Jamal Musiala Biography

Jamal Musiala was born on February 26, 2003, in Stuttgart, Germany, to Daniel Richard and Carolin Musiala. While his father is a British Nigerian, his mother is a German citizen of English and Polish descent. His father, also known as Rich, had apparently played high-level football in Nigeria before moving to Germany.

Musiala grew up with his younger sister, Latisha. He was 2 years old when his family decided to move to Fulda, a town in Hesse, which was about 150 miles away, as his mother, Carolin, had decided to get her bachelor's degree in social sciences in the town.

By the age of 7, Musiala had started playing youth football for TSV Lehnerz and had won in several games and championships with the club. However, soon, his mother again got an opportunity to join a 4-month Erasmus program at the University of Southampton, which was part of her master's degree at the Goethe University of Frankfurt. The entire family, including Musiala and his sister, thus left Fulda and moved to England. There, Musiala joined Southampton’s youth football academy.

He studied at the Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, Chestnut Grove, located in the London borough of New Malden. By age 9, Musiala had learned to speak good English. He also won an annual poetry competition in school.

During his primary school years itself, he was part of a chess club and had joined a course on the Korean martial art Hapkido. At 11, he won a scholarship to the elite Whitgift School in South Croydon. He joined Chelsea’s football academy in 2011.

After moving to the UK from Fulda (near Frankfurt, Germany) at age 7, Jamal Musiala joined the local club Central City. He was then scouted by Chelsea’s youth team and played for both Germany and England at youth level. However, most of his matches at the youth level were for England.

He was 16 when he joined the German club Bayern Munich in 2019, playing for their junior team for a year. Musiala’s first professional match was as a substitute for Bayern Munich II in a 3. Liga match against Preuben Munster, which they won 3-2.

In June 2020, Musiala made his Bundesliga debut against SC Freiburg, scripting history as the youngest Bayern player to play in the Bundesliga, at age 17 years and 115 days. Musiala then became his club's youngest goal-scorer of all time, at 17 years and 205 days, breaking 18-year-old Roque Santa Cruz’s record, in an 8-0 victory against Schalke at the beginning of the 2020-21 season.

On February 23 2021, he scored his first Champions League goal, in a 4-1 away win against the Italian club Lazio in a Round of 16 tie. With this, Musiala became the youngest goal-scorer of both English and German nationalities in the Champions League.

Jamal Musiala is eligible to play internationally for England, Nigeria, and Germany, owing to his parents’ origins. However, in early 2021, he decided to represent his birth country, Germany, in international championships.

He made his national team debut, playing for Germany in a World Cup qualifier match against Iceland later in March 2021. He thus also became the second-youngest footballer to ever represent Germany. His first international goal was scored in a friendly match against Denmark in June 2021.

On March 5, 2021, he signed his first senior professional contract with Bayern Munich, which is to last till 2026. On October 11, 2021, at 18 years and 227 days, Musiala became the second-youngest footballer to score for Germany, in a 4-0 victory against North Macedonia in a 2022 World Cup qualifier match.

An attacking midfielder, Musiala has been appreciated for his technical skills, his pace and flexibility, and his goal-making and dribbling ability. He can play in multiple positions, including that of a winger or central midfielder.

Since joining Bayern Munich, he has helped the team win several titles, including the Bundesliga in the 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 seasons. He has also played for Bayern in the DFB-Pokal, and was part of the club’s 2019-20 UEFA Champions League squad. Musiala was named the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month in April 2021.

Jamal Musiala has also won 3 back-to-back German Supercup/DFL-Supercup titles since 2020, with Bayern. He was part of the FIFA Club World Cup-winning Bayern squad in 2020, too. The International Federation of Football, History and Statistics (IFFHS) named him to the U20 Team of the Year in 2020, along with other stalwarts such as Bukayo Saka, Pedri, and Eduardo Camavinga.

On November 23, 2022, Musiala made his World Cup debut in a match against Japan. With this, he became the first German teenager to be part of the World Cup since 1958. The same year, he was voted the German Player of the Year.

Jamal Musiala has been nicknamed Bambi (after a Disney character) by his teammates. It is believed that the nickname was originally given by Musiala’s friend and fellow Bayern teammate Leroy Sané, due to his boyish charm and his small stature.

Musiala is close to English footballer Jude Bellingham, too. The two played for England at youth level, where they struck up a friendship. However, they later joined different clubs and played against each other for the Bundesliga.

Musiala is known to be single. He has been quite secretive about his personal life, and not much is known about his relationships.