Melike Pekel (born 14 April 1995) is a German-born Turkish

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 a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for the Turkey women's national team.

Early life

Melike Pekel was born to

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

immigrant parents in

München 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 on 14 April 1995. After completing her vocational education in July 2015, she started to work as an optician in

Schrobenhausen Schrobenhausen (; Central Bavarian: ''Schrobenhausn'') is a town in the district of Neuburg-Schrobenhausen in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the River Paar approx. south-west of Ingolstadt and north-east of Augsburg. History Remains of ...

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat of the district gove ...

, where she resides.

Club career

Pekel began her career in the youth team of FC Schrobenhausen in her hometown, and displayed her high footballer talent. In the 2012–13 season, she started to play for the second team of

TSV Schwaben Augsburg TSV Schwaben Augsburg is a German football club which is part of a larger sports association whose origins go back to the 1847 formation of the gymnastics club Turnverein Augsburg. The association's football department was formed in 1907 and af ...

in the German

Bezirksoberliga Schwaben The Bezirksoberliga Schwaben was the seventh tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Bavarian Swabia, Swabia (). Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the sixth tier of the league system, unt ...

. Already after one game in the same season, she was promoted to the first squad of the club, which competed in the Regionalliga Süd. She scored in total 20 goals in 40 matches in two league seasons. Pekel became the topscorer of the Regionalliga Süd in the 2013–14 season. For the 2014–15 season,

FC Bayern München 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, ...

transferred her in the second team of the club to play in the 2. Bundesliga Frauen Süd. In the 12th play day of the season on 7 December 2014, manager

Thomas Wörle Thomas Wörle (born 11 February 1982) is a German former Association football, footballer who last managed SSV Ulm 1846, SSV Ulm. He is the brother of former Bayern Munich striker Tanja Wörle and succeeded his father Günther Wörle as coach of ...

took her into the first squad in the Bundesliga Frauen match against

1. FFC Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt is a German women's association football club based in Frankfurt. Its first team currently plays in the German top flight, Frauen-Bundesliga. From 1998 to 2020, the club was known as 1. FFC Frankfurt. Eintracht have won sev ...

. She appeared in two games for the first squad until the end of the season. She enjoyed her team's champion title in the 2014–15 Bundesliga season. In the 2015–16 season, Pekel returned to her place in the second squad of the club playing in the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga Süd again. As of 22 November 2015, she scored 15 goals in 26 games for her club. At the beginning of 2017, she left Munich and transferred to FC Metz-Algrange to play in the

Division 1 Féminine Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 to ...

. She made her debut in the away game against

ASPTT Albi Albi Marssac Tarn Football ASPTT (or Association Sportive de La Poste et France Télécom Albi) is a French women's football team based in Albi. The first team plays at the Stade Maurice Rigaud. The club reached Division 2 Féminine in 2000 fo ...

on 5 February 2017. Pekel scored her first and her team's only goal in the third minute in the home match against

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

on 26 February 2017. Ahead of the 2017–2018 season Pekel 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 ...

. With her playing time limited, Pekel went on loan to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in 2019. In August 2019, Pekel re-signed with Metz. She later joined fellow French clubs

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

and

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

, in which she sustained recurring knee injuries and eventually left the latter in 2021.

Ingolstadt

In November 2023, following a two-year hiatus, she joined 2. Bundesliga club

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

for the 2023–24 season. On 21 April 2024, she scored her first goal for Ingolstadt in a 2–1 away defeat against

FSV Gütersloh 2009 FSV Gütersloh 2009 (Frauensportverein, e.g. Women's Sports Club) is a German women's football club from Gütersloh. It currently competes in the 2. Bundesliga. It has its origin in the women's team of FC Gütersloh FC Gütersloh is a Germ ...

Galatasaray

On July 8, 2025, she signed a contract with the Turkish giant

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

International career

Pekel was called up to the Turkey women's national team, and debuted in the friendly match against

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

on 19 August 2015. She took part in four of the

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying Group 5 The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan ...

matches for the Turkish nationals. She appeared in three matches of the

. On 1 March 2017, Pekel scored her first national goal against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in the 2017 Goldcity Women's Cup. She took part at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA preliminary round – Group 4 matches. In the second match of the tournament, she scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in the match against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

on 8 April 2017. She scored her team's only goal in the third game of the qualification tournament against

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

;

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. I ...

:: ''Winners'' (1): 2014–15. Individual * ''Top Scorer'': 2013–14 – Regionalliga Süd with

'' (16 goals)

References

External links

*
Turkey player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pekel, Melike 1995 births Living people Turkish women's footballers 21st-century Turkish sportswomen Women's association football forwards Première Ligue players FC Metz (women) players Paris Saint-Germain FC (women) players FC Girondins de Bordeaux (women) players Turkey women's international footballers Turkish expatriate women's footballers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate women's footballers in France Footballers from Munich German women's footballers German expatriate women's footballers German sportspeople of Turkish descent Frauen-Bundesliga players 2. Frauen-Bundesliga players FC Bayern Munich (women) players German expatriate sportspeople in France TSV Schwaben Augsburg players Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate women's footballers in Germany 21st-century German sportswomen Galatasaray S.K. (women's football) players