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.
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, where he played for the reserve team, Schalke 04 II. During his two seasons there, he scored nine goals and made three assists in 43 Regionalliga games. Mickels continued his career in the Regionalliga West for the 2016–17 season at Alemannia Aachen.
In the summer of 2017, Mickels moved to Regionalliga Nordost club Wacker Nordhausen. In his first season, he became a regular starter, and with six goals and twelve assists had a large share in the club finishing runners-up. The following season, Wacker finished in third place in the league table and won the Thuringian Cup. Mickels largely missed the first half of the 2019–20 season due to a knee injury and then made two appearances for the reserve side in the NOFV-Oberliga.
After Wacker Nordhausen filed for bankruptcy and many players left the club, Mickels moved to 3. Liga club FC Carl Zeiss Jena in late January 2020, with whom he received a contract valid until the end of the season. 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.
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.
Joy-Lance's twin brother Joy-Slayd is also a professional footballer, as is their younger brother Leroy-Jacques (b. 1995). The three brothers, whose father is from Rwanda and mother come from the DR Congo, played together at the under-19 level for Borussia Mönchengladbach.
| Season | Team | Competition | Apps | St | Min | G | A | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-2027 | Sabah Baku |
UEFA Champions League | 11 | 10 | 900 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 11 | 10 | 900 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
