What happened to the youngest goalscorer at 2014 World Cup who was 'one of biggest talents in Europe'

When Julian Green made history at the 2014 World Cup just three weeks after turning 19, many would have tipped him to feature for co-hosts United States at this summer's tournament.

Jurgen Klinsmann, who coached the US national team in 2014, described Green as "one of the biggest talents coming through European football right now" after he opted to play for them over Germany, the nation he represented at youth level.

At the time, Green was making a name for himself at Bayern Munich. After coming through the youth ranks, he made his first-team debut in late 2013 after featuring in a Champions League win over CSKA Moscow.

“We’re not only looking at Julian for this summer’s World Cup, we’re looking obviously into the future. Having his commitment to the US is a huge step," added Klinsmann in March 2013, three months before picking his 23-man squad.

At the time, Green said he would "do everything" to earn a spot on the World Cup roster, and the teenager did exactly that, earning a place in Klinnsman's squad ahead of Landon Donovan, of all people.

The midfielder would go on to become the youngest goalscorer at the finals when he scored for the United States in their knockout round defeat to Belgium, and he did so with his first touch in a World Cup match.

In fact, Green remains the youngest player in United States history to score at the tournament, 12 years after achieving the feat at 19 years and 25 days old.

“On the field, he’s exciting. And he’s the X-factor,” Tim Howard said when speaking about Green in 2014. “And every team has an X-factor. You have to have it, it’s good. It’s a surprise."

What happened after the World Cup?

After a breakout tournament, the forward decided to join Bundesliga side Hamburg on a one-year loan in a bid to replicate the likes of Toni Kroos and Philipp Lahm, who flourished when they left on loan.

Green believed his spell with Hamburg would help him become a regular at Bayern but he struggled to make an impact at Volksparkstadion.

After returning to Bayern under Carlo Ancelotti, Green became the first American to score for the club after netting his first competitive goal in a DFB-Pokal clash against Augsburg in October 2016.

Unfortunately for the winger, he failed to break into the Bayern side and was shipped to VfB Stuttgart in January 2018.

Green was then loaned out to German second-division side Greuther Furth in the summer of 2018 and, at the time of writing, he still plays for the club having made over 200 appearances.

Reflecting on that goal against Belgium and the years that followed, Green gave his side of the story.

"I don't think it was a big pressure," he told GOAL. "I think I scored that goal and, of course, after that, I see all the news and everything that has been written about me, but it's hard to say.

"I think for me, after the World Cup, it wasn't that easy because, in my opinion, I played for the best club in the world at that time [Bayern Munich], probably with the best squad they ever had, so I made my move to Hamburg. It didn't really work out.

"It's always individual. It's hard to give advice to other players because every career is different, and every step is different. So you can't really say 'You have to do this, you have to do that'. At the end, you have to work hard."

Green added: "That's what you always have to do, but then there are a lot of things that can go in this or in the other direction."