In Germany, Özil played for the clubs FC Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen for a long time. But Özil has also played in important clubs in other countries: for example for Real Madrid from the country of Spain and Fenerbahçe from the country of Turkey. Özil’s parents are from Turkey.
In 2014, Özil won the world championship with the German national team. Many players from back then have now sent greetings to Özil. They say: We are glad that we were allowed to play with him. Özil has played for the German national team almost 100 times.
In 2018 there were discussions about a photo: Özil was seen in the photo with Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This is the President of Turkey. They took the photo shortly before the presidential election. Many in Germany thought: That was election advertising. And: A German national player shouldn’t do that. Because of the discussions, Özil left the national team.