The substitute who scored the greatest goal in World Cup Final history — and then struggled to follow it.
Mario Götze was born in Memmingen, Germany in 1992. Borussia Dortmund developed him into the most technically gifted German footballer of his generation. Bayern Munich paid £31 million for him in 2013. He won the Champions League Treble in his first Bayern season. In extra time of the 2014 World Cup Final — with Germany and Argentina level at 0-0 — Germany manager Joachim Löw sent him on and whispered go on and show the world that you are better than Messi. He scored the only goal with a chest control and volleyed finish in the 113th minute that won Germany the World Cup. The goal is considered the greatest scored in a World Cup Final. The subsequent pressure of that expectation combined with a metabolic disorder that caused him to gain weight and lose pace disrupted his career significantly. He returned to Dortmund, moved to the Netherlands where he helped PSV win the Eredivisie, and rebuilt his career at Frankfurt. His story — defined by one moment of perfection followed by years of struggling to match it — is football's most poignant individual narrative of the decade.
World Cup (2014)
Career Honours
- World Cup (2014)
- Bundesliga 4x
- Champions League (2013)
- Eredivisie (2023)