Mats Köhlert

Mats Köhlert (born 2 May 1998) is a German professional footballer and former child actor who plays as a left winger for Eredivisie club Heerenveen.

Club career
Mats Köhlert was born in Hamburg and attended the Grundschule in Norderstedt, a suburb of the million city at the north of Germany. He played for SC Sperber Hamburg and Eintracht Norderstedt and for the youth teams of FC St. Pauli, before he joined the youth academy of Hamburger SV.

In 2016, Köhlert signed his first professional contract with Hamburger SV. He made his professional debut for Hamburg in the 2. Bundesliga on 30 March 2019, coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute for Vasilije Janjičić in the 0–0 away draw against VfL Bochum.

On 1 July Köhlert signed a contract at Eredivisie side Willem II after his contract at Hamburger SV had expired. At this time, the former Hamburger SV defender Joris Mathijsen, a Dutch World Cup runner-up of 2010, was the Technical director of the club from Tilburg. Mats Köhlert received a regular place and played in any 26 matches, also he was a part of the starting line-up in all fixtures. Due the Corona-pandemic, the 2019–2020 season was aborted and Willem II qualified for the second round of the qualifiyng of the 2020-21 UEFA Europa League campaign. Until the end of the 2019–2020 season, Köhlert had scored six goals and had made four assists.

At the European competition, Willem II has beat the Luxemburg side Progrès Niederkorn, but lost against Rangers FC at the third round of the qualifying to UEFA Europa League and dropped out therefore from this competition. At the 2020-21 Eredivisie campaign, Mats Köhlert played in 32 of the 34 season matches, but was in only 15 matches the part of the starting line-up. During the 2021–22 season at the Dutch top-flight, he was again often the part of the starting line-up (29) and played totally in 33 matches (he missed only once match). Willem II relegated in this season to Eerste Divisie.

On 21 June 2022, Köhlert signed a three-year contract with Heerenveen.

International career
In 2015, Köhlert was included in the Germany U17 national team for the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Bulgaria. He made four appearances in the tournament, with the team managing to reach the final before losing 4–1 to France. However, the team still managed to qualify for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile, with Köhlert subsequently included in Germany's squad. He appeared in all four of Germany's matches, with the team being eliminated in the round of 16 after a 2–0 defeat to Croatia.

In 2017, Köhlert was included in Germany's squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Georgia. He made one appearance in the tournament, Germany's opening match against the Netherlands, which finished as a 4–1 loss. The team were eliminated in the group stage of the tournament.

Acting career
Köhlert first appeared as a child in commercials for Kinder Chocolate, BMW, IKEA, Smarties, McDonald's and Tchibo. In 2008, he played an uncredited role as a child in the film Krauts, Doubts & Rock 'n' Roll. In 2009, he appeared as Philipp in the episode "Schwanenmord" of the television series Die Pfefferkörner. Later that year, he played the role of Klein Brakelmann in the episode "Goldene Erinnerungen" of the television series Neues aus Büttenwarder. Köhlert played his first major role at the side of Maria Furtwängler as Uwe in the 2011 television film Schicksalsjahre. In the same year, he took part in the episode "Borowski und der coole Hund" of the German police procedural Tatort.

Honours
Individual
 * Eredivisie Team of the Month: October 2022