Augsburg's Noakhai Banks pledges international allegiance to Germany over USA
Augsburg defender Noakhai Banks has pledged his international allegiance to the Germany national team after previously playing for the USA at youth level.
Nineteen-year-old Banks was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and previously represented the United States at U17, U19 and U20 level, amassing a combined 12 caps. In September 2025, he was an unused substitute for Mauricio Pochettino's senior team in a friendly against Japan.
Twelve months later, he accepted a Germany U21 call-up, making his debut in a 4-1 victory over Malta in UEFA European Championship qualifying. Nevertheless, he was still eligible to play for the USA, having not made a senior appearance for either country.
At half-time of Augsburg's Matchday 7 fixture against Union Berlin, Banks spoke to domestic broadcaster Sky and confirmed his decision to play for Germany moving forward.
"The decision is final, I am now German," he explained. "I thought about it for an extremely long time with my family, and I also didn't play in the World Cup in the USA. I grew up here, I feel German, and I want to wear the eagle on my chest."
Although he was born in the US, Banks grew up in Germany, living in Stuttgart from a young age. He made his Augsburg debut against VfB Stuttgart in January 2025 and has featured 36 times for the club, finding the back of the net on one occasion.
Although currently out with a knee injury, the defender will hope to soon catch the eye of new Germany boss Jürgen Klopp as he looks to find his best team going forward, after trying 42 different players in his first four matches at the helm. The next two fixtures are against Serbia and the Netherlands in mid-November.
