Dortmund star suspected of age cheating

Moukoko, who has scored six goals in 18 Bundesliga appearances this season, has broken many records related to his age. At the age of 16, he became the youngest player to play in the Bundesliga. At the 2022 World Cup, Moukoko set the record for the youngest player to appear in the tournament's history.

However, these statistics may not be accurate. German newspaper Bunte published a document believed to be Moukoko's birth certificate. Accordingly, this striker was born on July 19, 2000, not on July 20, 2004 as the official archive information of the German football management agencies.

The birth certificate number 4621/2000 was made in Yaounde (Cameroon), where Moukoko was born before he was adopted and obtained German citizenship in 2014. The document also indicates that Moukoko's real name is Youssoufa Mohamadou and His biological parents are Ousman Mohamadou and Youssoufa Harira.

According to Bunte, Moukoko sued to prevent them from making their birth declarations public. The Frankfurt Regional Court then allowed the newspaper to publish the document on the grounds that "in principle, information that is suspicious of the real age and origin of the players is allowed to be made public in the public interest". .

Moukoko is considered a talent of German youth football. At the age of 12, he was called up to the Under-16 team and scored 90 goals in 56 games at the Under-17 level. At 16 years and 1 day, the Cameroonian-born striker became the youngest player to appear in the Bundesliga when he replaced Erling Haaland in Dortmund's match against Hertha Berlin on November 21, 2020.

At the age of 17 years and 361 days, Moukoko became the youngest player to play for Germany since Uwe Seeler in 1954. On November 23, he made history when he was substituted for Serge Gnabry in the 90th minute of the Germany match against Germany. Japan at the 2022 World Cup.