Niko Iličević turned 16 on Saturday. Twenty-four hours later he was a footnote in Bundesliga history. Adi Hütter sent the Eintracht Frankfurt academy product on in the third minute of stoppage time during a 3-1 home win over Hamburg, making him, at 16 years and one day, the joint-youngest player the league has ever fielded. He shares that mark with Youssoufa Moukoko, whose first Dortmund outing six years ago came at an identical age.
The cameo was brief but lively: within seconds the attacking midfielder had a sight of goal and dragged his shot just wide of what would have been a fourth. He has been at Frankfurt since 2019, has four goals for the club’s Under-19s this term and plays for Germany at Under-17 level. There is a family link to the opponents, too: his uncle, former Croatia winger Ivo Iličević, once played for Hamburg.
This was the second meeting of the sides in less than a week after Frankfurt knocked Hamburg out of the DFB Cup. The hosts started brightly and went ahead after ten minutes when Farès Chaïbi’s low ball across the box deflected off Hamburg defender Warmed Omari and in. Hamburg needed just four minutes to reply: Albert Grønbæk squared it and Terem Moffi tapped home.
The game swung early in the second half. From a Chaïbi set piece, defender Lilian Brassier got his head to it, the Hamburg keeper parried straight back into danger, and Raphael Onyedika reacted first. Midway through the half Can Uzun won possession and released Younes Ebnoutalib, who drilled in from a tight angle for his sixth league goal of the campaign. Chaïbi later had a goal ruled out for offside, and Omari struck the crossbar for the visitors.
