Fabian Marco Johnson (born December 11, 1987) is a former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a full-back or

wide 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. ...

. Born in Germany, he represented the United States national team. He also made appearances 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 ...

, particularly at youth level.

Early life

Johnson was born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany. He is the son of an African-American serviceman and former basketball player who played in Germany, and a German-American mother. In 1991, he started playing soccer at the Sportfreunde München.

Club career

In mid-1996, Johnson moved to the renowned youth ranks of 1860 Munich. Johnson was promoted to the first team of 1860 München in July 2006. He amassed 89 league appearances scoring four 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 ...

on July 14, 2009. He scored his first goal for VfL Wolfsburg in a 2–2 draw at home to

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

. In July 2011, Johnson transferred to 1899 Hoffenheim. On September 26, 2012, Johnson scored in Hoffenheim's 3–0 victory over

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

, their first win of the new campaign. On February 24, 2014, it was confirmed that Johnson would join

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 ...

on a free transfer following the conclusion of the 2013–14 season. On August 23, 2014, Johnson made his first league appearance for

, coming on in the 72nd minute of the home match against

. On September 13, he made his first league start in a home 4–1 win over

FC 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, ...

. He scored his first

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 ...

goal on November 3, 2015, against

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 ...

. He scored his first Bundesliga goal for

on March 1 against SC Paderborn.

International career

On August 25, 2011, Johnson was called up to the United States national team by head coach Jürgen Klinsmann for friendly matches with Costa Rica (September 2) and Belgium (September 6). Johnson had represented Germany at youth level, but was eligible for a one-time switch to represent the United States at senior level due to new FIFA eligibility rules; however, he wound up not being able to play as the required paperwork was still pending. On November 11, 2011, Johnson made his international debut for the U.S. as a substitute in a 1–0 loss to France. On November 15, 2011, Johnson made his first full international start against Slovenia and drew a penalty in a 3–2 win. He played in the FIFA World Cup qualifier on June 12, 2012, against Guatemala. Johnson earned his first mark for the USMNT notching the assist in the United States' only goal in their 4–1 loss to Brazil on June 23, 2012. He scored his first national team goal on June 1, 2014, in a pre World Cup friendly against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Johnson started each of the United States national team's three group stage matches in 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 ...

as well as the Round of 16 matchup with

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He secured his second national team goal on November 13, 2015, in a World Cup qualifying match against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. On March 12, 2019, Johnson spoke with United States national team head coach Gregg Berhalter about the possibility of returning to the national team. Johnson has not played for the United States national team since he started in a World Cup qualifying loss to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

in September 2017.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Johnson goal''.

Honors

International

Germany U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Fabian 1987 births Living people American people of German descent German people of African-American descent Sportspeople of American descent Footballers from Munich German men's footballers American men's soccer players African-American soccer players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players TSV 1860 Munich II players TSV 1860 Munich players VfL Wolfsburg players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Borussia Mönchengladbach players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Germany men's youth international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers United States men's international soccer players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century German sportsmen