Bayern youngster Mike: He wants to reach the World Cup finals with Germany U17 but is not under any pressure due to media hype

Football 9:09pm, 10 November 2025 160

Bayern's 17-year-old winger Wisdom Mack is currently competing in the U17 World Cup with the German National Youth Team. He recently accepted an interview with the German Transfer Market Network, in which he talked about the difficult start of the World Cup, the experience he gained from making his professional debut at Bayern and how he dealt with the recent attention and heat surrounding him.

- Germany U17 only achieved two draws against Colombia and North Korea in the first two group matches and is currently ranked second in the group. Regarding the team's performance and opponents:

Mike: "Both Colombia and North Korea are very difficult to deal with. They are very strong in physical confrontation, and their players also have very good personal abilities at their feet. We have to make better decisions in the attacking third, and we discussed this again in training. I am sure we will show our performance against El Salvador."

- Regarding the goals and competition of this U17 World Cup:

Mike: "I hope to end this tournament as well as possible with the team. Ideally, of course, it is to enter the finals. Even if it starts hard, we still want to win every game, stay here as long as possible and win the championship. But for this, we must first win tomorrow's game."

"The level of competition and the strength of the players here are very high. We cannot underestimate any national team. For example, you can see in the game against North Korea that although they are not a football powerhouse, they still have good players in the team."

"Which national teams are most likely to compete for the championship? Belgium, Brazil and Argentina."

- His own role in the German team:

Mike: "I will also take responsibility off the court, and I also see myself as a leader."

- He made his Bundesliga debut at the age of 17 years and 2 days at the end of September, and became the second youngest Bundesliga debutant in Bayern's history. What did you learn in the professional team?

Mike: "I learned a lot of new things from Bayern's first team. I will try to bring these things and my experience to the national team and integrate my advantages into our team's games."

- There is increasing outside attention and media hype after the professional team's debut. How to deal with this?

Mike: "This doesn't really put pressure on me. After all, I am here to play football. I will try my best to ignore everything from the outside world. I just want my feet to speak."

According to media reports last week, when Mike turns 18, he will get his first professional contract with Bayern, and there will be no release clause.