Leverkusen star joins the list: These Bundesliga players scored on debut

Montrell Culbreath will probably never forget the evening of December 20, 2025. In his Bundesliga debut for Bayer Leverkusen, the substitute scored the goal to secure a 3-1 victory against RB Leipzig.

He celebrated a dream debut, a feat that some players before him in Germany's top league have also enjoyed. What follows is a selection that might bring tears of nostalgia to your eyes.

Bayern Munich: Harry Kane

The Englishman left no doubt as to why Bayern transferred nearly 100 million euros for him from Tottenham. On the first Bundesliga matchday of the 2023/24 season, the striker scored against Werder Bremen 74 minutes into his debut.

📸 INA FASSBENDER

Borussia Dortmund: Erling Haaland

Perhaps the best Bundesliga debut ever. Freshly signed in the winter of 2020, the Norwegian was substituted in on January 18, with Dortmund trailing 1-3 against Augsburg, and led BVB to a 5-3 victory with a hat-trick in just 20 minutes.

RB Leipzig: Dominik Kaiser

For those feeling nostalgic about RasenBallsport, you have to dig deep. Against TSG Hoffenheim, the Saxons played their first match in Germany's top tier on June 28, 2016. Dominik Kaiser, in his first Bundesliga appearance for RB, scored Leipzig's first-ever Bundesliga goal in the 58th minute. 

TSG Hoffenheim: Demba Ba

A similar issue as with Leipzig. But Demba Ba is like a force of nature. He scored during his club's and his Bundesliga debut in August 2008 against Energie Cottbus, making it 2-0 at the time.

📸 Matthias Kern - 2008 Getty Images

VfB Stuttgart: Chema Andrés

August 23, 2025, is not too far in the past. The double debut of the Spaniard was all the more beautiful: after being substituted in, the former Madrid player headed in the winning goal against Gladbach.

Eintracht Frankfurt: Martin Fenin

Erling Haaland before Erling Haaland. He scored all three goals against Hertha BSC in a 3-0 victory for Frankfurt in February 2008.

Union Berlin: Ilyas Ansah

Remember back when Ansah scored both goals against Stuttgart in his debut? Union fans might reminisce about this in a few years. The 2-1 victory only took place on August 24, 2025.

📸 JOHN MACDOUGALL - AFP or licensors

SC Freiburg: Igor Matanovic

A double in his first appearance for the new club was also achieved by Igor Matanovic this season. His two substitute goals secured Freiburg three points on the third matchday against VfB.

Werder Bremen: Diego and Hugo Almeida

Yes, you read that right. The two Werder icons Diego and Hugo Almeida both scored in the same game on their debut. Hannover 96 was the victim on the first matchday of the 2006/2007 season. SVW won 4-2, thanks in part to the debut goals. Isaac Schmidt and Julian Malatini are two current squad players who have also achieved this feat. 

1. FC Köln: Wolfgang Overath

Pure nostalgia! In the very first Bundesliga season of 1963/64, the future world champion scored the first goal for FC. They won their opening match against Saarbrücken 2-0 and eventually crowned themselves champions at the end of the season.

Borussia Mönchengladbach: Juan Arango

📸 Christof Koepsel - 2009 Getty Images

Delighted the Gladbach fans on the first matchday of 2009/2010 with a goal and an assist in a 3-3 draw against Bochum.

Hamburger SV: Heung-min Son

Initially missed the start of the 2010/2011 season due to injury, making his personal start to the season and thus his Bundesliga career all the more memorable. With a fine chip, he marked the temporary 2-1 against Köln at the end of August.

VfL Wolfsburg: Diego

The Brazilian ball artist also had a perfect debut in the Autostadt. Despite his goal to make it 3-0, the Wolves lost 3-4 to FSV Mainz 05 on the first matchday of the 2010/2011 season.

FC Augsburg: Samuel Essende

After his signing in the summer of 2024, he made a great start with the Fuggerstädter. Against Bremen, he was in the starting lineup on the first matchday and contributed a goal in the 2-2 draw. 

St. Pauli: Ricky Jade-Jones

The striker suffered a serious shoulder injury shortly after his signing last summer. When he was substituted in for the first time against Köln on the 13th matchday, he immediately scored to make it 1-1.

📸 Lars Baron - 2025 Getty Images

1. FC Heidenheim: Frans Krätzig

In Stuttgart, the Munich loanee barely got a chance, so he was loaned early to Heidenheim last winter. There, he paved the way for a 2-0 home victory against Union Berlin on the 16th matchday with his goal to make it 1-0. 

FSV Mainz 05: Ridle Baku

The German national player experienced a real kickstart to his Bundesliga career. Already on his way to an away game with the U23, the defensive specialist was recalled to Mainz in April 2018, where he made his debut over the full 90 minutes on the same day and contributed a goal to the 3-0 victory against RB Leipzig.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 Maryam Majd - 2025 Getty Images