Paris Josua Brunner (born 15 February 2006) 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 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

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

club

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Their matricule number is 12. The club plays home games at the 29 ...

, on loan from

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 ...

club

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, ...

Club career

Brunner played for the academies of

Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 1955. The latt ...

and

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

, before joining

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 ...

in 2020. He rose to prominence in the footballing world after scoring sixteen goals in only five

Under 17 Bundesliga The Under 17 Bundesliga (German: ''B-Junioren Bundesliga'') is the highest level of play in German football for male juniors between the ages of 15 and 17. It was formed in 2007 and operates in three regional divisions with 14 clubs each. At the ...

appearances. He was promoted to the under-19 side at the age of sixteen, scoring on his debut against

Bonner SC Bonner SC is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Bonn. The club was formed in 1965 through the merger of ''Bonner FV'' and ''Tura Bonn''. Its women's football department won the List of German women's football champio ...

in the

Under 19 Bundesliga The Under 19 Bundesliga (German: ''A-Junioren Bundesliga'') is the highest level in German Under 19 football. It was created in 2003 and is divided in three divisions (Nord/Nordost, West und Süd/Südwest) with 14 teams each. The winner of each ...

. These goal-scoring feats earned him comparisons to teammate

Youssoufa Moukoko Youssoufa Moukoko (born 20 November 2004) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Nice, on loan from Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. Born in Cameroon, he has played for the Germany national team. Club career Early ca ...

, who was similarly prolific at youth level. On 11 October 2023, he was named by English newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as one of the best players born in 2006 worldwide. A week later, Borussia Dortmund indefinitely suspended Brunner for undisclosed disciplinary reasons. On 16 August 2024, Brunner signed for

club

, then immediately went on loan to

club

. Brunner scored his first senior goal for Cercle Brugge on 19 December, matchday 6 of the

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

, in a 1–1 draw against

Başakşehir Başakşehir is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 107 km2, and its population is 514,900 (2022). It is in the European part of Istanbul. The district is home to İsta ...

. The late equaliser helped his team qualify directly for the round of 16 by finishing eighth in the league phase.

International career

Brunner has represented Germany at youth international level. He is also eligible to represent the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, through his mother.

Youth

During the

2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-17 Euro 2023) was the 20th UEFA European Under-17 Championship (39th edition if the Under-16 era is also included), the annual international youth football championship organise ...

, he scored the equalizer for 10-man

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 ...

team against

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 ...

in the quarter-final match which ended in a 3–2 win on penalties, securing a place in the

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

. He later managed to win the competition with his country after beating

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the final 4–3 on penalties. He was also voted player of the tournament, in addition to being the joint top scorer with four goals. At the end of the same year, Brunner took part at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup, representing Germany. Scoring five goals throughout the competition and becoming joint winner of the silver boot, Brunner and his team would win the final in which he scored, again against France and once again on penalties. He also would win the golden ball and become part of the team of the tournament.

Honours

Germany U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual * UEFA European Under-17 Championship Top Scorer:

* UEFA European Under-17 Championship Player of the Tournament:

*UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament:

* FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Ball:

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 ...

U17 Gold:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunner, Paris 2006 births Living people German sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent German men's footballers Men's association football forwards Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players AS Monaco FC players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players 3. Liga players Belgian Pro League players Germany men's youth international footballers German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium 21st-century German sportsmen