.jpg) Cornelius playing forMalmö FF in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Derek Austin Cornelius[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1997-11-25)25 November 1997 (age 27) | ||
| Place of birth | Ajax, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Marseille | ||
| Number | 13 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Ajax SC | |||
| 2009–2011 | Spartacus SC | ||
| 2011–2013 | Unionville Milliken SC | ||
| 2014–2016 | VfB Lübeck | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016 | VfB Lübeck | 1 | (0) |
| 2016 | VfR Neumünster | 17 | (2) |
| 2017–2018 | Javor Ivanjica | 28 | (0) |
| 2019–2022 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 35 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | →Panetolikos (loan) | 42 | (2) |
| 2023–2024 | Malmö | 37 | (5) |
| 2024– | Marseille | 19 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2018–2021 | Canada U23 | 7 | (1) |
| 2018– | Canada | 31 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 April 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 March 2025 | |||
Derek Austin Cornelius (born 25 November 1997) is a Canadian professionalsoccer player who plays as acentre-back forLigue 1 clubMarseille and theCanada national team.
Cornelius was born inAjax, Ontario to a Barbadian father and a Jamaican mother.[2] Cornelius started playing when he was selected as a younger player for the 1996 House League All-Star team.[3] He was then selected by the Ajax Thunder under-8 team at six years old.[3] In the season after that, he was the Unionville Milliken Challenge Cup Champions Most Valuable Player.[3] At the U11 level, he won the C.O.V.I. Championship and was proclaimed the Most Valuable Player.[3]
In 2012, he played in the Oviedo Cup withPFC CSKA Moscow in Spain, then he played in the Milk Cup by CSKA Moscow in Northern Ireland where he led the team scoring four goals in the tournament. He ended that year by being invited to the CSKA Moscow Reserve Camp and by playing in the U21 Provincial and Men's Regional leagues, scoring 22 goals in 30 games.[3]
In 2013, he was selected for theCanada national under-17 team for camp in Florida and Costa Rica, and was later selected for the CONCACAF World Cup U17 Qualifier pre-camp in Florida. He was also selected for the Canada national under-16 Team for the Torneo delle Nazioni tournament in Italy. That same year he was invited to Hungary for trials withNyíregyháza Spartacus FC andGyőri ETO FC in March.[3]
In January 2014, he moved to Germany. He began training withVfB Lübeck U19 team.[4] He spent two seasons with the main team,[5] but was unable to play due toFIFA rules for underaged players. He became eligible to play effective on 1 January 2016.[6][7] With VfB Lübeck he won theSchleswig-Holstein Cup two consecutive seasons and made an appearance in the2015–16 Regionalliga Nord.[8]
In the summer of 2016, he moved toVfR Neumünster playing with them the first half of the season.[5]
During the winter break of the2016–17 season, Cornelius was signed bySerbian SuperLiga sideFK Javor Ivanjica after successful trials. He made his league debut on 29 April 2017, in an away game againstFK Radnički Niš.[8] Javor head coachSrđan Vasiljević converted Cornelius from aforward into acentre-back.[9]
On 18 January 2019, Cornelius returned to his native Canada and signed withMLS sideVancouver Whitecaps FC.[10] He made his debut for the Whitecaps on 2 March in their2019 MLS season opener againstMinnesota United.[11] Cornelius scored his first goal for the club on 18 May againstSporting Kansas City.[12]
In July 2021 the Whitecaps announced Cornelius had been loaned toPanetolikos of theSuper League Greece until December 2022.[13]
In December 2022 Vancouver announced Cornelius had been transferred toAllsvenskan sideMalmö FF.[14] He signed a contract through 2026 with the Scandinavian club.[15] Cornelius made his competitive debut for his new club againstSkövde AIK in theSvenska Cupen on 19 February 2023.[16] He scored his first goal for Malmö on 5 March againstDegerfors IF, winning the match.[17] His first season with Malmö was a success, with the club winning the2023 Allsvenskan.[18]
In August 2024, Cornelius was transferred toLigue 1 clubMarseille on a four-year deal.[19] He made his debut for his new club on August 17, starting their first match of the season againstBrest.[20]
Cornelius was part of aCanadian U17 camp in February 2013.[21] He was called up to aU23 camp in January 2018.[22] In May 2018, Cornelius was named to Canada's under-21 squad for the2018 Toulon Tournament[23] and would earn rave reviews for his performance at the tournament.[24] At the end of 2018, he was named theCanada Soccer Youth International Player of the Year.[25]
In March 2021 Cornelius was named to the Canadian U-23 roster for the2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship.[26] He served as captain throughout the tournament, and scored a goal againstHonduras in Canada's final group stage match.[27]
In March 2018, Cornelius received his first call up to theCanadian senior side for a friendly againstNew Zealand to be played on 24 March.[28] He would make his debut for Canada on 9 September 2018, starting and playing the entire match in an 8–0 victory over theU.S. Virgin Islands.[29][30] Cornelius was named to the 23-man squad for the2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup on 30 May 2019.[31]
In November 2022, Cornelius was named to Canada's squad for the2022 FIFA World Cup.[32] In June 2023 Cornelius was named to the final 23-man squad for the2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals, but after suffering an injury with his club sideMalmö FF, he was withdrawn from the squad and replaced byMoïse Bombito.[33]
In June 2024, Cornelius was named to Canada's squad for the2024 Copa América.[34]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| VfB Lübeck | 2015–16 | Regionalliga Nord | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| VfR Neumünster | 2016–17 | Oberliga Schleswig-Holstein | 17 | 2 | — | — | 17 | 2 | ||
| Javor Ivanjica | 2016–17 | Serbian SuperLiga | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 25 | 0 | |||
| 2018–19 | Serbian First League | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | |||
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 2019 | Major League Soccer | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 13 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 14 | 0 | |||
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 1 | ||
| Panetolikos (loan) | 2021–22 | Super League Greece | 29 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | 33 | 2 | |
| 2022–23 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |||
| Total | 42 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | 45 | 2 | |||
| Malmö FF | 2023 | Allsvenskan | 25 | 3 | 5 | 1 | — | 30 | 4 | |
| 2024 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | 19 | 2 | |||
| Total | 37 | 5 | 12 | 1 | — | 49 | 6 | |||
| Marseille | 2024–25 | Ligue 1 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | |
| Career total | 176 | 10 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 200 | 11 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 2018 | 4 | 0 |
| 2019 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 31 | 0 | |
VfB Lübeck
Malmö FF
Individual
Canada squads | |||||||||||||||||||
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