Jamal Musiala (German pronunciation: [ˈdʒaːmal muˈzi̯aːla]; born 26 February 2003) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. He is regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world.
A senior international since 2021, Musiala has represented Germany at two UEFA European Championships (2020 and 2024) and two FIFA World Cups (2022 and 2026). He was the joint winner of Euro 2024's Golden Boot, with three goals in the tournament.
Musiala was born in Stuttgart, Germany, to his Nigerian-British father Daniel Richard and German mother with Polish roots, Carolin Musiala. He lived in Fulda until age seven, before moving to England with his family, where he remained for the rest of his childhood. He went to primary school at the Corpus Christi School in New Malden, and represented the school on behalf of a succession of local football clubs, including Fulham, Brentford, and Wimbledon in the EFL Utilita Kids Cup, winning the competition twice. For secondary school, he went to the Whitgift School in Croydon. Musiala spent the last years of his childhood at Chelsea Academy where he met Michael Olise.
Musiala has played for both Germany and England national teams at youth level, and eventually pledged his allegiance to the German Football Association in February 2021. At age 16, Musiala and his mother returned to Germany for personal reasons and the impending Brexit.
In July 2019, aged 16, Musiala left Chelsea to join Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. On 3 June 2020, Musiala made his professional debut, coming on as a substitute for Bayern Munich II in their 3–2 win over Preußen Münster in the 3. Liga. On 20 June 2020, he made his Bundesliga debut against SC Freiburg, and he became the youngest player to play a match for Bayern in the Bundesliga, aged 17 years and 115 days.
Musiala was a part of the squad that won the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, although he did not make any appearances in the tournament.
2020–21: First-team breakthrough
On 18 September 2020, Musiala scored his first Bundesliga goal in an 8–0 win over Schalke, to become Bayern's youngest goalscorer, aged 17 years and 205 days, breaking the previous record of Roque Santa Cruz, aged 18 years and 12 days. On 3 November, Musiala made his Champions League debut as a substitute to Thomas Müller in a 6–2 away win over Red Bull Salzburg. On 1 December, he started in his first Champions League match in a 1–1 away draw against Atlético Madrid. On 23 February 2021, Musiala scored his first Champions League goal in a 4–1 away win over Lazio in the first leg of the round of 16 tie of the knockout phase, becoming the competition's youngest goalscorer of both English and German nationalities. He also became Bayern's youngest goalscorer in the European competition, aged 17 years and 363 days, breaking previous record by Samuel Kuffour. On 5 March, he signed his first professional contract with Bayern Munich until 2026.
2021–2023: Continuous development and Bundesliga title decider
On 25 August 2021, Musiala scored his first two goals of the season in a 12–0 DFB-Pokal away win over Bremer SV. Three days later, he then scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season in a 5–0 home win over Hertha BSC. On 8 December 2021, Musiala scored his first Champions League goal of the season in a 3–0 win over Barcelona. On 23 April 2022, Musiala's strike sealed the Bundesliga title in a 3–1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker, giving Bayern their tenth straight Bundesliga title.
On 27 May 2023, Musiala scored the winning goal in the 89th minute in a 2–1 away victory over FC Köln. This goal clinched the 11th consecutive league title for his club again ahead of rivals Dortmund on goal difference. Moreover, he finished the season as Bayern's second top scorer in the league with 12 goals, behind Serge Gnabry.
2023–2024: First career hat-trick
In the 2023–24 season, Musiala scored 13 goals in all competitions, including 10 goals in Bundesliga, concluding the campaign as the second top scorer for his club behind Harry Kane. On 30 October 2024, he scored his first career hat-trick in a 4–0 away victory over Mainz in the DFB-Pokal.
2024–2025: Fibula fracture and comeback
On 14 February 2025, he extended his contract with Bayern until 2030. Later that year, on 15 June, he scored another hat-trick including a first career penalty in a 10–0 win against Auckland City during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, becoming the first ever player in the new CWC format to score a hattrick and reaching his personal best by netting his 20th goal of the season. He later acquired the number 10 shirt, succeeding Leroy Sané, ahead of the 2025–26 season. On 5 July 2025, he suffered a fractured fibula along with a dislocated and broken ankle after colliding with Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma during the quarter-finals of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
2025–2026: Injury setback and Champions League appearance record
After 196 days, Musiala returned to the pitch on 17 January 2026, getting subbed on for Serge Gnabry in the 88th minute, and immediately assisting to Michael Olise after 76 seconds to help his team win 5–1 over RB Leipzig. He celebrated his return to the starting line-up twelve days later on 29 January in the Champions League, scoring a goal after a beautiful combination play with Lennart Karl in a 2–1 away victory over Eindhoven. On 6 March, he scored his first goal of the Bundesliga season from a penalty kick in a 4–1 home victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Four days later in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, he scored his second goal of the competition's season in a 6–1 away victory over Atalanta, injuring his previously broken ankle again, forcing him to miss the international break. He returned to the pitch on 4 April in a 3–2 away win over Freiburg. Three days later, he featured in a 2–1 away win against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final, getting subbed on in the 69th minute for Serge Gnabry. On 11 April, Musiala set Bayern's all-time record from 1971–72 for the most scored goals in a single season, by scoring the 101st goal of the season in a 5–0 victory over St. Pauli. The record would be broken in the same match by Leon Goretzka. Four days later, he became the youngest German player to reach 50 Champions League appearances in a 4–3 victory over Real Madrid, surpassing Thomas Müller, aged 23 years and 48 days. He would assist the decisive 3–3 in the 89th minute by Luis Díaz.
During preseason, in August 2026, Musiala collapsed during consecutive friendly matches against RB Leipzig and Heidenheim respectively. After the second incident, he posted to Instagram that he had been "diagnosed with temporary, brief, but easily treatable absence seizures, which are due to a neurological dysfunction". He wrote that the incidents can look "scary", but they were "currently just part of my everyday life" and that he was receiving treatment. Ahead of the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup, where Musiala was left out of the squad, coach Vincent Kompany clarified that the club and the players have known about his diagnosis long before it was made public. Kompany added that Musiala's episodes of collapse were due to medication change and Musiala has been training continuously.