Matthias Lukas Ginter (born 19 January 1994) is a German professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

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 ...

club SC Freiburg and the Germany national team.

Club career

Early career

Ginter began his career with SV March before he moved to the youth squad of SC Freiburg for the 2005–06 season. With the under-19 team he won the Under-19

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 ...

in 2011 and 2012. In January 2012, Ginter trained with Freiburg's first team due, in part, to a loss of several players from the roster during the winter transfer window. On 21 January 2012, Ginter made his professional debut when he was substituted in for Anton Putsila in the 70th minute against fellow relegation battlers FC Augsburg. In the 88th minute of the game, he scored the winning goal from a free-kick by Michael Lumb for his team in the 1–0 victory. The goal, which came two days after Ginter's 18th birthday, made him SCF's youngest Bundesliga goalscorer in the club's history. The record was previously held by Dennis Aogo.

Borussia Dortmund

On 17 July 2014 Ginter signed for

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

on a five-year deal. He made his debut on 13 August, playing the full match as they won the DFL-Supercup 2–0 against Bayern Munich at the Westfalenstadion.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

On 4 July 2017, Ginter signed with Dortmund rivals Mönchengladbach on a four-year deal. The move was worth around €17 million.

Return to SC Freiburg

On 4 May 2022, Freiburg (the club where Ginter began his career) announced Ginter's signing from Mönchengladbach on a free transfer ahead of the 2022–23 season.

International career

Youth

Ginter represented the under-21 team at the 2015 European Championship in the Czech Republic, starting all four matches. In their second group match at the Eden Arena in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, following two Kevin Volland goals, Ginter rounded off the scoring by heading in Amin Younes' cross in the 53rd minute, leading to a 3–0 victory.

Senior

On 5 March 2014, Ginter debuted for the German senior squad after coming on as a 90th-minute substitute for Mesut Özil in the 1–0 win over

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. He became the 900th player to be capped by the Germany national team. In June 2014, he was named as the youngest player in Germany's 23-man squad for 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 ...

, which went on to win the tournament, although he did not enter the field of play at any point. He was part of the squad for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, where Germany won the silver medal. Along with fellow World Cup-winner Shkodran Mustafi and Julian Draxler, Ginter 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, ...

. On 4 June 2018, Ginter was selected in Germany's 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 ...

. He would not play, making him the only outfield player in German football history who participated in two World Cup campaigns without playing a single minute. Ginter scored his first goal for Germany on 16 November 2019 in a match against

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. On 19 May 2021, he was selected to the squad for the

UEFA 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 Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

. In November 2022, he was named in the final squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar. On 1 December, he made his World Cup debut in his third tournament, coming on as a substitute to Niklas Süle in the 90+3 minute, in a 4–2 win over

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 the last group stage match.

Personal life

In May 2018, Ginter married his wife Christina. In 2020 their son was born on Ginter's own birthday, 19 January. In October 2021, the team where Ginter started his career, SC March, renamed their stadium "Matthias-Ginter-Sportpark".

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 25 March 2023. Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ginter goal.''

Honours

Borussia Dortmund *

: 2016–17 * DFL-Supercup:

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Germany Olympic *

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

silver medal:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Individual * Fritz Walter Medal U18 Gold:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

* Fritz Walter Medal U19 Gold:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

* Germany national team Player of the Year: 2019 *'' kicker'' Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23, 2024–25 *

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, also known as the KCAs or Kids' Choice, is an American annual awards ceremony show produced by Nickelodeon. Usually held on a Saturday night in March or early April, the show honors the year's biggest in tel ...

– Favorite Football Player (Germany, Austria, & Switzerland) nominee: 2020

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ginter, Matthias 1994 births Living people Footballers from Freiburg im Breisgau 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 central defenders SC Freiburg players Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Bundesliga players 3. Liga players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players Olympic footballers for Germany Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic medalists in football 21st-century German sportsmen