Wikipedia

Katharina Piljić

Katharina Piljić (born 5 September 2003) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Frauen-Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. She has previously played for SGS Essen and represented Germany at the youth international level. She will join VfL Wolfsburg ahead of the 2026–27 season.

Katharina Piljić
Personal information
Date of birth (2003-09-05) 5 September 2003 (age 22)[1]
Place of birth Essen, Germany[2]
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Bayer Leverkusen
Number 6
Youth career
VfL Sportfreunde
Schwarz-Weiß Essen
–2020 SGS Essen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2024 SGS Essen 69 (2)
2024– Bayer Leverkusen 44 (7)
International career‡
2017–2018 Germany U15 5 (0)
2018–2019 Germany U16 7 (0)
2019 Germany U17 1 (0)
2021 Germany U19 1 (0)
2024– Germany U23 13 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 01:31, 1 April 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 01:31, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

Early life

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Piljić was born and raised in Essen.[2] She is of German and Croatian descent.[3] She started playing football at the age of 6 with local club VfL Sportfreunde 07 before her spirit and talent earned her a move to ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen in 2012.[4][5] She spent most of her time at ETB playing as the only girl on a boys' team,[4] with Piljić showing preference to the boys' style of play over that of women's football.[4] Piljić eventually started playing for SGS Essen's youth academy at the U17 level. Playing as a defensive midfielder or centre-back, she amassed 29 under-17 Bundesliga appearances in her time with Essen.[6]

Club career

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SGS Essen

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On 18 April 2020, Piljić was promoted to SGS Essen's first team in her second year with the club.[6] She made her Frauen-Bundesliga debut at the age of 16,[7] earning the start in a 3–1 victory over SC Sand on 8 November 2020.[1] She went on to make 13 league appearances in her first full season playing professionally.[1] The following year, injury problems prevented Piljić from posting 90-minute performances.[8] She was re-signed to a two-year contract extension ahead of the 2022–23 season, with Essen head coach Markus Högner hailing her potential to become a part of the team's backbone in the coming years.[9] After playing out the two years of her new contract, Piljić declined an extension with Essen and departed from the club.[7] She had made over 70 first-team appearances for Essen across all competitions.[6]

Bayer Leverkusen

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In April 2024, Piljić moved away from her hometown of Essen for the first time,[6] signing a two-year contract with Bayer Leverkusen lasting until the summer of 2026.[10] Leverkusen had previously attempted to recruit Piljić in 2014, when she was a child, but Piljić had chosen to join SGS Essen instead.[4] Hailed as a replacement to Eintracht Frankfurt-bound Elisa Senß,[11] Piljić quickly became an important piece of Leverkusen's team. She played the entirety of all but one of the club's league matches over the first half of the season and led the league in successful ball wins in that period.[12] On 7 October 2024, she scored her first goal for Leverkusen, striking from the edge of the penalty area to notch the game-winning goal against Carl Zeiss Jena.[1][13] She ended her first season at Leverkusen having recorded 18 league appearances and 2 goals.[1]

In the 2025–26 season, Piljić continued to cement herself as a starter on Leverkusen's squad.[2] On 17 October 2025, she scored her first goal of the season, a long-range chip from the halfway line to salvage a 2–2 draw with 1. FC Köln.[14] Piljić's offensive production heated up in March 2026, with Piljić first scoring a half-volleyed game-winner against Carl Zeiss Jena on 22 March,[15] before registering a goal and two assists in a 3–1 win over Hamburger SV on 30 March.[16] One day after her standout performance at HSV,[17] Piljić was announced to be leaving Leverkusen upon the expiration of her contract in the summer to sign a two-year deal with VfL Wolfsburg.[3]

International career

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Piljić received her first call-up to the German youth national team program at the age of 14, getting called-in to the U15 squad.[5] In November 2017, she made her U15 debut, participating in a 6–1 defeat to the United States.[4] Piljić continued to gain experience with various youth national teams ranging from the under-15 to under-19 squads over the coming years; she had made 13 appearances for her country by the time she signed her first professional contract with SGS Essen.[6]

In October 2024, Piljić debuted for the under-23 national team.[18] In March 2025, she scored her first youth international goal, the Germany U23's lone conversion in a 3–1 defeat to Portugal.[19]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 19 May 2026[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
SGS Essen 2020–21 Frauen-Bundesliga 13 0 1 0 14 0
2021–22 14 0 — 14 0
2022–23 20 2 3 0 23 2
2023–24 22 0 4 1 26 1
Total 69 2 8 1 77 3
Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2024–25 Frauen-Bundesliga 18 2 2 0 20 2
2025–26 26 5 2 0 28 5
Total 44 7 4 0 48 7
Career total 113 9 12 1 125 10
  1. ↑ Includes the DFB-Pokal

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Katharina Piljić at DFB (also available in German)
  2. 1 2 3 "Katharina Piljic set to join VfL Wolfsburg". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 31 March 2026. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Midfield reinforcement". VfL Wolfsburg. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilhelm, Ralf (13 November 2017). "Katharina Piljic ist lieber allein unter Jungs". WAZ (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  5. 1 2 Debat, Ralf. "ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen: DFB honoriert Nachwuchsarbeit". MSPW - Media Sportservice (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Katharina Piljić verlässt die SGS zum Saisonende - Der Frauenfussball-Bundesligist aus Essen". SGS Essen (in German). 16 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  7. 1 2 Burgmer, Benedikt (19 April 2024). "Mit Katharina Piljic zieht die Nächste bei der SGS weiter". WAZ (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  8. ↑ "Frauenfußball Magazin: SGS Essen: Mit Eigengewächsen weiter in der Bundesliga". Frauenfußball Magazin (in German). 24 June 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  9. ↑ Burgmer, Benedikt (29 June 2022). "SGS Essen sieht sich mit dem Klassenerhalt voll im Soll". WAZ (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "Die Senß-Erbin: Leverkusen holt Talent Piljic aus Essen". kicker (in German). Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  11. ↑ Kämpf, Wolfram (17 April 2024). "Frauenfußball: Bayer 04 Leverkusen verpflichtet Katharina Piljić". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  12. ↑ Altgelt, Helene (16 January 2025). "90min-Spielerin des Monats Dezember: Katharina Piljic". 90min.de (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  13. ↑ Kämpf, Wolfram (8 October 2024). "Frauenfußball: Katharina Piljics Traumtor sichert Bayer 04 Leverkusens Sieg". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  14. ↑ "Piljic rettet Remis für Bayer 04 mit 50-Meter-Schuss". DFB (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  15. ↑ "Piljic strike seals win for Bayer 04 Women against Jena". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  16. ↑ Bode, Hanno. "HSV-Fußballerinnen kassieren verdiente Niederlage gegen Leverkusen". NDR (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  17. ↑ "Frauen-Bundesliga: VfL Wolfsburg holt U23-Nationalspielerin Piljić aus Leverkusen". Sportschau (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  18. ↑ "Women: Five Leverkusen players in Germany U23 squad". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  19. ↑ "Piljic and Wrigge score for Germany: Bayer 04 Women international round-up". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
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