ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The maternal relatives of breakout German striker Deniz Undav, living in Syria's northeastern Kurdish-majority Hasaka province, have honored and reaffirmed the player's Kurdish heritage following his historic performance on the global stage.
“He brings joy to the Kurds and to us as well,” Mehasin Selmo Shexo, Undav’s aunt, told Rudaw’s Vivyan Fatah from the village of Barzan. "I am very happy. May God grant him success.”
Undav serves as a potent substitute striker for the German national team and plays club football for VfB Stuttgart, where he has scored 25 goals. However, he has captured global attention during the 2026 FIFA World Cup by netting three goals and recording two assists across just two off-the-bench appearances.
While Undav was born in Germany in 1996, his mother's family hails from Barzan, located north of Hasaka city in northeast Syria (Rojava). Today, little remains of the house that once belonged to Undav's maternal grandfather, Selmo Shexo. The building has fallen into ruin after standing abandoned for three decades following the family's migration to Germany.
Local residents remember the football star's grandfather as a respected villager who historically opposed state efforts to change the Kurdish name of the village.
"We have known the house of the late Selmo since before 1974," Hassan Mohammed Hame, a resident of Barzan, told Rudaw. "They are from here, and their roots are firmly in this village."
Family members note that Undav comes from a Kurdish-Yazidi family whose paternal roots trace back to Turkey. His father's family originates from the village of Zewra in Viransehir, located in the Kurdish-majority province of Sanliurfa (Riha) in southeastern Turkey.
"Deniz is a Kurd, a Yazidi Kurd," said Khalil Eyo, the husband of Undav's aunt. "His family is from Viransehir, from the village of Zewra. He belongs to the Sharqiyan tribe."
Rudaw visited Zewra in Turkey’s southeastern Kurdish province of Riha (Sanliurfa), Undav’s parental area of origin, on Monday.
With five total goal involvements as a substitute in the tournament, Undav has officially equaled Cameroon legend Roger Milla's iconic 1990 record for the most goal involvements by a substitute at a single World Cup, according to data tracked by sports media platform OneFootball.
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