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Bayern Munich’s top 15 German internationals of all time

By Benjamin Scott

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JULY 13: Philipp Lahm of Germany holds the trophy during the 2014 World Cup final match between Germany and Argentina at The Maracana Stadium on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JULY 13: Philipp Lahm of Germany holds the trophy during the 2014 World Cup final match between Germany and Argentina at The Maracana Stadium on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /
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Munich has been home to some of the greatest ever German internationals, but which Bayern Munich star has been his nation’s best?

The World Cup starts in just a few days, and — as usual — Bayern Munich will once again be well represented at the tournament. The German national team, in particular, will be comprised of several Bayern stars.

Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng and Co. are fantastic players for their national squad, but where do they rank among the greatest ever German internationals?

Here’s a not-so-definitive ranking of the top 15 German internationals from Bayern Munich.

*Note: This list incorporates players from both West Germany and unified Germany, and is based upon the players’ performance for country, not club.

Miroslav Klose just misses the list, having spent most of his career outside of Munich. (Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images)
Miroslav Klose just misses the list, having spent most of his career outside of Munich. (Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images) /

Honorable mentions

Limiting this list to merely 15 people was no easy task. Bayern have had some extraordinary German talent throughout the years. To help narrow it down a bit and create a more fair criteria, any player on this list has to have played more games for Bayern Munich than any other club.

Because of this, a few big names missed the cut. Most notably, legendary strikers Jurgen Klinsmann and Miroslav Klose don’t make the list. Two of the greatest German strikers to play for the Nationalelf, both found better fortunes away from Bavaria than they did playing with die Roten.

Defenders Jurgen Kohler and Andreas Brehme are also excluded from this top 15, spending the majority of their careers at other German clubs. Any potential of Mats Hummels making the cut is also thrown out the window. Lastly, an honorable mention should be given to Lukas Podolski. I’m not entirely sure Poldi would have made his way onto the list anyway, but he deserves a mention nonetheless.

As for players who did spend the majority of their career in Bavaria but still fall short of this top 15, look no further than Mehmet Scholl and Stefan Effenberg. Both are great players, but not quite good enough to displace any of the other names on this list. The former misses out due to the many unfortunate injuries that plagued him throughout his career. The latter dodged his place on the list thanks to his antics that prevented him from playing on the national team for much of his career.

Finally, a special mention should go to Bayern Munich legend Klaus Augenthaler, who won the World Cup with West Germany in 1990. His performances for club overshadow those for country, but he was an excellent Bayern representative with die Nationalmannschaft for several years.

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