Katharina Piljić (born 5 September 2003) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Frauen-Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg. She has previously played for SGS Essen and Bayer Leverkusen.

Early life Piljić was born and raised in Essen. She is of German and Croatian descent. She started playing football at the age of 6 with local club VfL Sportfreunde 07 before her spirit and talent earned her a move to ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen in 2012. She spent most of her time at ETB playing as the only girl on a boys' team, with Piljić showing preference to the boys' style of play over that of women's football. Piljić eventually started playing for SGS Essen's youth academy at the U17 level. Playing as a defensive midfielder or centre-back, she amassed 29 under-17 Bundesliga appearances in her time with Essen.

Club career

SGS Essen On 18 April 2020, Piljić was promoted to SGS Essen's first team in her second year with the club. She made her Frauen-Bundesliga debut at the age of 16, earning the start in a 3–1 victory over SC Sand on 8 November 2020. She went on to make 13 league appearances in her first full season playing professionally. The following year, injury problems prevented Piljić from posting 90-minute performances. She was re-signed to a two-year contract extension ahead of the 2022–23 season, with Essen head coach Markus Högner hailing her potential to become a part of the team's backbone in the coming years. After playing out the two years of her new contract, Piljić declined an extension with Essen and departed from the club. She had made over 70 first-team appearances for Essen across all competitions.

Bayer Leverkusen In April 2024, Piljić moved away from her hometown of Essen for the first time, signing a two-year contract with Bayer Leverkusen lasting until the summer of 2026. Leverkusen had previously attempted to recruit Piljić in 2014, when she was a child, but Piljić had chosen to join SGS Essen instead. Hailed as a replacement to Eintracht Frankfurt-bound Elisa Senß, Piljić quickly became an important piece of Leverkusen's team. She played the entirety of all but one of the club's league matches over the first half of the season and led the league in successful ball wins in that period. On 7 October 2024, she scored her first goal for Leverkusen, striking from the edge of the penalty area to notch the game-winning goal against Carl Zeiss Jena. She ended her first season at Leverkusen having recorded 18 league appearances and 2 goals.

In the 2025–26 season, Piljić continued to cement herself as a starter on Leverkusen's squad. On 17 October 2025, she scored her first goal of the season, a long-range chip from the halfway line to salvage a 2–2 draw with 1. FC Köln. Piljić's offensive production heated up in March 2026, with Piljić first scoring a half-volleyed game-winner against Carl Zeiss Jena on 22 March, before registering a goal and two assists in a 3–1 win over Hamburger SV on 30 March.

VfL Wolfsburg

One day after her standout performance for Leverkusen at HSV, Piljić was announced to be leaving the club upon the expiry of her contract in the summer to sign a two-year deal with VfL Wolfsburg.

International career Piljić received her first call-up to the German youth national team program at the age of 14, getting called-in to the U15 squad. In November 2017, she made her U15 debut, participating in a 6–1 defeat to the United States. Piljić continued to gain experience with various youth national teams ranging from the under-15 to under-19 squads over the coming years; she had made 13 appearances for her country by the time she signed her first professional contract with SGS Essen.

In October 2024, Piljić debuted for the under-23 national team. In March 2025, she scored her first youth international goal, the Germany U23's lone conversion in a 3–1 defeat to Portugal.

Career statistics

Club

+Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSGS Essen2020–21Frauen-Bundesliga130101402021–22140—1402022–23202302322023–2422041261Total69281773Bayer 04 Leverkusen2024–25Frauen-Bundesliga182202022025–2626520285Total44740487 VfL Wolfsburg 2026–27 Frauen-Bundesliga501060Career total118913113110

References

External links