Joy-Lance Mickels

Joy-Lance Mickels (born 29 March 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Azerbaijan Premier League club Sabah. Born in Germany, he represents the Rwanda national team.

Club career Mickels started playing football at VSF Amern at the age of four and was then a part of the Borussia Mönchengladbach youth academy for eight years from 2005. In the 2012–13 season for the Borussia Mönchengladbach U19 team, Mickels, who had his best season yet with 17 goals and three assists, reached the semi-finals of the DFB Junior Cup, where they were eliminated on penalties against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. During the season, he also made his first appearance for the reserve team, Borussia Mönchengladbach II, in the fourth-tier Regionalliga, where he began playing permanently in the summer of 2013.

A year later, Mickels moved to Schalke 04, In pre-season, he had already successfully completed a trial practice session with 2. Bundesliga club Dynamo Dresden. In various offensive positions, Mickels remained goal-less and suffered relegation with Carl Zeiss Jena to the Regionalliga; bottom of the table.

After Mickels' contract was not renewed, he was signed by the Dutch second-tier Eerste Divisie club MVV Maastricht in late August 2020 and signed a one-year contract.

On 10 July 2022, Mickels signed a two-year contract with Azerbaijan Premier League club Sabah.

On 14 August 2023, Mickels joined Saudi First Division club Al-Faisaly.

International career On 16 March 2026, Mickels was named in Rwanda's provisional 31-man squad for their 2026 FIFA Series matches against Grenada and then either Kenya or Estonia, alongside his twin-brother Joy-Slayd and younger brother Leroy-Jacques. Mickels scored on his debut for Rwanda against Grenada on 27 March 2026.

Personal life Joy-Lance's twin brother Joy-Slayd is also a professional footballer, as is their younger brother Leroy-Jacques (b. 1995). Azerbaijan Cup: 2024–25, 2025–26

Individual Azerbaijan Premier League top goalscorer: 2025–26