Job Joël André Matip (born 8 August 1991) is a former 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 played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Matip began his professional career with

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

in 2009, and was part of their teams that won the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

and

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

in 2011. He totalled 258 competitive appearances and 23 goals before moving to Liverpool on a free transfer in 2016, where he won the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

in 2019, starting in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. He also won the

2019 UEFA Super Cup The 2019 UEFA Super Cup was the 44th edition of the UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa Leag ...

and the

2019–20 Premier League The 2019–20 Premier League was the 28th season of the Premier League, the top English professional association football, football league, since its establishment in 1992, and the 121st season of top-flight English football overall. The season ...

. Born and raised in Germany, Matip represented

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

at international level. He played for them at the

2010 Africa Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was held in Angola, where it began on 10 January 2 ...

and the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s of

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, before announcing his international retirement in 2015.

Club career

Early career

Matip began his career with SC Weitmar 45 before joining

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

in 1997. After three years in VfL Bochum's youth teams, Matip was scouted by

in July 2000.

Schalke 04

Matip made his debut on 27 October 2009 in a

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German professional football division administered by the German Football Association#Western Germany, Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. ...

match against

1. FC Saarbrücken 1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken () is a German Football in Germany, football club based in Saarbrücken, Saarland. The club plays in the 3. Liga, which is the third tier of football in Germany. History The club began its existence as the footbal ...

. He made his

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 ...

debut for Schalke on 7 November 2009 against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

, in which he scored the game-tying goal and was subsequently named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) 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 chose ...

. After his successful introduction to the first team, Matip remained a regular starter for Schalke in defensive midfield for the remainder of the 2009–10 season, scoring two further goals against

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

and

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. On 2 March 2010, Matip signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Schalke 04. In the 2010–11 season, Matip made his

debut as Schalke reached the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in the club's history. On 5 April 2011, he scored his first Champions League goal in Schalke's 5–2 quarter final win against title holders

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

San Siro San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...

. On 21 May 2011, Matip appeared as a 72nd-minute substitute in Schalke's 5–0 2011 DFB-Pokal Final win over

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

at the Olympiastadion. On 23 February 2013, Matip scored both goals as Schalke recorded an important 2–1 victory over

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

, securing the club's second win in 12 games.

Liverpool

2016–17 season

On 15 February 2016, Matip announced signing a four-year pre-contract agreement to join

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on a free transfer, following the expiration of his contract with Schalke. He made his debut for Liverpool on 23 August 2016 in a 5–0 win against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

in the

2016–17 EFL Cup The 2016–17 EFL Cup was the 57th season of the EFL Cup, formerly known as the Football League Cup, featuring all 92 clubs from the Premier League and the English Football League (EFL). The cup did not have a sponsor following the withdrawal of sp ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–2 Premier League win over

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...

on 29 October. Matip was voted as Liverpool's Player of the Month for his performances in November. Matip was withdrawn from the fixture against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

on 15 January 2017, as Liverpool were yet to get full clarity from

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

over his eligibility, and also as a result of the Cameroon Football Federation failing to confirm that Matip could therefore play club football during the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

. Overall, Matip was considered as a key player to improving Liverpool's defence, which had received extreme criticism prior to the season, during the 2016–17 season.

2017–2019

On 1 October 2017, Matip was criticised for his poor performance against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, being deemed at fault for Newcastle's goal. On 4 November, Matip scored his first goal of the 2017–18 season, scoring in a 4–1 win over

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

at the

London Stadium London Stadium (formerly and also known as the Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford, London, Stratford district of London. It is loc ...

. On 27 January 2018, Matip scored an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

in a 3–2 home defeat to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in the fourth round of the

2017–18 FA Cup The 2017–18 FA Cup (also known as the FA Challenge Cup) was the 137th edition of the oldest recognised football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates, and known as The Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. 737 clubs were acc ...

. On 31 March, during the match against Crystal Palace, Matip suffered a thigh injury. On 3 April, Liverpool announced that he would have to undergo surgery to fix it, and that he will miss the rest of the season. Matip suffered another muscle injury in July 2018 during a tour of the United States, but recovered to be named an unused substitute in a 2–0 away win over Crystal Palace on 20 August. On 13 December, Matip suffered a broken collarbone after the 1–0 win against

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

. The injury saw him miss another six weeks of the season. Despite the showing of interest by new

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

manager

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Serie A club AS Roma, Roma but will leave on 30 June 2025, followin ...

, Matip remained at Liverpool for the rest of the season, establishing himself in the starting eleven. On 1 June 2019, Matip assisted

Divock Origi Divock Okoth Origi (born 18 April 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan. Following 8 July 2024, he is no longer part of their first team squad, and currently trains with and is listed in the squad ...

's goal in the 87th minute of the 2019 Champions League final, which saw Liverpool defeat

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

2–0 to win the title.

2019–20 season

On 4 August 2019, Matip scored Liverpool's goal in the 2019 FA Community Shield. Liverpool lost the game 5–4 on penalties. He scored his first goal of the Premier League season on 24 August, opening the scoring in a 3–1 home win over

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. On 18 October 2019, he signed a new contract with Liverpool until June 2024. His 2019–20 season was plagued by injuries, and

Joe Gomez Joseph Dave Gomez (born 23 May 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Liverpool and the England national team. Gomez began his career at Charlton Athletic, breaking into the first team at 17 and playi ...

quickly took his place as

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

's preferred

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

to partner

Virgil van Dijk Virgil van Dijk (; born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation and ...

. His first injury occurred in a Premier League match on 20 October 2019 against rivals Manchester United. He returned in late January 2020, making just one league start before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was injured again on 21 June 2020 during a

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is an association football match between Everton F.C., Everton and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, two clubs based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is the longest running top-flight local derby, derby in England, with its fi ...

against Everton, with the club later revealing he would not be able to feature for the rest of the season.

2020–2024

On 28 January 2021, Matip was substituted at half-time against Tottenham Hotspur, and it was revealed that he suffered ankle ligament injury and would miss the remainder of the 2020–21 season. On 23 February 2022, Matip scored his first goal of the 2021–22 season in a 6–0 win against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. He was named

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 1 ...

for February on 11 March. Liverpool narrowly missed out on the chance to achieve a historic quadruple, coming second in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League but winning both the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. On 13 September 2022, Matip scored his first Champions League goal for Liverpool with a late header in a 2–1 win against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

in the 2022–23 Champions League. On 3 December 2023, Matip came off in the 69th minute in Liverpool's 4–3 home win against Fulham after suffering an

ACL injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

which would make him miss the remainder of the 2023–24 season. On 17 May 2024, it was confirmed that he would leave Liverpool at the end of the season. On 12 October 2024, Matip announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 33.

International career

Matip was called up on 23 December 2009 by

for the

but he later declined to take part in the tournament. On 2 March 2010, aged 18, Matip opted to play his international football for Cameroon, after meeting up with the national team ahead of a friendly against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 3 March 2010. He made his first appearance in the match against Italy and went on to play in the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

for Cameroon. He was also part of the Cameroon squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

where he played twice and scored against the host team

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, the team's only goal of the tournament. In January 2017, Matip was selected for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations but rejected the call-up. It was later revealed that Matip retired from the national team when he was still at Schalke, but had not followed FIFA procedure by informing the Cameroonian Football Association via letter. While the confusion was cleared up by FIFA, Matip could not play for Liverpool. He subsequently missed a Premier League tie against Manchester United and an

third round match against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. Matip cited his reason for his retirement was his unhappiness with the national team set up and his bad experience with the coaching staff.

Style of play

Strong and clever, Matip is known for his ability to dribble up the pitch to create momentum.

Personal life

Matip was born in

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

, North Rhine-Westphalia, to a German mother and former Cameroonian footballer Jean Matip. He is the brother of the fellow Cameroon international

Marvin Matip Marvin Job Matip (born 25 September 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Born in Germany, he represented the Cameroon national team at international level. Club career Born in Bochum, Matip began his career ...

and is a cousin of

Joseph-Désiré Job Joseph-Désiré Job (born 1 December 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in France, he played for the Cameroon national team. After starting his career in France, Job moved to English team Middlesbrough, wh ...

. He attended the

Gesamtschule Berger Feld Gesamtschule Berger Feld is a ''gesamtschule'' in Gelsenkirchen. It is located in the Erle region and has 1325 pupils and 118 teachers. It is known for the fact that a great number of its former students have become professional association footba ...

. He married long-term partner Larissa Stollenwerk in the aftermath of Liverpool's 2020 Premier League title, and in June 2021 they welcomed their first child, a son.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Cameroon score listed first, score column indicates score after each Matip goal''

Honours

Schalke 04 *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Liverpool *

: 2019–20 *

: 2021–22 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

: 2018–19; runner-up: 2021–22 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * PFA Player of the Month: September 2019 *

February 2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

CAF Team of the Year The CAF Team of the Year is an annual football award given by the Confederation of African Football during the CAF Awards. In 2007, the CAF did not choose the team of the year, but rather the best ten players of the last fifty years. The ten play ...

: 2019

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matip, Joel 1991 births Living people Footballers from Bochum Cameroonian men's footballers German men's footballers Men's association football central defenders FC Schalke 04 players FC Schalke 04 II players Liverpool F.C. players Regionalliga players Bundesliga players Premier League players UEFA Champions League–winning players Cameroon men's international footballers 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in England German expatriate sportspeople in England People educated at the Gesamtschule Berger Feld Cameroonian people of German descent German people of Cameroonian descent Sportspeople of Cameroonian descent 21st-century German sportsmen