Sami Khedira won his first trophy on 19 May 2007, when he scored VfB Stuttgart’s second goal in a 2-1 win over Energie Cottbus that sealed the 2006-07 Bundesliga. Born in Stuttgart on 4 April 1987 to a Tunisian father and a German mother, he played central midfield for Stuttgart, Real Madrid, Juventus and Hertha Berlin. With Germany he won the 2014 World Cup. His club career added up to 479 competitive matches and 47 goals, and he earned 77 caps for the senior national team, scoring 7 goals.
Youth career at VfB Stuttgart
Khedira joined VfB Stuttgart’s academy in 1995 and came up through every youth level there. Before settling in the first team he played 22 matches for the reserve side. He made his Bundesliga debut on 1 October 2006 against Hertha Berlin, the club where he would retire fifteen years later. On 29 October that year he scored his first two professional goals, against Schalke 04.
League champion in his first season
That first campaign ended with Stuttgart as champions and Khedira among the scorers on the final matchday. From then on he was a regular in the Swabian side’s midfield. In the first team he made 132 competitive appearances, with 16 goals and 19 assists. After the 2010 World Cup he left the club that had developed him.
Five seasons at Real Madrid
Real Madrid agreed his signing on 30 July 2010, in José Mourinho’s first summer in charge. On 20 April 2011 he won the Copa del Rey, and 2012 brought the 2011-12 La Liga title and the Spanish Super Cup. On 15 November 2013 he ruptured knee ligaments in a Germany friendly against Italy, an injury that kept him out for around six months. He returned in time for the end of the season and started the Lisbon final on 24 May 2014, in which Real Madrid beat Atlético de Madrid to win the 2013-14 Champions League. That year he also collected the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup. He played 161 matches for the club and scored 9 goals.
Juventus and five straight titles
On 9 June 2015 he signed for Juventus after his Madrid contract expired. In Turin he won five consecutive Serie A titles, from 2015-16 to 2019-20, three Coppa Italia trophies (2016, 2017 and 2018) and the Italian Super Cups of 2015 and 2018, although he missed the first of those through injury. On 3 June 2017 he played in the Champions League final in Cardiff against Real Madrid, which Juventus lost 4-1. In September 2018 he extended his deal with the club. He ended his Italian spell with 145 matches, 21 goals and 15 assists.
Hertha Berlin and retirement
In February 2021 he returned to the Bundesliga with Hertha Berlin, where he played 9 matches. On 20 May 2021 he announced he would retire at the end of that season, at the same club he had faced on his debut in 2006.
With the Germany national team
As captain of the under-21 side he won the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. His senior debut came on 5 September 2009 in a friendly against South Africa, when he came on in the 73rd minute. At the 2010 World Cup he played seven matches as Germany finished third; at Euro 2012 he reached the semi-finals and scored in the quarter-final against Greece. At the 2014 World Cup he played five matches and scored in the 7-1 semi-final win over Brazil, but he was injured in the warm-up before the final against Argentina and Christoph Kramer took his place in the line-up. He later played at Euro 2016, where Germany went out in the semi-finals, and at the 2018 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stage. In total he won 77 caps and scored 7 goals.
Playing style and move into coaching
He was a box-to-box midfielder, with the stamina to defend and the timing to arrive in the opposition area; many of his international goals came from runs from deep. In June 2026 he joined José Mourinho’s coaching staff at Real Madrid, reuniting with the manager he had played under at the club from 2010 to 2013.
