The Most Capped German Footballers Ever

Let’s make it more clear; we’re not only going to answer the question, who is the most capped German footballer ever, but also we are to let you know about the top 10 Germany most capped players.

The list actually contains 11 players but since all of us are used to hear top 10 of something, we also follow this rule and call them

top 10 Germany most capped players

.

The List of Germany Players with the Most Caps

The list of Germany players with the most caps starts with the top and as some believe the legendary German footballer, Lothar Matthaus, but who else fill up the list of most capped German footballers ever? Stay with us to know.

Lothar Matthaus (150 Caps)

The definite answer to the question,

who is the most capped German footballer

ever, is Lothar Matthaus; the 60-year-old retired German footballer who played as a midfielder and sweeper during his career and made a total of 150 appearances for the German national team between 1980 and 2000 and scored a total of 23 goals for them which gets him an international goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.15 meaning that he scored almost one goal (exactly 0.9) in every 6 appearances that he made for his country’s national team.

Matthaus also made 4 appearances for the West Germany B team and 15 appearances for the West Germany U21 team between 1979 and 1983 scoring 1 and 2 goals for them in the process respectively. And not only with the 150 international appearances, Matthaus has the most Germany caps to his name he’s also one of the three footballers in the history of football alongside Antonio Carbajal and Rafael Marquez of Mexico to have participated in 5 World Cups, namely the 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998 editions of the competition, where he actually won the 1990 edition of the competition with his country’s national team. Matthaus is the only footballer on the list of most capped German footballers ever to have won the Ballon d’Or trophy; actually in the same year that he won the World Cup with the German national team: 1990.

Miroslav Klose (137 Caps)

Occupying the second position on the list of most capped German footballers ever, Miroslav Klose is a 43-year-old retired footballer who played for the top German club,

, and the Italian club, Lazio, for quite a time during his career. He actually made the most number of his club appearances for these two clubs with Bayern Munich getting a share of 149 and Lazio a share of 170 appearances from all the 667 appearances Klose made during his career.

Klose also made 137 caps for the German national team between 2001 and 2014, and being a striker in role, he scored 71 goals for them which translates to a little bit more than one goal (exactly 1.02) in every two appearances that he made for his country’s national team. In fact, if we were to sort the list of Germany players with the most caps based on their international goal-to-appearance ratio then Miroslav Klose would top the list since no other footballer on the list has not only a better ratio than him but also has not scored that many goals for the German national team during his career.

The truth is that not only no player on the list of top 10 Germany most capped players has scored that many goals for the German national team (71) as Miroslav Klose but also no other footballer in the history of German football. So, we should call Miroslav Klose Germany’s top scorer of all time. And that’s not the only record he holds; He’s also FIFA World Cup all-time top scorer with 16 goals and the only footballer in the history of football to have taken part in four World Cup semi-finals, namely the semi-finals of the 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 editions of the competition.

Lukas Podolski (130 Caps)

Another top German footballer on the list of most capped German footballers ever, Lukas Podolski is a 36-year-old almost retired footballer who played for top European clubs, namely Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan, sometime during his career. We say almost retired because Podolski has not retired yet as of today (July 27, 2021) and is serving the Polish club,

, though he has not made a single appearance for them yet.

However, Podolski has, for sure, retired from international football; what actually happened in March 2017 and after his last match in UEFA Euro 2016 against England. During his international career, Podolski made a total of 130 appearances for his country’s national team and scored 49 goals for them which is not a bad record and means that he scored almost two goals (exactly 1.85) in every 5 appearances that he made for them. Podolski took part in three editions of FIFA World Cup, namely the 2006, 2010, and 2014 editions of the competition, with the German national team and actually won the last one with them. He was also named FIFA World Cup Best Young Player in the 2006 edition of the competition.

Bastian Schweinsteiger (121 Caps)

One of the almost highly-decorated footballers on the list of

most capped German footballers ever

, Bastian Schweinsteiger is a 36-year-old recently retired footballer who served only three clubs during his career: Bayern Munich,

, and the American club, Chicago Fire, with Bayern Munich getting the highest share of Schweinsteiger’s years of service which was actually 14 years between 2001 and 2015 - 4 years Bayern Munich II and 10 years Bayern Munich - versus the two years that he served Manchester United and Chicago Fire each between 2015 and 2017 and 2017 and 2019 respectively.

Schweinsteiger also served the German national team between 2004 and 2016 making 121 appearances and scoring 24 goals - almost one goal in every 5 appearances - for them in the process. He also served Germany U16, U18, U19, and U21 teams between 2001 and 2004 during which he made a total of 26 appearances and scored 6 goals for them. Schweinsteiger took part in three editions of the FIFA World Cup, namely the 2006, 2010, and 2014 editions of the competition, with the German national team and actually won the last edition with them.

also finished third in the two former editions of the competition as part of the German national team. Schweinsteiger also made the most number of assists (3) in 2010 World Cup which was shared by his fellowmen, Thomas Müller and Mesut Özil, the Brazilian footballer, Kaka, and the Dutch footballer, Dirk Kuyt, in the same competition. He was also named Germany Player of the Year in the same year (2010).

Philipp Lahm (113 Caps)

Another top Bayern Munich player among the footballers with

most Germany caps

, Philipp Lahm is a 37-year-old retired footballer who is not only a product of Bayern Munich but also played for the same club for almost all his career. We say almost because Lahm actually served VfB Stuttgart two years on loan and from 2003 and 2005 which if he did not, we could say he had served Bayern for all his career.

Lahm served the German national team between 2004 and 2014 making 113 appearances and scoring 5 goals for them in the process. The number of goals he scored may look so few but don’t forget he played as a defender or defensive midfielder with fewer chances of goalscoring. He also served the German under-aged national teams including Germany U17, U18, U19, U20, and U21 teams making 20 appearances and scoring 1 goal for them - actually U19 team - between 1999 and 2003. Lahm was part of the German national team who won the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He also took part in two previous editions of the competition (2006 and 2010 World Cups) and was named on 2010 FIFA World Cup Dream Team. Although not a Ballon d’Or winner, Lahm finished 6th in the same contest in 2014.

Jurgen Klinsmann (108 Caps)

One of the legendary German footballers as some believe, Jurgen Klinsmann is a 56-year-old retired footballer who played as a forward during his career and for some top European clubs like Inter Milan,

and Bayern Munich. He also made 108 appearances for the German national team - actually both West Germany and Germany national teams - between 1987 and 1998 and scored 47 goals for them during this time which translates to a little bit more than two goals (exactly 2.15) in every 5 appearances. With that number of goals (47), he’s actually Germany’s fourth top goal scorer of all time jointly with his fellowman, Rudi Voller.

Klinsmann took part in three editions of FIFA World Cup, namely the 1990, 1994, and 1998 editions of the competition, with the German national team and actually won the first one with them. He made a total of 17 appearances in these three editions and scored 11 goals for his country’s national team which is not a bad record and has made him the sixth World Cup highest goal scorer of all time jointly with Sandor Kocsis of Hungary and the third German World Cup highest goal scorer behind his legendary fellowman, Gerd Muller, and Miroslav Klose with 14 and 16 goals respectively.

Klinsmann also served the West Germany Olympic team and West Germany U16 and U21 teams between 1980 and 1988 making 25 appearances and scoring 11 goals for them in the process. He’s the only footballer on the list of most capped German footballers ever alongside Lothar Matthaus to have been named on FIFA 100 list which is a list of the greatest living footballers in the 20th century composed by the Brazilian legend, Pele.

Toni Kroos (106 Caps)

The first footballer on the list of

most capped German footballers ever

who is still in the business, Toni Kroos is a 31-year-old midfielder who has been playing for the La Liga club,

, since 2014. He has also served Bayern Munich for seven seasons between 2007 and 2014 one season of which - actually 2009-10 season - he was on loan to Bayer Leverkusen.

Although Kroos has not still retired from club football, he has from the international one. His retirement actually took place in June 2021 where his country’s national team lost 2-0 to England in Euro 2020 round of 16. During the time Kroos served Germany, which is actually between 2010 and 2020, he made a total of 106 appearances and scored 17 goals for them making him the 7th footballer with most Germany caps jointly with his fellowman, Thomas Muller, who has made the same number of appearances for the German national team.

Although Kroos has not still retired from club football, he has from the international one. His retirement actually took place in June 2021 where his country’s national team lost 2-0 to England in Euro 2020 round of 16. During the time Kroos served Germany, which is actually between 2010 and 2020, he made a total of 106 appearances and scored 17 goals for them making him the 7th footballer with most Germany caps jointly with his fellowman, Thomas Muller, who has made the same number of appearances for the German national team.

Thomas Muller (106 Caps)

Sharing the 7th position on the list of most capped German footballers ever with Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller is a 31-year-old forward and attacking midfielder who has played only for one club since the start of his career in 2008: Bayern Munich or better said Bayern Munich II - for one season - and Bayern Munich since 2008. So, if he doesn’t change clubs in the future, he will be the only one-club man on the list. Muller has made a total of 616 appearances for Bayern Munich to this date across all competitions and has scored 230 goals for them which translates to almost two goals (exactly 1.85) in every 5 appearances.

And for the German national team, Muller has made a total of 106 appearances and scored 39 goals which again translates to almost two goals (exactly 1.8) in every 5 appearances. We say “to this date” because unlike the other footballers already mentioned on the list, Muller has not yet retired from international football. So, probably, he will make more appearances for the German national team in the future and improve his position on the list of

Germany players with the most caps

which we will surely update you with.

In fact, Muller and his fellowmen, Manuel Neuer and Toni Kroos, are the only footballers on the list who have not yet retired. Muller actually took part in 3 editions of World cup, namely the 2010, 2014, and 2018 editions of the competition, with the German national team finishing third in the first one and winning the second one with them. He’s also one of the highly decorated footballers on the list with some of his individual honors being FIFA World Cup Silver Boot and Silver Ball in 2014 and FIFA World Cup Golden Boot and the best young player of the tournament in 2010.

Jurgen Kohler (105 Caps)

Only one cap behind Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller on the list of most capped German footballers ever, Jurgen Kohler is one of those top former German defenders who made a total of 105 appearances for the

between 1986 and 1998 and scored two goals for them during this time. He also served West Germany U18 and U21 teams between 1983 and 1987 making 19 appearances and scoring one goal for them - actually for the West Germany U18 team - in the process.

During his club career, Kohler served some top European clubs like Bayern Munich and

and made a total of 500 appearances for all the clubs he served during his career. He also took part in three editions of FIFA World Cup, namely the 1990, 1994, and 1998 editions of the competition, and actually won the former (1990 World Cup) with them. From among all the appearances Kohler made for the German national team (105) 13 were at World Cup competitions which actually comprise 12.3% of all his international appearances. He also won one UEFA European Championship with his country’s national team in 1996 and finished as runners-up with them in the 1992 edition of the competition.

Per Mertesacker (104 Caps)

Another defender - actually center back - on the list of

most capped German footballers ever

, Per Mertesacker is a 36-year-old retired footballer who played for only two clubs, namely his home-country club, Werder Bremen, and the English club, Arsenal, for the majority of his career; actually for 12 years of his 15-year-career. And the rest? He played for Hannover 96; the club he was a product of.

also served the German national team between 2004 and 2014 and made a total of 104 appearances and scored 4 goals for them during this time. He actually took part in three editions of FIFA World Cup, namely the 2006, 2010, and the 2014 editions of the competition, with the German national team winning the last one with them. He also served Germany U20 and U21 teams between 2003 and 2004 making 5 appearances for them in the process.

From among all the 104 appearances Mertesacker made for the German national team 19 were at World Cup competitions which comprise 18.2% of all his international appearances. Among the most capped German footballers, Mertesacker is actually the lowest decorated one: He has won only five club trophies with Arsenal and has one individual honor to his name which is actually being named on Bundesliga Team of the Season in 2007-08 season.

Manuel Neuer (104 Caps)

The only goalkeeper on the list of most capped German footballers ever and also another footballer on the list who is still in the business,

is a 35-year-old goalkeeper who is not only considered as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, but as some believe, one of the best goalkeepers in the history of football. He currently captains both the Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, and the German national team; the fact that shows his high importance in both teams. You know that’s a rare occasion that a goalkeeper captains both a top club and his country’s national team at the same time.

Neuer has been serving the German national team since 2009 - 12 years by now - and during this time has made a total of 104 appearances for them across several international competitions including 2010, 2014, and 2018 World Cups which he actually won the second one (2014 World Cup) with his country’s national team. He was also named on the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team and FIFA World Cup Dream Team and won the Golden Glove of the same World Cup.

Neuer also served Germany U18, U19, U20, and U21 teams between 2004 and 2009 making 36 appearances for them in the process. He has a number of individual honors to his name some of which are Best European Goalkeeper in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2020, German National Player of the Year in 2020, and IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper of the Decade; actually the past decade (2010 to 2020).

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