Fourteen years after Nadim Amiri joined Hoffenheim’s youth teams and played for a youth coach named Julian Nagelsmann, the pair are representing Germany at the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“If you have a young coach and you know each other early and for a long time, it’s always a special relationship,” Amiri said. “There were so many amazing moments together and he shaped us. We have a good relationship, and even when he wasn’t my coach he was always in touch. I have a lot of respect for Julian and I’m grateful to him.”
And after just the second game in this tournament, Nagelsmann can be grateful that Amiri did what he wanted from the midfielder when the team needed it. After all, it was the 29-year-old’s exquisite cross that set up Deniz Undav’s equalizer for Germany in Toronto on Saturday.
“I knew my moment would come,” said Amiri, who in exemplary fashion has fulfilled Julian Nagelsmann’s expectation of being a substitute who delivers immediate results.
Nagelsmann told ARD in late May that Amiri’s emotional energy had played a role in his inclusion in the team. “Especially in the summer, when the game is slowing down after the 70th minute because teams are tired, [Amiri] “With our positive persistence we can still awaken something.”
Amiri’s long road back to the top
The turning point of his recent career was a surprise move to Mainz in January 2024.
“Moving to Mainz was the best move of my life. At that time, I just wanted to be happy and play again. I never thought I would be sitting here two years later, but in football you never know,” Amiri said, as Germany prepared for a World Cup game against Ecuador. “I have always been confident in my qualities and am very proud.”
After helping the club avoid relegation, Amiri helped Mainz reach Europe the following season. In the just-concluded campaign, Amiri made strides, scoring more goals and leading Mainz to the Conference League quarter-finals. Notably, the 29-year-old scored on all 10 penalties he took, including two in one Bundesliga game.
Amiri returned to the Germany team in March 2025 after a five-year absence, admitting that although it hurt to be out of contention for so long, it did not hurt him. Indeed, Amiri’s openness about his family and what living here means to him is a reminder of the strength of his will, but also of the influence of a supportive inner circle.
“I can’t find enough words to say about that [father] Because if I did, I would have to talk for hours about how grateful I am. “I love her more than anything,” Amiri said. every moment on the pitch is for them [family]. When I assisted the goal, they were celebrating in the crowd as if they had delivered the cross. It’s an incredible moment,” said Amiri, adding that 20 of his 25 family members were at the game in Toronto to see him live, many of them for the first time. “It was my World Cup debut and everything that happened, it was a perfect day.”
From Afghanistan to America
Amiri’s parents fled war-torn Afghanistan in the 1980s and settled in the West German city of Ludwigshafen. His father owned a trucking business and his mother worked in a care home for 20 years as the couple worked to create security and opportunity for their children. Amiri was born in 1996 and used to play on the streets of the city with his elder brother. His parents then took him to practice in Kaiserslautern, about 60 kilometers (37 mi) away, where his football journey began.
Amiri said, “In difficult times, I realized that for me, it is family that is always there. Such recession was good for me at that time.”
Be it the path of youth football in his childhood, the failures at Leverkusen or the half-decade long absence from the Germany team, Amiri has overcome one challenge after another. In September 2025, it was Amiri’s goal from the bench that turned the tide for Germany against Northern Ireland in Cologne. In Toronto, at the World Cup, it was his cross that did just that. Deniz Undav may be Germany’s supersub and the man making headlines at the moment, but he’s not the only one capable of making a game-changing impact for this team.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn