Kenan Yıldız was born on May 4, 2005, in Regensburg, Germany. His father is from Dinar, Afyonkarahisar, while his mother is of German descent. Kenan's football journey began at the age of 3 when his father took an interest in his development. Yıldız grew up in the youth academies of Regensburg and Bayern Munich, and since 2022, he has been wearing the number 10 shirt at Juventus. Kenan Yıldız became the youngest player to score a goal in the UEFA Champions League. He plays as a Forward-Left Wing and is known for using both feet when scoring.
Football Career
Kenan Yıldız's football career began at the age of 3 with his father's support. At the age of 6.5-7, he was part of the SSV Jahn Regensburg academy. In 2012, he continued his football journey in the Bayern Munich youth academy. In 2015, at the age of 10, Kenan Yıldız signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas. With this agreement, Kenan became the youngest footballer to sign such a deal. After spending 10 years in Bayern Munich's youth academy, Kenan captained the team wearing the number 10 shirt. In 2022, he transferred from Bayern U19 to Juventus U19. At Juventus U19, he played 31 matches, scoring 12 goals and providing 7 assists. In 2023, he was promoted to the Juventus B team. His first match for Juventus B was against Virtus Verona, where he came on in the 61st minute, replacing Simone Locolano. He played 15 matches for Juventus B, scoring 2 goals and providing 1 assist.
On November 7, 2023, Juventus agreed with the player to join their Serie A squad. His first official Serie A match was against Udinese Calcio, where he came on in the 85th minute, replacing Dusan Vlahovic. Kenan Yıldız scored his first Serie A goal in the 12th minute of the Frosinone Calcio-Juventus match. In his first UEFA Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven, he scored in the 21st minute. With that goal, he became the youngest player to score for Juventus in the Champions League at the age of 19 years, 4 months, and 13 days, breaking the record previously held by Alessandro Del Piero. After the match, Kenan Yıldız and Del Piero exchanged words. In a special interview with TRT, Kenan Yıldız said about his idol Del Piero: "Del Piero is an idol for me. Watching him play was an amazing experience."
As of the 2024/2025 season, Kenan Yıldız has played 74 matches for Juventus, scoring 11 goals and providing 5 assists.
Kenan Yıldız, wearing the number 10 shirt for Juventus, won the "Golden Boy Web" award on November 27, 2024. He has stated that his biggest dream is to win the Ballon d'Or.
National Team Career
Kenan began his national team career with the U17 and U21 teams, playing a total of 13 matches across both categories. In the 2024 European Championship Group Qualifiers, he made his debut in the senior Turkish National Team in the starting lineup on October 12, 2023, in the match against Croatia. Yıldız replaced Kerem Aktürkoğlu in the 86th minute. He scored his first goal for the national team in a friendly match against Germany. On November 15, 2021, in the Germany U17-Turkey U17 match, he scored his first goal in the 62nd minute. His first goal for the A National Team came on November 19, 2025, in the UEFA Nations League B-level match against Montenegro, assisted by Orkun Kökçü in the 37th minute.
Achievements
Juventus
- Coppa Italia: 2023-2024
Turkey
- European Championship Participant: 2024
Other
- Kenan Yıldız signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas in 2015.
