence of racist abuse against Rüdiger was found after a police investigation with the police eventually dismissing the case. Antonio Rudiger 2021 (cropped)

On his 100th club appearance, he scored Chelsea's two goals, both headers assisted by

Mason Mount Mason Tony Mount (born 10 January 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking or central midfielder for club Chelsea and the England national team. Mount began his senior club career with Chelsea, and joined Vite ...

in a 2–2 draw against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

at the

King Power Stadium King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...

on 1 February 2020. On 29 May 2021, Rüdiger won his first-ever

after Chelsea beat Manchester City 1–0 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

at the

Estádio do Dragão The Estádio do Dragão (; English: Dragon Stadium) is an All-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Porto, Portugal, and the home ground of FC Porto since 2003. It has a seating capacity of 50,033, making it the Lis ...

. On 12 April 2022, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 3–2 away win over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the 2021–22 season; however, Chelsea were eliminated from the competition by losing 5–4 on aggregate. On 20 May, Rüdiger announced officially that he would leave Chelsea after five years.

Real Madrid

On 2 June 2022, Real Madrid announced that Rüdiger signed as a free agent for the club, penning a four-year deal starting with the 2022–23 season. On 20 June 2022, Rüdiger was unveiled as a new Real Madrid player. He was given the number 22 shirt. On 10 August, he made his debut for the club, coming off the bench in a 2–0 victory over

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

in the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

. His first goal came on 11 September 2022, scoring the last goal in a 4–1 win over Mallorca. On 11 October, he scored a header in the 95th minute against

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

in the Champions League group stage, which allowed his side to draw 1–1 and qualify for the

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

. While jumping for the header, Rüdiger collided with Shakhtar goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin and sustained a cut to the face that required 20 stitches.

International career

Rüdiger was eligible to play for Germany and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, his mother's homeland and was a member of the several German national youth football teams up to the Germany national under-21 football team, Germany U21 team. He made his debut for the German national senior team on 13 May 2014 in a 0–0 draw against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Although he was initially included in his nation's 23-man squad for

, Rüdiger was later ruled out of the tournament due to injury, after tearing the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

in his right knee during a training session on 7 June. Rüdiger was part of the German national squad which won the

in Russia. He played four matches in the tournament, including the 1–0 win over

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in the

. On 8 October 2017, he headed his first international goal in a 5–1 home win over

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

in World Cup qualifying. Rüdiger was included in Germany's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup on 4 June 2018. On 23 June, he was picked up for the second group stage match against Sweden as first choice centre-back Mats Hummels suffered an injury, the game ended 2–1 win for Germany. Four days later, he did not play the last group stage match and his side were knocked out by

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

after a 2–0 defeat. On 19 May 2021, Rüdiger was selected to the squad for the

. He played every minute in the tournament for Germany as they were eliminated by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the

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

Style of play

Normally a centre-back, Rüdiger is a versatile defender, who is also capable of playing as a full-back on either flank. In 2015, ''

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

'' described him as a "...tall, quick and athletic defender who is ... comfortable with the ball at his feet", also touting him as an "interesting prospect" who "...has all the necessary physical attributes to become a top-level centre-back." His Chelsea profile also describes him as a "tough tackler" and a "commanding presence in the air." In addition to his strong physical attributes and aggressive playing style, he is also known for his leadership qualities and passing ability.

Personal life

Rüdiger is a practising Muslim. He was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

to a black German father, Matthias, and a Sierra Leonean mother, Lily. He grew up in the Berlin neighbourhood of Neukölln and is the half-brother of Sahr Senesie. Rüdiger has often spoken out on racism in the sport, most notably after a match against

on 24 February 2020. In 2021, he wrote an article for ''

The Players' Tribune ''The Players' Tribune'' is a new media platform that produces daily sports conversation and publishes first-person stories from professional athletes. The platform was founded by former professional Major League Baseball player Derek Jeter in ...

'', entitled "This Article Will Not Solve Racism in Football," on the subject, discussing his experiences with racism throughout his life and career, and potential ways to fight it. He is married with a son and daughter.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Rüdiger goal''

Honours

Chelsea *

: 2017–18; runner-up: 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 b ...

, 2021–22 *

: 2018–19 *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

* FIFA Club World Cup:

* EFL Cup runner-up: 2018–19, 2021–22 Real Madrid *UEFA Super Cup:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

Germany * FIFA Confederations Cup:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Individual * U19 Fritz Walter Gold Medal:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

*UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season:

*UEFA Champions League Team of the Season: 2021–22 * PFA Team of the Year:

2021–22 Premier League The 2021–22 Premier League was the 30th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992, and the 123rd season of top-flight English football overall. The start a ...

ESM Team of the Year The European Sports Media (ESM), formerly European Sports Magazines, is an association of football-related publications in Europe. Members European Sports Media was established in 1989 as an international body for football journalism. Its nine fo ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the Real Madrid CF website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudiger, Antonio 1993 births Living people Footballers from Berlin German footballers Association football defenders SV Tasmania Berlin players Hertha Zehlendorf players Borussia Dortmund players VfB Stuttgart II players VfB Stuttgart players A.S. Roma players Chelsea F.C. players Real Madrid CF players 3. Liga players Bundesliga players Serie A players Premier League players La Liga players FA Cup Final players UEFA Europa League winning players UEFA Champions League winning players Germany youth international footballers Germany under-21 international footballers Germany international footballers 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players German expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain German expatriate sportspeople in England German expatriate sportspeople in Italy German expatriate sportspeople in Spain German people of Sierra Leonean descent German sportspeople of African descent German Muslims