Inspiring! Undav was a factory worker at 18, played in the German third division at 24, and now has claimed the Bundesliga silver boot and world-class performances at the World Cup.

In the second round of Group E at the World Cup, which ended on June 21 Beijing time, Germany came from behind to defeat the African powerhouse Ivory Coast 2-1, advancing to the next round one match ahead of schedule.

In this game, it was not big-name players such as Wirtz, Musiala, or Havertz who saved Germany, but the 29-year-old substitute Undav. As Undav impresses at the World Cup, his motivational life story should become widely known among football fans.

Born on July 19, 1996, Undav has Turkish Kurdish heritage. His football career began quite late. He joined the Werder Bremen youth academy at age 11 but was released at 16 due to slow physical growth, completely cutting off his path to professional football.

Until he was 18, Undav worked as a machine operator in a factory while playing in Germany's fourth and fifth-tier amateur leagues, earning very little and relying on family support to get by. He had to start work at 4 a.m. every day and train in the evenings, with his total daily work and training time exceeding 14 hours.

After that, Undav moved from club to club, but his career still didn't improve. Until July 2020, at age 24, he left German third-division side Meppen, said goodbye to his home country, and joined Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise.

There, he scored 45 goals in two seasons. Finally in 2022, his career took a turn: English Premier League side Brighton signed him for €7 million.

In the 2023 summer transfer window, Undav returned to his homeland on loan to join Bundesliga club Stuttgart. After one season, the club exercised a €26.7 million buy-out clause. There, he gradually rose to the peak of his career. In 2024, the late bloomer finally made his national team debut.

In the just-finished 2025-26 season, Undav had a major breakout. He scored 25 goals and provided 15 assists for Stuttgart, with 19 goals in the Bundesliga ranking second only to Kane, earning the league's silver boot.

It was precisely because of such outstanding performances that Undav was selected by Nagelsmann for Germany's 26-man World Cup squad, and in his first two World Cup matches, he delivered a legendary performance with 3 goals and 2 assists.