How Vitaly Janelt Went From Bosnia Call-Up to Germany Debut

Vitaly Janelt had waited a long time for his senior Germany international debut.

By March 2025, he appeared to have stopped waiting altogether.

The Brentford midfielder had received Bosnian citizenship and was called up for World Cup qualifiers against Romania and Cyprus, beginning a process which could have seen him play senior international football for the country of his wife.

Eighteen months later, Janelt finally made his senior debut. For Germany.

His appearance against Serbia on Thursday brought an unusual international story back almost to where it started. Janelt had represented Germany all the way through the youth age groups and was part of the Under-21 side which won the European Championship in 2021, but a senior call-up did not follow.

Bosnia offered another route.

Janelt married his Bosnian wife, Ines, in 2023 and later spoke about the family connection which helped start the process. Her parents own a restaurant and wine shop in Bosnia, where photographs of the Brentford midfielder caught the attention of figures connected to the national team.

Contact followed, and Bosnia head coach Sergej Barbarez later travelled to England to meet him.

By 17 March 2025, Janelt had been granted Bosnian citizenship. The country’s football federation announced the development and confirmed it was beginning the process required for him to represent them.

Brentford subsequently announced that Janelt had been called up for Bosnia’s qualifiers against Romania and Cyprus.

Janelt's relationship with the German national set-up had already survived one significant interruption by then. In 2016, he and RB Leipzig team-mate Idrissa Touré were sent home from an Under-19 trip to Albania after a fire involving a shisha pipe in their hotel room. Leipzig also punished the pair, and Janelt left the club for Bochum a few months later.

It did not finish his international career. Janelt returned with Germany Under-21s, made 10 appearances and was part of the side which won the European Championship in 2021.

His final appearance came in the final against Portugal. Janelt came off the bench as Germany won 1-0, ending his youth international career with a trophy.

He was 23 at the time.

That became important four years later when Bosnia attempted to change his association.

Under FIFA’s rules governing players who acquire a new nationality after already representing another country in official competition, several conditions have to be satisfied before a switch can be approved.

One concerns the player’s age at their final competitive appearance for their original association. Janelt’s came after his 21st birthday.

Bosnia did not immediately give up on him. The case remained unresolved long after that first call-up and sporting director Emir Spahic was still speaking publicly about attempts to find a solution in 2026.

All the while, Janelt continued playing for the Bees without a senior international appearance to his name.

That had become increasingly unusual. He arrived in West London in 2020 and went on to establish himself in the Premier League, passing 150 appearances for the club while Germany repeatedly looked elsewhere.

His chance eventually came under Jürgen Klopp.

Klopp included Janelt as he widened the group during his early international camps, more than five years after that final Germany Under-21 appearance. At 28, he was back inside the national-team set-up he had once appeared ready to leave behind.

The Serbia game finally brought him onto the pitch.

It was not a debut built around 90 minutes or an immediate starring role. Janelt was introduced late in Germany’s 2-0 victory, enough to turn years of youth internationals and near-misses into a first senior cap.

The route there had been anything but straightforward.

When Bosnia called him up in 2025, it looked possible that Janelt’s connection with Germany had finished at Under-21 level. He had another passport, another national team wanted him and he had begun the formal process of trying to play for them.

The same youth career which had taken him to a European Championship title complicated that switch.

Janelt never became a Bosnia international. On Thursday night, more than five years after his previous appearance in German colours, he finally got his chance as a senior international for Germany.