Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting

Choupo-Moting was born in Hamburg to a German mother and a Cameroonian father and began playing football at an early age. He played in the youth teams at Teutonia 05, Altona 93 and FC St. Pauli before joining Hamburger SV in 2004. He played semi-professional football with Hamburger SV II in the Regionalliga Nord before breaking into the first team in August 2007.[6]

Choupo-Moting made his first appearance as a Hamburger SV player in a Bundesliga match on 11 August 2007, being sent on as a substitute in the 69th minute against Hannover 96.[3] Choupo-Moting struggled to establish himself in Martin Jol's side and he spent the 2009–10 season on loan at 1. FC Nürnberg with whom he scored six goals in 27 appearances helping Nürnberg retain their Bundesliga status.[7] On his return to Hamburg, Choupo-Moting struggled to make much impact in 2010–11 and after scoring just two goals by January he was set for another loan move this time to 1. FC Köln, however the move fell through after registration documents were faxed to the German Football Association too late.[8] After his botched transfer he spent the second half of the campaign with the reserves.[7]

On 18 May 2011, Choupo-Moting signed a three-year contract with Bundesliga side 1. FSV Mainz 05 on a free transfer from Hamburg.[9] Choupo-Moting enjoyed a successful 2011–12 season with the club, scoring ten times in the Bundesliga.[10] However, he missed most of the 2012–13 season with a knee injury and was therefore unable to make an impact.[11][12] He returned to form in 2013–14, scoring ten goals in 32 appearances helping Mainz secure seventh position and qualification to the UEFA Europa League, however at the end of the campaign he decided not to renew his contract with the club.[7]

On 5 July 2014, after Choupo-Moting's contract expired at Mainz, FC Schalke 04 confirmed he had signed a three-year professional contract with them until 30 June 2017.[13] The transfer was reported as a free transfer by Schalke's sport and communications manager Horst Heldt.[13] Choupo-Moting was assigned the squad number 13.[13]

On 6 December 2014, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 home win over VfB Stuttgart.[14]

On 7 August 2017, Choupo-Moting joined Premier League side Stoke City on a three-year contract.[15][16] He made his debut for Stoke on 12 August 2017 against Everton.[17] Choupo-Moting scored both goals in a 2–2 draw against Manchester United on 9 September 2017 and was named man of the match by BBC Sport.[18] Against Everton, he came on as a substitute, scored within five minutes of his arrival, but injured himself in the process and Stoke lost 2–1.[19] Choupo-Moting played 32 times in 2017–18, scoring five goals as Stoke suffered relegation to the EFL Championship.[20]

On 31 August 2018, Choupo-Moting joined Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.[21] He made his debut for the club on 18 September 2018 in the 3–2 Champions League away defeat against Liverpool before scoring on his Ligue 1 debut against Rennes five days later.[22] On 7 April 2019, Choupo-Moting made a mistake in the Ligue 1 home match against Strasbourg; when a shot from teammate Christopher Nkunku was about to cross the goal line, Choupo-Moting attempted to touch the ball with his left foot across the goal line but instead unintentionally diverted the ball onto the near post and prevented a certain goal.[23][24] The BBC described it as "one of the worst misses in the history of football".[23]

On 25 August 2019, Choupo-Moting came off the bench to replace the injured Edinson Cavani in the 16th minute and scored twice in the second half of a 4–0 home win over Toulouse; his first goal was a superb solo goal scored after he beat four Toulouse defenders in the penalty area.[25] On 12 August 2020, Choupo-Moting scored in the third minute of stoppage time against Atalanta in the Champions League, completing a late turnaround for PSG and sending the team into the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in 25 years.[26][27] Later on, he came on as a substitute in the Champions League final, which ended in a 1–0 defeat for Paris Saint-Germain against Bayern Munich.[28]

On 5 October 2020, Choupo-Moting joined Bayern Munich on a one-year contract.[29] Choupo-Moting made his debut for Bayern in the first round of the DFB-Pokal on 15 October and scored twice as the club defeated fifth division side 1. FC Düren by a score of 3–0.[30] On 9 December, he scored his first Champions League goal with Bayern Munich in a 2–0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow.[31]

Choupo-Moting has a German passport and represented his country of birth and his mother's country Germany at the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification for the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship and at the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[13]

On 11 May 2010, Choupo-Moting earned his first call-up for the Cameroon national team and represented Cameroon at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.[3] He was also called up for Cameroon's World Cup squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.[3] On 3 January 2017, he announced that he would not play in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.[5]

The Tunisian Football Federation, which governs the Tunisia national team, had questioned FIFA on whether Choupo-Moting fulfilled nationality criteria to play for Cameroon.[32] "With regards to the protest lodged by the Tunisian Football Federation in relation to the eligibility of Choupo-Moting representing Cameroon, FIFA had communicated to the Tunisia Football Federation that no breach of the FIFA regulations has been committed by the Cameroonian Football Federation,"[32] a FIFA spokesman told BBC Sport.[32] Choupo-Moting played for both the Germany national youth football teams and the Germany national under-21 team, including being born in Germany and growing up in Germany with German parentage,[33] but had his switch of national allegiance approved by FIFA before representing Cameroon.[32] The Tunisian Football Federation's complaint came during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Third Round despite Choupo-Moting playing at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.[32]

As of 8 February 2021[35][36]

As of 13 November 2019[35][37]

As of match played 23 March 2019. Cameroon score listed first, score column indicates score after each Choupo-Moting goal.[35]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 June 2010	Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	2	Serbia	3–4	3–4	Friendly
2	4 September 2010	Stade Anjalay, Belle Vue, Mauritius	6	Mauritius	3–1	3–1	2012 African Cup of Nations qualification
3	3 September 2011	Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon	11	Mauritius	5–0	5–0	2012 African Cup of Nations qualification
4	7 October 2011	Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo	12	DR Congo	3–2	3–2	2012 African Cup of Nations qualification
5	29 February 2012	Estádio Lino Correia, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau	14	Guinea-Bissau	1–0	1–0	2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
6	26 May 2012	Stade Armand Micheletti, Amanvillers, France	15	Guinea	1–0	2–1	Friendly
7					2–1
8	2 June 2012	Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon	16	DR Congo	1–0	1–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	10 June 2012	Stade Taïeb Mhiri, Sfax, Tunisia	17	Libya	1–1	1–2	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
10	26 May 2014	Kufstein-Arena, Kufstein, Austria	24	Macedonia	2–0	2–0	Friendly
11	29 May 2014	Kufstein-Arena, Kufstein, Austria	25	Paraguay	1–2	1–2	Friendly
12	1 June 2014	Borussia-Park, Mönchengladbach, Germany	26	Germany	2–2	2–2	Friendly
13	30 May 2016	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France	42	France	2–2	2–3	Friendly
14	12 October 2018	Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon	47	Malawi	1–0	1–0	2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
15	23 March 2019	Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon	50	Comoros	1–0	3–0	2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Paris Saint-Germain

• Ligue 1: 2018–19,[38] 2019–20[39]
• Coupe de France: 2019–20[40]
• Coupe de la Ligue: 2019–20
• UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2019–20[41]

• Fritz Walter Medal: U18 Silver Medal 2007[42]