Robin Leon Koch (; born 17 July 1996) 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

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 ...

defensive 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. ...

for club

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

and the Germany national team. Koch made his first-team debut for

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

after graduated from the club's youth system and also played in

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 ...

with

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 ...

. He has previously played for Eintracht Trier II,

Eintracht Trier SV Eintracht-Trier 05 e. V., commonly known as Eintracht Trier (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club was established on 11 March 1948 through the merger of Westmark 05 Trier ...

1. FC Kaiserslautern II 1. FC Kaiserslautern II is the reserve team of German association football club 1. FC Kaiserslautern, based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. The team competes in the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, the fifth tier of German football. Prior 2 ...

, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and SC Freiburg. He was included in the Germany U21 team before joining the first-team in November 2019. In August 2020, he signed for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

ahead of their

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

return and in 2021, represented Germany at

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 ...

Club career

Early career

Koch was born in

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...

and joined

's academy at the age of five, but switched to SV Dörbach when his family moved to

Salmtal Salmtal is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It became well known countrywide for the football cl ...

. He joined

's academy in 2009, and despite the fact that "he was never seen as a superstar talent" according to his childhood best friend, he was invited to regional trials by the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

in 2011. He was promoted to Trier's first team in 2014, and made his debut on 22 September 2014 in a 0–0 draw with

TuS Koblenz TuS Koblenz is a Football in Germany, German association football club, located in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Fussball Club Deutschland Neuendorf, which was formed in 1911, is viewed as the foundation of the modern club. History Nazi era ( ...

. He scored his first senior goal on 22 November 2014 in a 4–2 victory over

SpVgg Neckarelz SpVgg Neckarelz is a German association football club from the city of Neckarelz, Baden-Württemberg, playing in the Verbandsliga Baden. History The club was established in June 1921 as ''Fußballverein Neckarelz'' and was renamed ''Spielverei ...

; A low shot in the 25th minute to put Eintracht Trier 1–0 up. He appeared in 23 league matches for Eintracht Trier across the 2014–15 season, scoring two goals, whilst he also appeared 6 times for their reserve side.

1. FC Kaiserslautern

In 2015, Koch moved to

, initially joining their reserve side. Though he was the son of Kaiserslautern legend Harry Koch, he "tried hard not to live on his father's reputation", living an "unglamorous lifestyle" and "staying off the grid" at Kaiserslautern. He scored once in 26 appearances for Kaiserslautern's reserves in the 2015–16 season. Koch signed his first professional contract with the club in September 2016, with the contract lasting until the summer of 2019. His debut for Kaiserslautern came on 2 October 2016, starting in a 0–0 draw against

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia is most well known as ...

in the 2. Bundesliga. He made 24 appearances for Kaiserslautern during the 2016–17 season, and attracted the interest of multiple Bundesliga clubs according to his father Harry.

SC Freiburg

On 22 August 2017, Koch moved to

side

. The transfer fee paid to Kaiserslautern was reported as €3.5 million. He made his Bundesliga debut for Freiburg on 22 October 2017 against

Hertha Berlin Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football, following relegation from t ...

in a 1–1 draw. He scored his first goal for the club on 13 January 2018 in a 1–1 draw against

Leeds United

On 29 August 2020, Koch joined newly-promoted

club

on a four-year deal, for a transfer fee that was reported to be £13 million. He was signed as a replacement for former loanee Ben White, who was deemed to be too expensive to sign permanently. Koch made his

debut for Leeds in the first match of the season against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on 12 September 2020, starting in the 3–4 defeat at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

to the reigning champions. Koch was described as having a 'rough debut', having given away the penalty resulting in Liverpool's first goal despite the fact that the ball deflected off his thigh, before failing to mark

Virgil van Dijk Virgil van Dijk (; born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation and ...

for Liverpool's second. Koch was substituted in the ninth minute of a 3–1 defeat to Chelsea on 5 December after a recurrence of a knee injury suffered in the opening game of the season, and subsequently underwent knee surgery. He made his return to the first team as a late substitute against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

on 19 March 2021. Following the appointment of

Jesse Marsch Jesse Alan Marsch ( ; born November 8, 1973) is an American professional association football, soccer coach and former player who is the head coach of the Canada men's national soccer team, Canada men's national team. Marsch played 14 seasons ...

as manager at Leeds, and a switch to zonal marking, Koch appeared to take a step up in his game and became a regular starter in central defence towards the end of the 2021–22 season and into 2022–23.

Eintracht Frankfurt

On 6 July 2023, Koch joined

on loan for the 2023–24 season. Later that year, on 21 September, he scored his first goal in a 2–1 victory over

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in the Conference League. On 9 January 2024, Koch agreed to join Eintracht Frankfurt on a permanent contract at the end of his loan spell, signing a contract until June 2027.

International career

Youth

Having been called up to Germany's under-21 squad in October 2018, Koch was part of the Germany U21's squad who finished runner up at the

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2019) was the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (25th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth association ...

after losing the final to Spain in June 2019.

Senior

Koch received his first call-up to the German senior squad in October 2019. He debuted the same year on 9 October 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 ...

against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, playing the whole match. His competitive debut occurred on 16 November, starting in the 4–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier victory 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 ...

. Koch was called up to the

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 ...

squad on 26 August 2020 for the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

fixtures against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

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 ...

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

. On 7 June 2024, he was named in Germany's squad for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

Style of play

Koch plays mainly as a

, but can also play as a

or as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is described as a ball playing centre-back and his style of play has been compared to that of

Javi Martínez Javier "Javi" Martínez Aginaga (; born 2 September 1988) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, midfielder or Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back. He ar ...

Personal life

He is the son of former professional footballer Harry Koch. His younger brother Louis plays for

SV Alsenborn The SV Alsenborn is a football in Germany, German football club from the municipality of Enkenbach-Alsenborn, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club became famous in Germany in the 1970s as a village club attempting to win promotion to the ''Bundesliga ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

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 ...

runner-up:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

individual *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Team of the Season: 2024–25

References

External links

Profile
at the Leeds United F.C. website * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, Robin Living people 1996 births Footballers from Kaiserslautern German men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders SV Eintracht Trier 05 players 1. FC Kaiserslautern II players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players SC Freiburg players Leeds United F.C. players Eintracht Frankfurt players Premier League players Regionalliga players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Germany men's under-21 international footballers Germany men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players UEFA Euro 2024 players German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England 21st-century German sportsmen