Fact 1: African roots
Bellarabi was born in West Berlin on 8 April 1990. His mother is German, his father Moroccan and his stepfather comes from Ghana. Bellarabi has both German and Moroccan citizenship and he grew up in Bremen. As a teenager, he played for FC Huchting, Werder Bremen and FC Oberneuland.
Fact 2: First steps in professional football
Via the U19s at Eintracht Braunschweig, Bellarabi moved up to the first team squad at the Lower Saxony club. He made his professional debut in the third division on matchday 38 on 23 May 2009. Eintracht lost 2-0 at Regensburg.
Fact 3: The move to Leverkusen
Bellarabi signed for Leverkusen in the 2011/12 season. He made his first appearance in Black and Red against FC Köln on 17 September 2011. The then Bayer 04 coach Robin Dutt brought him on in place of Daniel Schwaab on 80 minutes. The Werkself lost the game 4-1.
Fact 4: Bellarabi's first goal
It finally came on 3 March 2012: Just eight minutes after coming on for André Schürrle, Bellarabi scored the second and winning goal against Bayern Munich on the 90th minute – his first goal in the Bundesliga. A few days later, on 7 March 2012, Bellarabi scored his first goal in the Champions League in added time in the second leg of the Round of 16 – the Werkself did lose the match 7-1 away to Barcelona.
Fact 5: Back to Lower Saxony
Bellarabi returned to Braunschweig on loan for the start of the 2013/14 season to get more match practice. The idea paid dividends: He scored three goals and provided five assists in 26 Bundesliga games. Braunschweig were relegated at the end of the season; Bellarabi returned to Leverkusen. He earned a regular berth in the following season to finally be established with the Black and Reds.
Fact 6: Record breaker
On 23 August 2014 in the first match day of the new season, Bellarabi scored the fastest ever goal in the Bundesliga: He opened the scoring at Borussia Dortmund after nine seconds and the Werkself ended up 2-0 winners. The record was equalled almost exactly a year later by one of his current Bayer 04 teammates: Kevin Volland, then playing for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, opened the scoring against FC Bayern on 22 August 2015 – again after nine seconds. Bellarabi has also secured another top spot: "The opening goal against FC Augsburg on 17 February 2017 was the 50,000th goal in the history of the Bundesliga. His shirt from that match is a permanent exhibit in the German Football Museum in Dortmund.
Fact 7: Swift as an arrow
One of Bellarabi's great strengths is his incredible pace. In 2016/17, he was faster than any other player in Germany's top flight with a measured top speed of 35.27 km/h and he also possesses extraordinary stamina. The Werkself completed a stamina test in Orlando during preparations for the second half of the 2016/17 season. In one drill, players had to drop out because they had not completed the distance required in the set time. The last man standing, or in this case the last man running, was – Karim Bellarabi.
Fact 8: New hobby on the decks
Bellarabi has apparently discovered a new hobby during the coronavirus pandemic. In a recent post on his Instagram account, he published a video of himself as a DJ – and he showed what he could do on the turntables. A true all-rounder.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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The Black and Reds kick off the new Bundesliga campaign today, Saturday 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST), away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg – and the Werkself will come up against a familiar face who is currently causing a stir at ‘Elv’. For an affordable and easy journey to the Saarland, the 1,600 travelling fans can still use the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Today’s matchday news..
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The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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