A striker who was once told he was too short to play professional football just tied Roger Milla’s record for the most goal contributions by a substitute in World Cup history. Deniz Undav has scored 3 goals and provided 2 assists in just 56 minutes of playing time at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the tournament isn’t even close to over.
From factory floor to World Cup folklore
Back in 2012, Werder Bremen’s youth academy released him. The reason? Concerns about his height.
What followed wasn’t some immediate redemption arc. Undav went to work in a factory while grinding through the lower tiers of German football.
Fast forward to the 2025-26 Bundesliga season, and Undav netted 19 goals, finishing as the league’s second-highest scorer. By the time the World Cup kicked off in June 2026, he had racked up nine goals in his last eight international appearances for Germany.
