List of Germany international footballers

This page lists men's footballers with 20 or more caps for Germany. For fewer appearances, see players with 1–4 and 5–19 caps. For the current national team squad, see Germany national football team § Players. For players of the women's national team, see List of Germany women's international footballers.

Lothar Matthäus earned 150 caps for Germany, a team record, and went to nine major international tournaments, captaining the 1990 World Cup-winning team.

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.[1][2] 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.[3] 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.[4] Miroslav Klose is the highest goalscorer in the tournament's history with 16 goals, while Gerd Müller is third with 14.[4] Former team captain Franz Beckenbauer is one of only three men to win the World Cup as a player and as a manager.[5] German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner became the first ever goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in the final of a FIFA World Cup in 1990.[6] 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.[7]

Matthäus was the inaugural winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1991,[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] Ten German players were named in the FIFA 100,[11] 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.[12] 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.[13]

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).[14]

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.

  1. ^ Schweiz – Deutschland 5 April 1908 Archived 29 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine Fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 14 May 2009
  2. ^ "DFB – Alle Spiele der Nationalmannschaft im Jahr 1908". German Football Association. Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  3. ^ "FIFA.com – Germany: country information". FIFA. Archived from the original on 4 June 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  4. ^ a b "FIFA World Cup Superlatives" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  5. ^ "Franz Beckenbauer". FIFA. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  6. ^ "West Germany's 1990 winners in numbers". FIFA. Archived from the original on 18 May 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Oliver Kahn wins adidas Golden Ball Award for the 2002 FIFA World Cup". FIFA. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  8. ^ "FIFA World Player of the Year – Previous Winners". FIFA. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  9. ^ "France Football – Ballon d'Or – Palmares". France Football (in French). Archived from the original on 14 November 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  10. ^ Hughes, Rob (10 June 1998). "A Wave of Enthusiasm for the Lingua Franca of Kicking a Ball : From Pele and the Streets, Hope". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  11. ^ "FIFA names greatest list". BBC. 4 March 2004. Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  12. ^ "FIFA Century Club (Men)" (PDF). FIFA. 25 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  13. ^ "Players with 100+ caps and 30+ international goals". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  14. ^ "Ehrenspielführer". German Football Association. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.