In July, 25 years after his mother turned pro, Texas-born Cole Campbell joined newly promoted Bundesliga club SV 07 Elversberg for a club-record transfer fee.
Campbell’s mom, Rakel (née Karvelsson) Campbell, played for the Philadelphia Charge in the inaugural WUSA season of 2001, after winning two NCAA championships with the UNC Tar Heels. In overtime of the 1996 final against Notre Dame, Coach Anson Dorrance subbed Karvelsson in to give Cindy Parlow a breather — and Karvelsson assisted on Debbie Keller’s 1-0 gamewinner.
“My mom knows so much about football,” Cole said. “She tells me sometimes, ‘Hey, you can do this …’ and helps me see another side. Having a mom who also played football is great. You can also train with her, which is fun.”
After graduating from UNC — and racking up 40 goals and 33 assists for the Tar Heels — the California-born Rakel moved to her parents’ native Iceland and played for semipro club Breiðablik. She scored seven goals for Iceland’s national team in 10 appearances and was named 2000 Icelandic Women’s Footballer of the Year — before teaming up with the likes of Lorrie Fair, Heather Mitts and Doris Fitchsen in the WUSA.
Cole Campbell went straight from youth ball to the pros.
He was born in the Lone Star State, where his father, Lance Campbell, played soccer at Texas Lutheran University. The family moved to Peachtree, Georgia, where Rakel went to high school, when he was 9. He played for Atlanta United’s academy until the family moved to Iceland in 2020 to be with his maternal grandfather.
In August of 2021, at age 15 and a half, Cole became the second youngest player to debut for FH in Iceland’s top tier league. The following year, he joined Borussia Dortmund’s academy. In 2024, at age 18, he signed a pro contract with Dortmund through 2028.
Campbell made five Bundesliga cameos off the bench for Dortmund and came on for the last 13 minutes of a UEFA Champions League game before being loaned to Hoffenheim for the second half of last season.
He only saw action in five games, as a sub, for Hoffenheim, but Elversberg was aware of his potential and paid a club record $6.8 million for the winger. “We have been trying to sign him for quite some time,” Elversberg sporting director Christian Weber said.
Kicker Magazine wrote: “The young winger is now hoping to take the proverbial next step in his third attempt in the Bundesliga.”
“His down-to-earth personality makes him an excellent fit within SV Elversberg’s team, while his enthusiasm, speed and desire to take defenders on in one-on-one situations give Coach Vincent Wagner additional options for creating unexpected moments in attack. … Elversberg spent a lot of money, but in return it is getting a highly talented and ambitious winger, while Campbell is getting the opportunity to finally earn the Bundesliga playing time he has long wanted.” — Sportschau.
After a strong preseason, Campbell went the full 90 in Elversberg’s 3-1 German Cup win over MSV Duisburg. He started again on the left wing in the opening game of the Bundesliga and in the 3-2 upset of Bayer Leverkusen, scored Elversberg’s second goal in the ninth minute. No Bundesliga newcomer had scored its first two goals so quickly.
Bild, Germany’s largest circulation newspaper, ran the headline: “Elversberg’s Breakout Player: Campbell” for its article that included: “Caused havoc on the left wing. And in his very first league game, it became clear why SVE had been willing to dig so deep into its pockets for the attacker. With quick changes of direction, technical finesse and explosive acceleration, he caused problems on the flank while repeatedly driving toward the middle.”
A week later, after trailing, 3-1, Elversberg beat Borussia Mönchengladbach to become the first newly promoted team to win its first two Bundesliga games.
Campbell made his third straight Bundesliga start against defending champion Bayern Munich. In the 43rd minute, he blazed past French World Cup veteran defender Dayot Upamecano to score what appeared to be a 1-1 equalizer, but VAR nullified the goal for offside on Noah Darvich, who never played the ball but was judged to have interfered with play. (Saarländischer Rundfunk: “Luck for Bayern,” which won, 2-1.)
With a population of just 7,000, Elversberg is the smallest German town ever represented by a top-tier club. It’s been granted an exemption from the Bundesliga’s 15,000-seat minimum-stadium requirement while it expands its 10,000-capacity Waldstadion an der Kaiserlinde.
“Coming up in the Bundesliga as a new team, I think the expectations were actually quite the opposite of what we’ve already shown,” Campbell said during Tuesday’s virtual media roundtable. “It’s been absolutely amazing to win against such a great team like Leverkusen and also to change the game like we did and come back from 3-1 to win the game against Gladbach. Against Bayern, we didn’t get the result that we wanted, but as a team we played well, and it is something that we can take and try to learn from and see what we can improve.”
Campbell’s first national team experience came with Iceland’s U-17s, but he has since played, and scored, for the USA’s U-19s, U-20s and U-23s
“I’ve already made my decision to switch to the U.S.,” he said. “It was for a lot of different reasons, but my future is with the U.S. … That’s a thing for me that is set in stone.”
He said he’s had off-and-on contact with U.S. national team coaching staff for two years.
“We will see what happens,” he said of the USMNT’s September-October friendlies. “I’m just focused on trying to perform the best that I can, and I’m praying that hopefully I get my first call-up soon.”
This weekend, Elversberg travels to Schalke 04, also newly promoted, but which will have the backing of 62,000 fans. The large Bundesliga crowds — last season’s league-wide average of 41,500 was equaled only by the English Premier League — are among the reasons Campbell enjoys playing in Germany.
Even with a home stadium limited to 10,000 — about two-thirds standing room — Campbell says, “Our fans in Elversberg are amazing, and the atmosphere in the stadium is also great.”
Off-field life suits him as well.
“Life in Germany is quite good and I enjoy it, especially since I’ve learned the language,”Campbell said. “There’s a lot of different things here that I like. The food is very good. Especially the Schnitzel, but I cannot eat it so often because it’s not the most healthy thing. In my free time, I like to go to coffee shops and enjoy the city.
“One of the things that is different in Germany that I enjoy the most is probably the Autobahn, because I can drive quite fast and I enjoy that, which is not the same in the U.S.”
When he gets a break, Campbell returns to a lifelong routine: training with his mom.
“She challenges me to a two-touch battle,” he said. “She doesn’t win anymore. But in the past, when I was younger, she used to beat me, until about seven years ago. When I was 14, 15, then I started to beat her. It’s good. It’s also fun, on vacation, to mess around and play with the ball.”
Nice story, thank you. Wish young Cole all the best in his endeavors with Elversburg. Left footed winger that plays on the right and can also play on left. Interesting how Elversburg brings him along. He splits time with Mo Krattenmacher 21 yo German right/both footed winger. So they are both getting time and there is a healthy competition between youngsters. Petkov 25 yo Bulgarian on right usually goes deeper and is quietly having a solid start as well. Elversburg seems to know about wingers. Going to have to watch a match or two learn more.
Hopefully Poch knows about him. And now we do ! Gonnna have to catch a Elversburg match or two, to check him out. Thanks Mike !
I have been on that autobahn too and loved it, so I hope he keeps it safe.