Joe Scally, Gio Reyna, and the top 10 youngest American goalscorers in Bundesliga history
Joe Scally recently opened his Bundesliga account, scoring for Borussia Mönchengladbach against Wolfsburg at the tender age of 18 years, nine months and three days. Where does he rank among the youngest Americans ever to have found the target in the German top flight?
1) Christian Pulisic
Age: 17 years and seven months
Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Hamburg
Signal Iduna Park, 17 April 2016
Pulisic remains the youngest American ever to have scored a Bundesliga goal, grabbing the opener as Dortmund beat Hamburg 3-0 on Matchday 30 of the 2015/16 campaign. "I didn't know what to think to be honest," the Hershey, Pennsylvania native confessed to bundesliga.com at the time. "I was just focused on my celebration. I was so excited to finally get my first goal in the Bundesliga. It was just amazing." Eighteen more strikes and a DFB Cup win later, Pulisic swapped Dortmund for Chelsea in 2019.
Watch: Pulisic's historic first goal
2) Gio Reyna
Age: 17 years, 10 months and seven days
Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Signal Iduna Park, 19 September 2020
Dortmund have made a habit of developing promising American youngsters, and the same summer Pulisic left for London, they acquired Reyna from New York City FC. The son of former USA internationals Danielle Egan and Claudio Reyna, young Gio already had a first goal to his name in the DFB Cup - a stunner against Werder Bremen - by the time he scored his maiden Bundesliga goal. He found the corner from a tight angle against Borussia Mönchengladbach before helping Erling Haaland complete his brace. The Norwegian now calls Reyna "The American Dream". Indeed.
Watch: Check out Reyna's goal against Gladbach
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3) Joe Scally
Age: 18 years, nine months and three days
Wolfsburg 1-3 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Volkswagen Arena, 2 October 2021
Born just a month apart, Scally and Reyna rubbed shoulders in New York, and now they join each other in the Bundesliga history books. Scally hit the ground running in the current campaign, standing in for Ramy Bensebaini at left-back and Stefan Lainer at right-back in a back four. Now he has ensured his place in the side as a wing-back, and one who opened his Bundesliga account with aplomb. He headed a Yann Sommer long ball forward into his own path from the halfway line before running onto it and finishing like a striker.
Watch: Scally's dream strike at Wolfsburg
4) Josh Sargent
Age: 18 years, nine months and 18 days
Werder Bremen 3-1 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Weserstadion, 7 December 2018
A regular goalscorer for Bremen's reserve side, Sargent finally got his chance with the first team on Matchday 14 of the 2018/19 Bundesliga season. And boy did he take it. The Missouri native netted the home side's third goal of the match, pouncing on a loose ball to head home from a yard out. It was the teenager's very first touch of the ball in the German top flight, and it came only 86 seconds after his introduction as a substitute. The fastest ever Bremen debutant to get on the scoresheet ended up registering 15 goals in 83 games for the Green-Whites before leaving for Norwich City in August 2021.
Watch: Sargent started Bundesliga life with a bang
5) Matthew Hoppe
Age: 19 years, nine months and 27 days
Schalke 4-0 Hoffenheim
Veltins-Arena, 9 January 2021
Hoppe's first goal against Hoffenheim is perhaps the best on this list. Having made his debut the previous November, the Californian well and truly arrived on Matchday 15 of the 2020/21 season. He hit a hat-trick in a 4-0 success - ending Schalke's 30-match winless streak in the process. Hoppe's opener was truly memorable - a delightful left-footed dink over Oliver Baumann. In the second half, though, he rounded the keeper to make it 2-0 before stabbing in his third with a clever, right-footed finish. Hoppe's team-high six goals were not enough to save Schalke from relegation that season, and he signed with Spanish side Mallorca in August 2021.
Watch: Hoppe's hat-trick against Hoffenheim
6) Weston McKennie
Age: 20 years, one month and nine days
Fortuna Düsseldorf 0-2 Schalke
Merkur Spiel-Arena, 6 October 2018
McKennie's strike in Düsseldorf rounded off quite the week for the talented central midfielder. A few days previously he had powered home a header from a corner to give Schalke a late winner against Lokomotiv Moscow in a UEFA Champions League group stage match in Russia. This time the former FC Dallas player sidefooted home close range shortly after the interval to get the all-important lead goal in the Bundesliga. He had recorded a total of four goals in 75 top-flight appearances for the Royal Blues by the time he departed for Juventus in September 2020.
7) John Brooks
Age: 20 years, six months and 14 days
Hertha Berlin 6-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Olympiastadion, 10 August 2013
Brooks had already scored on his breakthrough year in Bundesliga 2 to help Hertha return to the top flight. On Matchday 1 of the 2013/14 season, he made sure they got off to a flyer in their first game back in the Bundesliga. After a spot of pinball following a Hertha corner, the towering centre-back swept his side into a 2-0 lead with a first-time, right-footed finish. It was the only goal the Berlin-born US international got during that campaign, but he has weighed in with a couple in most seasons since then for both Hertha and Wolfsburg.
8) Jovan Kirovski
Age: 20 years, eight months and 23 days
Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Duisburg
Westfalenstadion, 10 December 1996
The first American player to feature for Dortmund was a Californian son of Macedonian parents, and he arrived in Germany from Manchester United. Competition was fierce at a team that had won its first Bundesliga title in 1994-95, lifted the trophy again the following year, and would become European champions in 1997. But Kirovski still made 20 Bundesliga appearances for BVB, becoming the first American to score in the Bundesliga when he netted the second goal against Duisburg. He held the record as the youngest American scorer in the German top flight for 17 years, and also scrambled home in a Champions League victory over Sparta Prague.
9) Haji Wright
Age: 20 years, eight months and 23 days
Schalke 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Veltins-Arena, 19 December 2018
Wright's big moment came in a game where two Americans started for the same Bundesliga team for the first time in five years. Both of them played a part in his goal. McKennie headed down a corner and Wright stuck out a foot to instinctively touch the ball into the net. Schalke couldn't complete the comeback, though, after the Los Angeles native struck just before half-time during his fourth Bundesliga appearance. Wright, who also scored in Bundesliga 2 while on loan at Sandhausen, has since played in Denmark, the Netherlands and Turkey after quitting Schalke in July 2019.
Watch: Wright thought his goal could get Schalke a win!
10) Timmy Chandler
Age: 20 years, 10 months and 17 days
Stuttgart 1-4 Nuremberg
Mercedes-Benz-Arena, 12 February, 2011
Chandler earned his maiden call-up for the United States shortly after getting his first Bundesliga goal. The right-sided wide man made it 3-1 in the second half, marking his first start in the German top flight by netting just over six months on from his move from Eintracht Frankfurt. Chandler returned to Frankfurt in 2014, scoring a career-high five league goals in 2019/20. He has also scored once in 29 appearances for the USMNT.
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