The Most Famous

Soccer Players from Germany

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This page contains a list of the greatest Germans Soccer Players. The pantheon dataset contains 21,273 Soccer Players, 1,013 of which were born in Germany. This makes Germany the birth place of the 6th most number of Soccer Players behind Spain and France.

Top 10 German Soccer Players

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Germans Soccer Players of all time. This list of famous Germans Soccer Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Germans Soccer Players.

  1. #1
    Photo of Franz Beckenbauer

    Franz Beckenbauer

    1945 - 2024

    HPI 83.5497 langs
    Franz Beckenbauer is most famous for being a German footballer who played as a sweeper. He is also the only person to win the World Cup as...Read moreShow less

    Franz Beckenbauer is most famous for being a German footballer who played as a sweeper. He is also the only person to win the World Cup as captain and coach.

  2. #2
    Photo of Gerd Müller

    Gerd Müller

    1945 - 2021

    HPI 83.2585 langs
    Gerd Müller is most famous for being the all-time leading goalscorer for the German national team. He scored 68 goals in 62 games for his...Read moreShow less

    Gerd Müller is most famous for being the all-time leading goalscorer for the German national team. He scored 68 goals in 62 games for his country.

  3. #3
    Photo of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

    Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

    b. 1955

    HPI 74.2855 langs

    Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is most famous for being a German football player and the current chairman of the European Club Association.

  4. #4
    Photo of Lothar Matthäus

    Lothar Matthäus

    b. 1961

    HPI 73.7676 langs
    Lothar Matthäus is most famous for being a German football player and manager. He played in the German Bundesliga for Bayern Munich,...Read moreShow less

    Lothar Matthäus is most famous for being a German football player and manager. He played in the German Bundesliga for Bayern Munich, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and 1. FC Köln, and was captain of the West German national team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the European Championship in 1980.

  5. #5
    Photo of Oliver Kahn

    Oliver Kahn

    b. 1969

    HPI 72.3475 langs
    Oliver Kahn is a German football player who is most famous for being the goalkeeper for Germany's national team during the 2002 FIFA World...Read moreShow less

    Oliver Kahn is a German football player who is most famous for being the goalkeeper for Germany's national team during the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

  6. #6
    Photo of Uwe Seeler

    Uwe Seeler

    1936 - 2022

    HPI 72.1451 langs
    Uwe Seeler is a retired German footballer and coach who played for Hamburger SV and the West German national team. He is the only player to...Read moreShow less

    Uwe Seeler is a retired German footballer and coach who played for Hamburger SV and the West German national team. He is the only player to have won the European Cup (now called the Champions League) four times, and he is one of three players to have won eight German championships.

  7. #7
    Photo of Fritz Walter

    Fritz Walter

    1920 - 2002

    HPI 71.7653 langs

    Fritz Walter is most famous for being the captain of the West German team that won the 1954 World Cup.

  8. #8
    Photo of Paul Breitner

    Paul Breitner

    b. 1951

    HPI 71.4357 langs

    Paul Breitner is most famous for being a German football player. He was a member of the West German team that won the 1974 World Cup.

  9. #9
    Photo of Rudi Völler

    Rudi Völler

    b. 1960

    HPI 70.5155 langs

    Rudi Völler is most famous for being a German football player who played for West Germany in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups.

  10. #10
    Photo of Jürgen Klinsmann

    Jürgen Klinsmann

    b. 1964

    HPI 69.9369 langs
    Jürgen Klinsmann is most famous for being the head coach of the German national football team from 2004 to 2006 and the United States...Read moreShow less

    Jürgen Klinsmann is most famous for being the head coach of the German national football team from 2004 to 2006 and the United States national football team from 2011 to 2016.

People by Birth Decade

Browse notable Germans Soccer Players grouped by birth decade. Each decade shows the top 10 by HPI; expand to see everyone.

1870s(1)

Overlapping Lives

Which Soccer Players were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 25 most globally memorable Soccer Players since 1700.

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