BVB youngster shines with dream debut for Germany | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund’s U23 striker Jordi Paulina celebrates a dream debut for the Curaçao national team. With two goals in the 7-0 win over Bermuda, he draws attention to himself—and now faces the biggest match of his career so far.

Jordi Paulina has opened an impressive new chapter in his young career. The striker from Borussia Dortmund’s U23s made his senior national team debut for Curaçao on Thursday night. The 21-year-old immediately scored twice. In the 7-0 victory in the World Cup qualifiers against Bermuda, he first converted a penalty to make it 3-0 and then coolly increased the lead to 5-0 in the 63rd minute.

The team from the island nation, coached by the experienced Dutchman Dick Advocaat, delivered a dominant performance and maintained their strong position in the CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. Curaçao leads its group unbeaten and could make history on the next matchday: in the showdown against pursuers Jamaica, even a draw would be enough to reach a World Cup finals for the first time ever. If they pull off the sensation, Curaçao, with around 150,000 inhabitants, would be the smallest country ever to qualify—current record holder is Iceland (352,000 inhabitants, World Cup 2018).

Jordi Paulina celebrates: BVB talent shines on Curaçao debut

Things are going well for Paulina not only in the national jersey. Since his move from USV Hercules to BVB in 2024, the Dutch-born striker has continued to develop. Although he has only made a brief appearance for the first team in the DFB-Pokal against VfL Wolfsburg so far, he is a key player in the Regionalliga: six goals in nine matches prove his goal-scoring qualities. Despite missing several weeks at the start of the season due to muscular issues, he fought his way back and recently signed a new contract until 2027.

After his dream debut, Jordi Paulina also spoke out personally. “I am proud to represent my home country and happy to have scored two goals on my debut,” he wrote on Instagram. “Many thanks to my family and my agent, who have always believed in me.”

For the young BVB striker, the most important match of his career so far could now be ahead—and perhaps a World Cup appearance that would make football history.

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