DORTMUND, Germany -- Mathis Albert became the youngest American to play in the Bundesliga when he made his debut for Borussia Dortmund on Sunday at the age of 16 years, 11 months and 5 days.
Albert, who is from Greenville, South Carolina, went in at the 88th minute of Dortmund's 4-0 German league win over Freiburg. He beat the record set by Giovanni Reyna, also playing for Dortmund, on Jan. 18, 2020.
Reyna was 17 years, 2 months and 5 days old at the time; the previous recordholder, Christian Pulisic, was 17 years, 4 months, 12 days old when he made his Bundesliga debut for Dortmund on Jan. 30, 2016.
Albert joined Dortmund's academy from the LA Galaxy youth program in 2024 and was part of the U.S. team at last year's Under-17 World Cup.
Dortmund's victory Sunday seals Champions League qualification for next season.
Maximilian Beier, Serhou Guirassy and Ramy Bensebaini effectively decided the result in the first half hour, before substitute Fabio Silva completed the scoring late.
Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel denied Cyriaque Irié a consolation goal.
With three rounds remaining, Dortmund is assured of finishing among the top four to qualify for Europe's premier club competition.
Freiburg coach Julian Schuster had made a host of changes to the team that suffered a bitter defeat against Stuttgart in the German Cup semifinals Thursday.
Freiburg next faces Sporting Braga away for the first leg of their Europa League semifinal match.
Dortmund coach Niko Kovač also gave Samuele Inacio his first start, and the 18-year-old Italian forward made the most of it, earning ovations when he went off in the 74th minute.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
