A 29-year-old VfB Stuttgart striker who barely saw the pitch at Euro 2025 is now outpacing some of football’s biggest names on a per-minute basis at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Deniz Undav has scored 3 goals and added 2 assists across just two matches, all while logging a mere 56 minutes of playing time.
To put that efficiency in perspective: Undav is producing a goal contribution roughly every 11 minutes. Lionel Messi leads the tournament’s scoring charts with 5 goals, but he’s had considerably more time on the ball to get there. Undav is keeping pace with the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race.
The super-sub nobody saw coming
Undav’s path to this moment has been anything but conventional. His previous experience at a major international tournament amounted to 6 minutes at Euro 2025. Not six matches. Six minutes. This is his first World Cup appearance, and he has spent the tournament used primarily as a substitute, turning matches on their head after coming off the bench.
Before this tournament, Undav had established himself in the Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart, where he scored 19 goals during the 2025/26 season. Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann’s decision to include him in the World Cup squad reflected that domestic form.
