Joakim Mæhle Pedersen (born 20 May 1997) is a Danish 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 full-back for

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 ...

club

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

and the Denmark national team.

Club career

AaB

Born in

Østervrå Østervrå (formerly Øster Vrå) is a town in Vendsyssel, North Jutland Region, Denmark. As of 2025, the town has a population of 1,270. The town and farm areas around the town were hit by an F3 tornado on September 9, 1924. Severe damage occurre ...

Vendsyssel Vendsyssel () is the northernmost traditional district of Denmark and of Jutland. Being divided from mainland Jutland by the Limfjord, it is technically a part of the North Jutlandic Island which also comprises the areas Hanherred and Thy. Vendsy ...

, Mæhle started playing football with local club Østervrå IF and moved to the AaB youth academy as a 12-year-old. At the age of 19, Mæhle was promoted into the first team squad on 10 June 2016 and also signed a full-time senior contract with AaB. He made his debut for AaB on 7 August 2016. He started on the bench, but replaced Thomas Enevoldsen in the 89th minute in a 2–1 victory against

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish association football, football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the to ...

in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

. On 11 November 2016, Mæhle earned a new contract until 2020. In April 2017, AaB confirmed that they were in negotiations with a foreign club about Mæhle.

Genk

On 9 May 2017, AaB confirmed that they had sold Mæhle to Belgian club Racing Genk for an undisclosed fee, starting from 1 July 2017.AaB sælger Mæhle til KRC Genk
�� aabsport.dk, 9 May 2017 He was signed to succeed right-back Timothy Castagne, who had moved to

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

. Mæhle made his debut for Genk on 29 July 2017 in the first league match of the season against

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The club is affiliated with the founded number 4068 and has yellow and blue as its colours. The team was founded in 1936 in H ...

as a substitute for Amine Khammas. In his first season with the club, he was not a fixed starter, competing with Clinton Mata for his position. In his second season, after Mata's departure to

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

, he won a permanent starting position. That season, Mæhle grew into a key player in the Genk starting eleven. At the end of the season, Genk won the Belgian championship. On 11 September 2019, Mæhle extended his contract until June 2023.

Atalanta

Genk announced on 22 December 2020 that Mæhle had signed for

on a five-year contract for a fee of €10 million. His transfer was made official on 4 January 2021. He made his

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

debut for Atalanta on 6 January in the club's 3–0 win over

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. On 28 February, Mæhle provided an assist in Atalanta's 2–0 win over Sampdoria. Mæhle scored his first goal for Atalanta in a 6–2 Serie A victory over

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

on 9 January 2022.

VfL Wolfsburg

In August of 2023, Mæhle joined VfL Wolfsburg for a fee of reportedly around €12 million. On 6 September 2023 he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 win against

1. FC Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was founded. During the Co ...

International career

Mæhle made his Denmark national team debut on 5 September 2020 in a Nations League game against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

; he substituted Martin Braithwaite in the 72nd minute of a 2–0 home loss. He scored his first international goal in a friendly against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

on 7 October 2020. In June 2021, he was included in the national team's bid for 2020 UEFA Euro, where the team reached the semi-finals. On 12 October 2021, Maehle scored the only goal as Denmark defeated

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

to secure a place at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

in Qatar.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mæhle goal.''

Honours

Genk *

Belgian First Division A 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– ...

: 2018–19 Atalanta *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

runner-up: 2020–21

References

External links

Profile
at the Atalanta B.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maehle, Joakim Living people 1997 births People from Frederikshavn Municipality Men's association football fullbacks Danish men's footballers Denmark men's international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's youth international footballers Danish Superliga players Belgian Pro League players Serie A players Bundesliga players AaB Fodbold players K.R.C. Genk players Atalanta BC players VfL Wolfsburg players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players Danish expatriate men's footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Danish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Footballers from the North Jutland Region 21st-century Danish sportsmen