Sebastian Rudy (born 28 February 1990) is a German 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

or defender. He began his senior career at

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

in 2008 before moving to TSG Hoffenheim in 2010, where he spent a majority of his playing career. Rudy transferred to Bayern Munich in 2017 and won the

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 ...

during a one-year spell with the club. He moved to Schalke 04 in 2018, before returning to Hoffenheim on a loan in 2019 and a permanent transfer in 2021. Rudy retired from professional football in 2023. He currently plays for German amateur team SG Dilsberg. Rudy was capped twenty-nine times and scored one goal for the Germany national team between 2011 and 2019. He won the

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

with the national team.

Club career

VfB Stuttgart

Rudy joined

's youth academy in 2003 and started his senior career in 2007 with the club's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, playing in the semi-professional Regionalliga Süd. He made his professional debut with the same team in the newly established

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

on 2 August 2008 against Union Berlin. During the summer of 2008, he also signed a contract with VfB Stuttgart's first team, for which he made his competitive debut in the first round of 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 ...

on 10 August 2008 in their 5–0 away victory over Hansa Lüneburg.

TSG Hoffenheim

Rudy moved to TSG Hoffenheim in 2010. On 28 August 2010, Rudy made his debut in a

match as a substitute by replacing Peniel Mlapa in the 89th minute in a 1–0 victory over St. Pauli. On 5 February 2011, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 victory over

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

Bayern Munich

upRudy with Bayern Munich in May 2018 On 15 January 2017, it was announced that Rudy would join Bayern Munich on 1 July 2017 after his Hoffenheim contract expired. On 6 August 2017, Rudy made his debut in a 5–4 penalty-shootout victory over

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

in the 2017 DFL-Supercup. In his first Bundesliga match with the club, he provided an assist from the free-kick to his fellow Bayern newcomer and his former Hoffenheim teammate Niklas Süle in a 3–1 win over

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. Rudy scored his first goal for Bayern Munich in a 3–0 victory over

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

in the Bundesliga.

Schalke 04

upRudy with Schalke 04 in October 2018 On 27 August 2018, Rudy joined Schalke 04 on a four-year deal, for an undisclosed fee.

Return to TSG Hoffenheim

On 31 July 2019, Rudy returned to Hoffenheim on a season-long loan deal. On 5 October 2020, he was again loaned to Hoffenheim until the end of the 2020–21 season. On 16 June 2021, Rudy was released from his contract with Schalke 04. On 28 June, Rudy signed a two-year contract with TSG Hoffenheim. On 27 September 2023, Rudy announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

Rudy debuted for the German senior team on 13 May 2014 in a friendly against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in Hamburg's Imtech Arena. On 6 October 2017, Rudy scored his first international goal from outside the box in a 3–1 victory over

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The goal was scored in the 2nd minute of the match and was Germany's fastest goal ever in World Cup qualifiers. On 4 June 2018, Rudy was named in Joachim Löw's final 23-man squad for the

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

Career statistics

Club

International

''Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Rudy goal.''

Honours

Bayern Munich *

: 2017–18 *

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 ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Germany U17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

third place:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Germany *

Individual * Fritz Walter Medal U18 Silver Medal:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudy, Sebastian 1990 births Living people Footballers from Villingen-Schwenningen German men's footballers Germany men's youth international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Germany men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders VfB Stuttgart players VfB Stuttgart II players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players FC Bayern Munich footballers FC Schalke 04 players Regionalliga players 3. Liga players Bundesliga players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players 21st-century German sportsmen