Mathis Albert’s long-awaited first team debut came to fruition for Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund on Sunday.
Albert, 16, made his first team debut in Dortmund’s 4-0 league victory over Freiburg at Signal Iduna Park. The U.S. youth national team standout became the youngest American to feature in the German top-flight, surpassing Gio Reyna’s record of 17 years and two months.
Borussia Dortmund ran rampant in the first half, scoring three goals before the interval.
Maximilian Beier opened the scoring in the eighth minute before Serhou Guirassy and Ramy Bensebaini extended the Black and Yellow’s lead to 3-0.
Fabio Silva iced the shutout with by scoring late in the second half ahead of Albert’s introduction to the match. Albert helped close out the home win for Niko Kovac’s squad, clinching Borussia Dortmund a UEFA Champions League berth for next season.
Albert scored eight goals in 17 appearances for Dortmund’s Under-19 team this season before also adding two goals and two assists in five outings for the U-21 squad.
He is a promising U.S. men’s national team prospect after featuring at the FIFA U-17 World Cup last year. Albert scored once in four appearances at the competition and has since featured twice for the USMNT U-18’s.
Borussia Dortmund could call on Albert during the final three league matches of the season, knowing that second place is theirs to lose. The Black and Yellow will next travel to Borussia Moenchengladbach on May 3 before final matches against Eintracht Frankfurt and Werder Bremen to end the league season.