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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

List Of Germany International Footballers

The Germany national football team played its first international match on 5 April 1908 during the era of the German Empire, losing 5–3 to Switzerland in Basel. The team has been one of the most successful national sides in world football. They won the World Cup in 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014, as well as the European Championship in 1972, 1980 and 1996. In doing so, twenty of its players have won both titles, and six have won gold, silver and bronze medals at the World Cup. Lothar Matthäus has played in a record 25 World Cup matches, and his participation in five World Cup tournaments is a joint record, shared with Antonio Carbajal of Mexico. Miroslav Klose is the highest goalscorer in the tournament's history with 16 goals, while Gerd Müller is third with 14. Former team captain Franz Beckenbauer is one of only three men to win the World Cup as a player and as a manager. German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner became the first ever goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in the final of a FIFA World Cup in 1990. Oliver Kahn won the golden ball award at the 2002 World Cup, thus becoming the only goalkeeper in the history of the competition to be selected as the best player of the tournament.

Matthäus was the inaugural winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1991, and is one of five Germany players to have been awarded Ballon d'Or; two of which, Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, have each won the award twice. Beckenbauer was also voted in eighth place for the FIFA Player of the Century award, and was selected for the World Team of the 20th Century. Ten German players were named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers chosen by former footballer Pelé, and ten are in the FIFA Century Club, having earned 100 or more caps. Lothar Matthäus's 150 international appearances make him the ninth-most capped player in world football, and Miroslav Klose's 71 goals is the eleventh-most of any international player.

Former captains of the national team may be awarded the title of honorary captain (German: Ehrenspielführer) by the German Football Association. To date, six former players of the men's team have received this award: Fritz Walter (1958), Uwe Seeler (1972), Franz Beckenbauer (1982), Lothar Matthäus (2001), Jürgen Klinsmann (2016) and Philipp Lahm (2017).

In total, 951 players have represented the Germany national team. This list covers players with twenty or more caps for the national team organised by the German Football Association, including West Germany. The players are initially ordered by number of caps (in descending order), then by alphabetical order of surname. All statistics are correct up to and including the match played on 26 March 2024 against Netherlands.

Selection history

Commemorative stamp for the 100th anniversary of the first German international in 1908

War and the political situation of Germany in the 20th century had an impact on the country's borders, as well as the make-up of the German football team. Germany played 30 internationals until the outbreak of the World War I, with the last match occurring on 5 April 1914 against the Netherlands. During the war, no internationals were played. In the new Weimar Republic, the team played its first post-war match on 27 June 1920 against Switzerland. Only six players that appeared before World War I returned to the post-war side: Otto Harder, Adolf Jäger, Eduard Pendorf, Hans Schmidt, Josef Schümmelfelder and Karl Wolter. After the Nazis came to power in January 1933, players of Jewish origin were banned from the team. Due to the annexation of Austria in 1938, the Austrian team was absorbed into the German team, resulting in the inclusion of several Austrians in Germany's squad at the 1938 World Cup. With the outbreak of World War II, Germany did not cease to play internationals, but was limited to facing neutral, allied and puppet states. The country played 35 internationals during the war, its last on 22 November 1942 against Slovakia.

After World War II and the team's reinstatement into FIFA, the German Football Association (DFB) was in charge of football in the Federal Republic and West Berlin. During this period, the team was commonly referred to as West Germany. The team played its first post-war international on 22 November 1950 against Switzerland. Only four players selected before the war were capped for the nation afterwards: Herbert Burdenski, Andreas Kupfer, Jakob Streitle and Fritz Walter. Due to the break-up of Germany, two breakaway national teams were formed: Saarland (in 1950) and East Germany (in 1952). Franz Immig of Saarland was the only player in either team to have been previously capped for Germany. Saarland played their final match in 1956, after which control of the Saar Protectorate was given to West Germany. Three of the Saar team's players later represented Germany: Karl Ringel, Gerhard Siedl and Heinz Vollmar. Upon Germany's reunification in 1990, the East Germany.. team was reintegrated into the Germany national team. Eight players capped for East Germany later appeared for the reunified team: Thomas Doll, Ulf Kirsten, Olaf Marschall, Matthias Sammer, Heiko Scholz, Dirk Schuster, Andreas Thom, Dariusz Wosz.

Key

Positions key
GK Goalkeeper
DF Defender
MF Midfielder
FW Forward
Player
  This colour background and the * symbol indicate that the player is currently active at the club level.
Position
Playing positions are listed according to the player's primary position while playing for the national team.
Caps and goals
Caps and goals comprise those in the qualifying and final tournaments of the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship, as well as the Summer Olympics (pre-World War II), FIFA Confederations Cup, UEFA Nations League and international friendly matches.

Players

Germany national football team players with at least 20 caps
Player Pos. Caps Goals Debut Last or most recent match Ref.
Date Opponent Date Opponent
Lothar Matthäus MF 150 23 14 June 1980  Netherlands 20 June 2000  Portugal
Miroslav Klose FW 137 71 24 March 2001  Albania 13 July 2014  Argentina
Lukas Podolski * FW 130 49 6 June 2004  Hungary 22 March 2017  England
Thomas Müller * FW 128 45 3 March 2010  Argentina 26 March 2024  Netherlands
Bastian Schweinsteiger MF 121 24 6 June 2004  Hungary 31 August 2016  Finland
Manuel Neuer * GK 117 0 2 June 2009  United Arab Emirates 01 December 2022  Costa Rica
Philipp Lahm DF 113 5 18 February 2004  Croatia 13 July 2014  Argentina
Jürgen Klinsmann FW 108 47 12 December 1987  Brazil 4 July 1998  Croatia
Toni Kroos * MF 108 17 3 March 2010  Argentina 26 March 2024  Netherlands
Jürgen Kohler DF 105 2 24 September 1986  Denmark 4 July 1998  Croatia
Per Mertesacker DF 104 4 9 October 2004  Iran 13 July 2014  Argentina
Franz Beckenbauer DF 103 14 26 September 1965  Sweden 23 February 1977  France
Thomas Häßler MF 101 11 31 August 1988  Finland 20 June 2000  Portugal
Michael Ballack MF 98 42 28 April 1999  Scotland 3 March 2010  Argentina
Berti Vogts DF 96 1 3 May 1967  Yugoslavia 21 June 1978  Austria
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge FW 95 45 6 October 1976  Wales 29 June 1986  Argentina
Sepp Maier GK 95 0 4 May 1966  Republic of Ireland 26 May 1979  Iceland
Mesut Özil MF 92 23 11 February 2009  Norway 27 June 2018  South Korea
Rudi Völler FW 90 47 17 November 1982  Northern Ireland 10 July 1994  Bulgaria
Andreas Brehme DF 86 8 15 February 1984  Bulgaria 10 July 1994  Bulgaria
Oliver Kahn GK 86 0 23 June 1995   Switzerland 8 July 2006  Portugal
Andreas Möller MF 85 29 21 September 1988  Soviet Union 9 February 1999  Colombia
Joshua Kimmich * DF 84 6 29 May 2016  Slovakia 26 March 2024  Netherlands
Arne Friedrich DF 82 1 21 August 2002  Bulgaria 3 June 2011  Austria
Wolfgang Overath MF 81 17 28 September 1963  Turkey 7 July 1974  Netherlands
Bernd Schneider MF 81 4 28 July 1999  New Zealand 6 February 2008  Austria
Karlheinz Förster DF 81 2 5 April 1978  Brazil 29 June 1986  Argentina
Torsten Frings MF 79 10 27 February 2001  France 11 February 2009  Norway
Mats Hummels * DF 78 5 13 May 2010  Malta 21 November 2023  Austria
Mario Gómez FW 78 31 7 February 2007   Switzerland 27 June 2018  South Korea
Sami Khedira MF 77 7 5 September 2009  South Africa 27 June 2018  South Korea
Guido Buchwald DF 76 4 22 May 1984  Italy 10 July 1994  Bulgaria
Jérôme Boateng * DF 76 1 10 October 2009  Russia 13 October 2018  Netherlands
Toni Schumacher GK 76 0 26 May 1979  Iceland 15 October 1986  Spain
İlkay Gündoğan * MF 75 18 11 October 2011  Belgium 26 March 2024  Netherlands
Pierre Littbarski MF 73 18 14 October 1981  Austria 8 July 1990  Argentina
Uwe Seeler FW 72 43 16 October 1954  France 9 September 1970  Hungary
Christian Ziege DF 72 9 10 June 1993  Brazil 27 May 2004  Malta
Hans-Peter Briegel MF 72 4 17 October 1979  Wales 29 June 1986  Argentina
Paul Janes DF 71 7 30 October 1932  Hungary 22 November 1942  Slovakia
Oliver Bierhoff FW 70 37 21 February 1996  Portugal 30 June 2002  Brazil
Oliver Neuville FW 69 10 2 September 1998  Malta 16 June 2008  Austria
Manfred Kaltz DF 69 8 3 September 1975  Austria 23 February 1983  Portugal
Stefan Reuter DF 69 2 18 April 1987  Italy 15 June 1998  United States
Thomas Helmer DF 68 5 10 October 1990  Sweden 29 June 1998  Mexico
Antonio Rüdiger * DF 68 3 13 May 2014  Poland 26 March 2024  Netherlands
Mario Götze * MF 66 17 17 November 2010  Sweden 25 March 2023  Peru
Horst-Dieter Höttges DF 66 1 13 March 1965  Italy 22 June 1974  East Germany
Willi Schulz DF 66 0 20 December 1959  Yugoslavia 17 June 1970  Italy
Christian Wörns DF 66 0 22 April 1992  Czechoslovakia 3 September 2005  Slovakia
Ernst Lehner FW 65 31 19 November 1933   Switzerland 1 November 1942  Croatia
Gerd Müller FW 62 68 12 October 1966  Turkey 7 July 1974  Netherlands
Thomas Berthold DF 62 1 29 January 1985  Hungary 18 December 1994  Albania
Fritz Walter MF 61 33 14 July 1940  Romania 24 June 1958  Sweden
Jens Lehmann GK 61 0 18 February 1998  Oman 29 June 2008  Spain
Leroy Sané * FW 59 13 13 November 2015  France 21 November 2023  Austria
Dietmar Hamann MF 59 5 15 November 1997  South Africa 17 August 2005  Netherlands
Andreas Köpke GK 59 0 30 May 1990  Denmark 4 July 1998  Croatia
Julian Draxler * MF 58 7 26 May 2012   Switzerland 29 March 2022  Netherlands
Leon Goretzka * MF 57 14 13 May 2014  Poland 21 November 2023  Austria
Timo Werner * FW 57 24 22 March 2017  England 28 March 2023  Belgium
André Schürrle FW 57 22 17 November 2010  Sweden 26 March 2017  Azerbaijan
Klaus Allofs FW 56 17 11 October 1978  Czechoslovakia 31 March 1988  Sweden
Jens Jeremies MF 55 1 15 November 1997  South Africa 23 June 2004  Czech Republic
Bodo Illgner GK 54 0 23 September 1987  Denmark 10 July 1994  Bulgaria
Rainer Bonhof MF 53 9 26 May 1972  Soviet Union 7 January 1981  Brazil
Bernard Dietz DF 53 0 22 December 1974  Malta 19 May 1981  Brazil
Wolfgang Weber DF 53 2 29 April 1964  Czechoslovakia 23 February 1974  Spain
Thomas Hitzlsperger MF 52 6 9 October 2004  Iran 11 August 2010  Denmark
Kevin Kurányi FW 52 19 29 March 2003  Lithuania 6 September 2008  Liechtenstein
Olaf Thon MF 52 3 16 December 1984  Malta 25 June 1998  Iran
Matthias Ginter * DF 51 2 5 March 2014  Chile 12 June 2023  Ukraine
Markus Babbel DF 51 1 22 February 1995  Spain 17 June 2000  England
Ulf Kirsten FW 51 20 14 October 1992  Mexico 20 June 2000  Portugal
Matthias Sammer MF 51 8 19 December 1990   Switzerland 7 June 1997  Ukraine
Herbert Erhardt DF 50 1 11 October 1953  Saar 30 September 1962  Yugoslavia
Niklas Süle * DF 49 1 31 August 2016  Finland 18 October 2023  Mexico
Marco Reus * FW 48 15 7 October 2011  Turkey 11 November 2021  Liechtenstein
Paul Breitner DF 48 10 22 June 1971  Norway 11 July 1982  Italy
Jens Nowotny DF 48 1 30 April 1997  Ukraine 16 August 2006  Sweden
Julian Brandt * MF 47 3 29 May 2016  Slovakia 21 November 2023  Austria
Christoph Metzelder DF 47 0 15 August 2001  Hungary 29 June 2008  Spain
Karl-Heinz Schnellinger DF 47 1 2 April 1958  Czechoslovakia 17 February 1971  Albania
Carsten Ramelow MF 46 3 10 October 1998  Turkey 28 April 2004  Romania
Serge Gnabry * FW 45 22 11 November 2016  San Marino 21 November 2023  Austria
Klaus Fischer FW 45 32 27 April 1977  Northern Ireland 11 July 1982  Italy
Marcell Jansen DF 45 3 3 September 2005  Slovakia 5 March 2014  Chile
Jürgen Grabowski FW 44 5 4 May 1966  Republic of Ireland 7 July 1974  Netherlands
Kai Havertz * MF 44 14 9 September 2018  Peru 26 March 2024  Netherlands
Benedikt Höwedes DF 44 2 29 May 2011  Uruguay 26 March 2017  Azerbaijan
Albin Kitzinger MF 44 2 25 August 1935  Romania 3 May 1942  Hungary
Andreas Kupfer DF 44 1 21 March 1937  Luxembourg 22 November 1950   Switzerland
Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck DF 44 0 12 June 1971  Albania 22 February 1978  England
Emre Can * MF 43 1 4 September 2015  Poland 12 September 2023  France
Gerald Asamoah FW 43 6 29 May 2001  Slovakia 6 September 2006  San Marino
Jonas Hector DF 43 3 14 November 2014  Gibraltar 19 November 2019  Northern Ireland
Thomas Linke DF 43 1 15 November 1997  South Africa 18 August 2004  Austria
Felix Magath MF 43 3 30 April 1977  Yugoslavia 29 June 1986  Argentina
Horst Szymaniak MF 43 2 21 November 1956   Switzerland 1 June 1966  Romania
Hansi Müller MF 42 5 5 April 1978  Brazil 7 September 1983  Hungary
Karl-Heinz Riedle FW 42 16 31 August 1988  Finland 7 September 1994  Russia
Uli Stielike MF 42 3 3 September 1975  Austria 12 September 1984  Argentina
Sigfried Held MF 41 5 23 February 1966  England 14 November 1973  Scotland
Reinhold Münzenberg DF 41 0 7 September 1930  Denmark 26 March 1939  Luxembourg
Thomas Strunz MF 41 1 10 October 1990  Sweden 8 September 1999  Northern Ireland
Marco Bode FW 40 9 15 December 1995  South Africa 30 June 2002  Brazil
Bernhard Cullmann DF 40 6 14 February 1973  Argentina 22 June 1980  Belgium
Bernd Hölzenbein FW 40 5 10 October 1973  Austria 21 June 1978  Austria
Helmut Rahn FW 40 21 21 November 1951  Turkey 27 April 1960  Portugal
Marc-André ter Stegen * GK 40 0 26 May 2012   Switzerland 24 March 2024  Netherlands
Heinz Flohe MF 39 8 22 November 1970  Greece 14 June 1978  Italy
Ludwig Goldbrunner DF 39 0 19 November 1933   Switzerland 20 October 1940  Bulgaria
Matthias Herget DF 39 4 26 October 1983  Turkey 21 September 1988  Soviet Union
Jupp Heynckes FW 39 14 22 February 1967  Morocco 17 November 1976  Czechoslovakia
Hans Schäfer FW 39 15 9 November 1952   Switzerland 10 June 1962  Yugoslavia
Hans Tilkowski GK 39 0 3 April 1957  Netherlands 8 April 1967  Albania
Hans Jakob GK 38 0 2 November 1930  Norway 24 September 1939  Hungary
Fredi Bobic FW 37 10 12 October 1994  Hungary 19 June 2004  Latvia
Jörg Heinrich MF 37 2 21 June 1995  Italy 18 May 2002  Austria
Günter Netzer MF 37 6 9 October 1965  Austria 11 October 1975  Greece
Wolfgang Rolff MF 37 0 23 February 1983  Portugal 26 April 1989  Netherlands
Sebastian Deisler MF 36 3 23 February 2000  Netherlands 1 March 2006  Italy
Mehmet Scholl MF 36 8 26 April 1995  Wales 13 February 2002  Israel
Herbert Wimmer MF 36 4 23 November 1968  Cyprus 20 June 1976  Czechoslovakia
Stefan Effenberg MF 35 5 5 June 1991  Wales 5 September 1998  Romania
Uli Hoeneß FW 35 5 29 March 1972  Hungary 17 November 1976  Czechoslovakia
Marko Rehmer DF 35 4 2 September 1998  Malta 15 November 2003  France
Piotr Trochowski MF 35 2 7 October 2006  Georgia 7 July 2010  Spain
Fritz Szepan MF 34 8 20 October 1929  Finland 22 October 1939  Bulgaria
Tim Borowski MF 33 2 21 August 2002  Bulgaria 19 June 2008  Portugal
Bernd Förster DF 33 0 22 May 1979  Republic of Ireland 20 June 1984  Spain
Helmut Haller MF 33 13 24 September 1958  Denmark 3 June 1970  Morocco
Carsten Jancker FW 33 10 14 October 1998  Moldova 16 October 2002  Faroe Islands
Horst Eckel MF 32 0 9 November 1952   Switzerland 19 November 1958  Austria
Josef Posipal DF 32 1 17 June 1951  Turkey 15 September 1956  Soviet Union
Holger Badstuber DF 31 1 29 May 2010  Hungary 25 March 2015  Australia
Dieter Eilts MF 31 0 18 December 1993  United States 7 June 1997  Ukraine
Erich Juskowiak DF 31 4 23 December 1951  Luxembourg 8 November 1959  Hungary
Sebastian Kehl MF 31 3 29 May 2001  Slovakia 8 July 2006  Portugal
Otto Siffling FW 31 17 27 May 1934  Belgium 24 April 1938  Portugal
Mario Basler MF 30 2 23 March 1994  Italy 18 November 1998  Netherlands
Sebastian Rudy MF 29 1 13 May 2014  Poland 16 November 2019  Belarus
Frank Baumann MF 28 2 14 November 1999  Norway 26 March 2005  Slovenia
Edmund Conen FW 28 27 14 January 1934  Hungary 3 May 1942  Hungary
Thilo Kehrer * DF 27 0 9 September 2018  Peru 16 June 2023  Poland
Klaus Augenthaler DF 27 0 5 October 1983  Austria 8 July 1990  Argentina
Wolfgang Dremmler MF 27 3 7 January 1981  Brazil 29 February 1984  Belgium
Jamal Musiala * MF 27 2 25 March 2021  Iceland 26 March 2024  Netherlands
Heiko Westermann DF 27 4 6 February 2008  Austria 19 November 2013  England
Karl Hohmann MF 26 20 7 September 1930  Denmark 25 June 1937  Latvia
Stanislaus Kobierski FW 26 9 27 September 1931  Denmark 5 October 1941  Finland
Reinhard Libuda FW 26 3 28 September 1963  Turkey 17 November 1971  Poland
Max Morlock FW 26 21 22 November 1950   Switzerland 28 December 1958  United Arab Republic
Simon Rolfes MF 26 2 28 March 2007  Denmark 15 November 2011  Netherlands
Albert Brülls MF 25 9 4 October 1959   Switzerland 16 July 1966  Argentina
Richard Hofmann FW 25 24 2 October 1927  Denmark 19 March 1933  France
Stefan Kuntz FW 25 6 18 December 1993  United States 11 October 1997  Albania
Hans Rohde MF 25 0 27 September 1936  Luxembourg 22 November 1942  Slovakia
Aki Schmidt MF 25 8 3 April 1957  Netherlands 7 June 1964  Finland
Erich Beer MF 24 7 17 May 1975  Netherlands 21 June 1978  Austria
Fabian Ernst MF 24 1 9 May 2002  Kuwait 22 March 2006  United States
Ludwig Leinberger MF 24 0 2 October 1927  Denmark 1 January 1933  Italy
Bernd Patzke DF 24 0 13 March 1965  Italy 25 April 1971  Turkey
Jonas Hofmann * MF 23 4 7 October 2020  Turkey 10 October 2023  Mexico
Cacau FW 23 6 29 May 2009  China 26 May 2012   Switzerland
Klaus Fichtel DF 23 1 22 February 1967  Morocco 17 November 1971  Poland
Wilhelm Hahnemann FW 23 16 4 June 1938   Switzerland 7 December 1941  Slovakia
Georg Knöpfle MF 23 0 15 April 1928   Switzerland 1 January 1933  Italy
Georg Stollenwerk DF 23 2 23 December 1951  Luxembourg 23 March 1960  Chile
Jonathan Tah * DF 23 0 26 March 2016  England 26 March 2024  Netherlands
Lukas Klostermann * DF 22 0 20 March 2019  Serbia 12 June 2023  Ukraine
Clemens Fritz DF 22 2 7 October 2006  Georgia 15 October 2008  Wales
Rudolf Gramlich MF 22 0 27 September 1931  Denmark 7 August 1936  Norway
Werner Kohlmeyer DF 22 0 17 June 1951  Turkey 30 March 1955  Italy
Steffen Freund MF 21 0 22 February 1995  Spain 27 May 1998  Finland
Fritz Herkenrath GK 21 0 26 September 1954  Belgium 24 September 1958  Denmark
Andreas Hinkel DF 21 0 30 April 2003  Serbia and Montenegro 2 June 2009  United Arab Emirates
Horst Hrubesch FW 21 6 2 April 1980  Austria 11 July 1982  Italy
Karl Mai MF 21 1 11 October 1953  Saar 20 May 1959  Poland
Bernd Schuster MF 21 4 22 May 1979  Republic of Ireland 29 February 1984  Belgium
Heinrich Stuhlfauth GK 21 0 27 June 1920   Switzerland 2 March 1930  Italy
Adolf Urban FW 21 11 18 August 1935  Luxembourg 1 November 1942  Croatia
Ottmar Walter FW 21 10 22 November 1950   Switzerland 26 May 1956  England
Robin Gosens * MF 20 2 3 September 2020  Spain 18 October 2023  Mexico
Rudolf Gellesch FW 20 1 18 August 1935  Luxembourg 5 October 1941  Finland
Ditmar Jakobs DF 20 1 13 May 1980  Poland 29 June 1986  Argentina
Hannes Löhr FW 20 5 22 February 1967  Morocco 9 September 1970  Hungary
Shkodran Mustafi * DF 20 2 13 May 2014  Poland 8 October 2017  Azerbaijan
David Raum * DF 20 0 5 September 2021  Armenia 26 March 2024  Netherlands
Rolf Rüssmann DF 20 1 30 April 1977  Yugoslavia 15 November 1978  Hungary
Toni Turek GK 20 0 22 November 1950   Switzerland 16 October 1954  France