Yussuf Yurary Poulsen (; born 15 June 1994) 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 le ...

who plays as a striker for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig, and colloquially referred to as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company Red Bu ...

and the Denmark national team. He sometimes uses ''Yurary'' as his shirt name. After starting his professional career with

Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site of ...

, he transferred to RB Leipzig in 2013, helping them from the 3. Liga to the

in the space of three seasons. He holds the RB Leipzig record for most appearances with over 300, and has scored over 80 goals for the club. He played in the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

final in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

. Poulsen made his international debut for Denmark in 2014 and has earned over sixty caps. He was part of their squad at the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

and

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

, reaching the semi-finals of the latter.

Early life

Poulsen was born to a

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

n father and a Danish mother. His father worked on a container ship, oscillating between

Tanga Tanga may refer to: Places Burkina Faso * , a town in eastern Burkina Faso * Tanga, Sidéradougou, a village in western Burkina Faso * Tanga-Pela, a village in northern-central Burkina Faso Other places * Tanga, Tanzania, a city and port on th ...

and Denmark before he settled in Copenhagen. He died of cancer when Poulsen was six years old.

Club career

Early career

Poulsen began playing football at

BK Skjold Boldklubben Skjold af 1915 is a Danish football club based in Østerbro, Copenhagen- Founded in 1915, the club has over 1,400 members making it one of Denmark's biggest football clubs in terms of membership. BK Skjold's teams use either Fælledpa ...

. At first he was a defensive player and in Kenneth Zohore he had a teammate, with whom he was to play later in the Danish youth national teams. After Zohoré joined

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

, Poulsen was moved to a position as a striker.

Lyngby BK

At the age of 14 he joined the youth ranks of

Lyngby BK Lyngby Boldklub () is a Danish professional football club founded in 1921. It is based at Lyngby Stadion in Kongens Lyngby, Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, a northern suburb of Copenhagen. From 1994 to 2001 the club was known as Lyngby FC. The clu ...

. He played his first match as a senior on 4 December 2011, when he came on the pitch against AC Horsens after 84 minutes, as a substitute for Mathias Tauber. Poulsen did not immediately establish himself in the starting eleven, and he was at the end of the season only on five appearances. His club, Lyngby were also relegated from Superligaen. 5 August 2012 he scored his first goal at senior level, as well as for his club, when he in the second match in the 1. Division (second Danish league) scored the 1-0 winning goal against

AB Gladsaxe Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (or AB) is a Danish professional football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The club was established on ...

. He was a regular player in the starting 11, and played 32 matches, scoring eleven goals.

RB Leipzig

His achievements attracted the interest of foreign and domestic clubs, and on 3 July 2013, he signed a contract with the newly promoted 3. Liga German side

. He made his club debut on 19 July 2013 in a 1–0 win at

Hallescher FC Hallescher FC, sometimes still called by its former popular name Chemie Halle, is a German association football club based in Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third highest level in the German footb ...

, and scored his first goals in a 2–0 home win over

Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 195 ...

on 24 August, and netted two more in the final game on 10 May 2014 to win 3–1 at

Stuttgarter Kickers Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers. History In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Südk ...

. He finished the 2013–14 season with 10 goals in 36 appearances as his team were promoted as runners-up. In his first season in the 2. Bundesliga, Poulsen scored 12 goals in 32 appearances during the 2014–15 season as his team came fifth. He was sent off on 23 February in a 1–1 draw at

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German association football, football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. The club was one of the founding ...

. Poulsen seven goals in 32 appearances during the 2015–16 season as RB Leipzig won promotion as runners-up to

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

. On 28 August 2016, he played in RB Leipzig's first Bundesliga match, and in the sixth match of the 2016–17 season, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 2–1 victory at home against

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

on 30 September. He finished the 2016–17 season with five goals in 30 appearances. Poulsen finished the 2017–18 season five goals in 41 appearances. This included one on 14 October 2017 in a 3–2 win at

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

, the hosts' first home defeat in 41 games. On 30 March 2019, during a 5–0 win over

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

, he became the first-ever Leipzig player to score a hat-trick in the Bundesliga and in the process helped the club record its 50th ever win in the competition. His treble also took him to 15 league goals for the campaign which meant he became only the third Danish player, after

Ebbe Sand Ebbe Sand (; born 19 July 1972) is a former professional footballer from Denmark who played as a forward for Brøndby IF in Denmark and FC Schalke 04 in Germany. He was the Bundesliga top scorer in 2001, and won the DFB-Pokal in 2001 and 2002 wi ...

and

Allan Simonsen Allan Rodenkam Simonsen (born 15 December 1952) is a Danish former footballer and manager. He most prominently played as a striker for German Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach, winning the 1975 and 1979 UEFA Cups, as well as for Barcel ...

to score more than 14 Bundesliga goals in a single season. In the same month, he extended his contract by a year to 2022. His team were runners-up in the

2019 DFB-Pokal Final The 2019 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 2018–19 DFB-Pokal, the 76th season of the annual German football cup competition. The match was played on 25 May 2019 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. The match featured Bundesliga clubs RB L ...

; he scored in 3–1 wins in the first round at

FC Viktoria Köln FC Viktoria Köln is a Football in Germany, German association football club from the city of Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 3. Liga. History Founded in 1904 as ''FC Germania Kalk'' it is one of the oldest football clubs ...

and the semi-final at

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

. Poulsen became the first Leipzig player to 250 appearances on 24 May 2020, when he scored in a 5–0 win at 1. FSV Mainz 05. He was then ruled out for the rest of the season with ankle ligament damage. He scored five times on the way to the

2021 DFB-Pokal final The 2021 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 2020–21 DFB-Pokal, the 78th season of the annual German football cup competition. The match was played on Thursday, 13 May 2021 (on the Feast of the Ascension, a German public holiday) at the ...

, including two in a 4–0 home win over

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...

in the last 16. On 28 October 2021, he reached 300 matches in a 2–1 home loss to

Club Brugge KV (), 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 29,062.

in the Champions League group stage.

International career

Poulsen was eligible to play for Tanzania but did not receive any offers from the Tanzanian federation; as a result, he chose to represent his native Denmark. He made his debut for the Danish national team on 30 January 2013 against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. On 13 June 2015, he scored his first goal for his country, against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

in a 2–0 win. Poulsen was selected in Denmark's squad for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, however he rejected the call-up in order to cement his place at Leipzig. In May 2018, he was named in Denmark's 23-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the

in Russia. On 16 June, he scored the lone goal in their opening game against

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, and was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. Earlier in the game he conceded a penalty with a foul on

Christian Cueva Christian Alberto Cueva Bravo (born 23 November 1991) is a Peruvian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Saudi Arabian club Al-Fateh and the Peru national team. Cueva was a member of the Peru national team that f ...

, which the Peruvian missed. Poulsen was part of the Danish squad that reached the semi-finals of

in the summer of 2021. He scored his first goal in the European Championship in a 2–1 defeat to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on 17 June, adding another four days later in a 4–1 win over

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 7 September 2021. Denmark score listed first, score column indicates score after each Poulsen goal.''

Honours

RB Leipzig *

: 2021–22; runner-up: 2018–19,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual *

Goal of the Month: October 2020

References

External links

Danish national team profile

Complete League statistics
at danskfodbold.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poulsen, Yussuf 1994 births Living people Footballers from Copenhagen Association football forwards Danish footballers Danish people of Tanzanian descent Denmark international footballers Denmark youth international footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Lyngby Boldklub players RB Leipzig players Danish Superliga players Danish 1st Division players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Danish expatriate footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany