Lukas Podolski (38) has been together with his wife Monika Podolski (*1986) since 2004. In April 2011, the parents of three children tied the knot in a small town in Poland. At the start of the second season of the MagentaTV podcast “More than Talking” by Verona Pooth (available from February 29th), the soccer star chats about the secrets and reveals how he first met his current wife as a teenager. The soccer star says that he hadn’t had a girlfriend until he met Monika during his first professional stint at 1. FC Cologne: “I was 17 and then there was a friend who brought us together.”
This friend said to him at the time: “Listen, there’s someone who comes from Poland who lives in the same town as you. You have to get to know her.” Podolski was born in Gliwice and only moved to Germany in 1987. He grew up there near Cologne and joined 1. FC Köln as a young player when he was just ten years old. He was actually not interested in a relationship during his early years as a professional, but a meeting took place at the behest of his friend: “And since that day I have been with my current wife.”
Their first son Louis was born in 2008, followed by two daughters in 2016 (Maya) and 2023 (Ella). Podolski has kept his private life out of the public eye since the beginning of his career. There are only rare appearances with his wife on red carpets or corresponding Instagram posts. In May 2023, however, Poldi made an exception: standing in front of the mirror, he grinned into the cell phone camera while holding his youngest daughter, who had been born just a few weeks earlier. He wrote: “The reason why it’s important to give your all every day.”
The 2014 world champion never lost contact with his Polish homeland, even during the highlights of his career. Podolski played, among others, for global clubs such as FC Bayern Munich, FC Arsenal and Inter Milan. He has been lacing up his shoes for the small Polish club Górnik Zabrze since 2021. The now 38-year-old extended his contract early last spring until June 2025.
