German Sports Legends
The greatest german sports people of all time — across 13 sports.
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⚽ Football
German
Per Mertesacker
Centre Back
Towering German centre-back whose intelligence, positioning and leadership compensated for his lack …
German
Kai Havertz
Forward / Attacking Midfielder
Elegant German forward who scored the winning goal in the Champions League final for Chelsea before …
German
Timo Werner
Forward
Rapid German forward whose pace and movement caused havoc, though his finishing was often scrutinise…
German
Sami Khedira
Midfielder
Box-to-box German midfielder who won the World Cup and enjoyed success at both Real Madrid and Juven…
German
Joshua Kimmich
Right Back / Midfielder
Supremely versatile German star equally at home at right-back or in midfield, whose intelligence and…
German
Leon Goretzka
Midfielder
Powerful German box-to-box midfielder whose physical transformation and all-round ability have been …
German
Serge Gnabry
Winger
Explosive German winger who overcame a difficult spell at Arsenal to become one of Bayern Munich's m…
German
Gerd Müller
Centre Forward
Der Bomber — Germany's World Cup winner and Bayern Munich legend whose 365 Bundesliga goals were a r…
German
Franz Beckenbauer
Sweeper/Defender
Der Kaiser — German footballer and manager who won the World Cup both as player (1974) and manager (…
German
Miroslav Klose
Centre Forward
The FIFA World Cup's all-time leading scorer with 16 goals — Germany's World Cup winner in 2014 and …
German
Thomas Müller
Forward
Bayern Munich's legendary "Raumdeuter" (space interpreter) — World Cup winner and one of football's …
German
Manuel Neuer
Goalkeeper
Bayern Munich's sweeper-keeper who redefined the position with his ability to play as an additional …
German
Michael Ballack
Midfielder
Germany's most important player of his generation — four Bundesliga titles and a World Cup Final run…
German
Marco Reus
Attacking Midfielder/Forward
The most beloved one-club man in modern football — Borussia Dortmund's captain through two decades.…
German
Mesut Özil
Attacking Midfielder
The World Cup winner with the most beautiful assist record — Germany's most controversial modern foo…
German
Toni Kroos
Midfielder
The most accurate passer in football history — four Champions Leagues and a World Cup with metronomi…
German
Philipp Lahm
Full-back/Midfielder
Germany's World Cup-winning captain — the most intelligent full-back in football history.…
German
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Midfielder
Germany's World Cup-winning midfielder — the bloodied face that defined the 2014 Final.…
German
Mario Götze
Attacking Midfielder/Forward
The substitute who scored the greatest goal in World Cup Final history — and then struggled to follo…
German
Jérôme Boateng
Centre-back
World Cup-winning defender and Bayern Munich's most decorated centre-back of the modern era.…
German
Mats Hummels
Centre-back
World Cup winner and three-time Bundesliga champion — Germany's finest defensive reader of the game.…
German
Florian Wirtz
Attacking Midfielder
Germany's most gifted teenager since Müller — Bundesliga champion and the European Championship's st…
German
Jamal Musiala
Attacking Midfielder
Bambi — the most naturally gifted German since Özil, balancing English and German identity.…
German
İlkay Gündoğan
Midfielder
Manchester City's captain in the Treble season — scored both goals in the cup final that completed t…
German
Marc-André ter Stegen
Goalkeeper
Barcelona's goalkeeper who may be the best in the world — perpetually behind Neuer in the Germany qu…
German
Leroy Sané
Winger
PFA Young Player of the Year at City — Germany's electric winger of a new generation.…
German
Antonio Rüdiger
Centre-back
The most aggressive modern defender — Chelsea's Champions League winner who became Madrid's defensiv…
German
Oliver Kahn
Goalkeeper
The Titan — Germany's greatest goalkeeper and the only keeper to win the Golden Ball at a World Cup.…
German
Jürgen Klinsmann
Forward
The diving Klinsmann — 1990 World Cup winner who reinvented German football as a manager.…
German
Birgit Prinz
Centre Forward
Germany's greatest striker and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year — scored 128 international g…
German
Nadine Angerer
Goalkeeper
The finest goalkeeper in the history of women's football — FIFA World Player of the Year 2013, Women…
🏀 Basketball
German
Satou Sabally
Forward / Guard
Versatile German forward whose NBA-level brand appeal, elite scoring and global platform have made h…
German
Dirk Nowitzki
Power Forward
The greatest European player in NBA history — spent all 21 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and led…
German
Detlef Schrempf
Power Forward/Small Forward
The most successful German NBA player before Dirk Nowitzki — a three-time All-Star and two-time Sixt…
German
Detlef Schrempf Extra
Small Forward/Power Forward
The most complete European player before Dirk Nowitzki — three-time All-Star and two-time Sixth Man …
German
Franz Wagner
Small Forward
The most complete young German player since Dirk Nowitzki — Orlando's co-star and an elite two-way w…
🎾 Tennis
German
Alexander Zverev
Singles
Germany's top men's player and 2020 ATP Finals champion and Olympic gold medallist.…
German
Angelique Kerber
Singles
Three-time Grand Slam champion and Olympic gold medallist who ended Germany's long wait for a women'…
German
Steffi Graf
Professional Tennis Player
The only player to achieve the Golden Slam — all four Grand Slams and Olympic gold in the same year …
German
Boris Becker
Professional Tennis Player
Wimbledon's youngest ever champion (aged 17) who won six Grand Slams and embodied 1980s tennis glamo…
⛷️ Winter Sports
German
Felix Loch
Luge
German luge legend who is the most successful luge athlete in Olympic and World Championship history…
German
Georg Hackl
Luge
German luge legend nicknamed 'Hacki' who won three consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1992 to 2002…
German
Katarina Witt
Figure Skater
Two Olympic gold medals — the most glamorous and commercially successful figure skater of the Cold W…
German
Claudia Pechstein
Speed Skater
Nine Olympic medals and the most decorated Winter Olympian in German history — Claudia Pechstein com…
🏎️ Formula 1
German
Ralf Schumacher
Driver
German driver and younger brother of Michael Schumacher who competed throughout the late 1990s and 2…
German
Michael Schumacher
Racing Driver
Seven-time World Champion and the most statistically successful driver in F1 history.…
German
Sebastian Vettel
Racing Driver
Four-time World Champion who dominated F1 with Red Bull and became a leading environmentalist after …
🏒 Ice Hockey
German
Tim Stützle
Centre
German Ottawa Senators centre who became the third overall pick in the 2020 Draft and has developed …
German
Moritz Seider
Defenceman
German Detroit Red Wings defenceman and 2021 Calder Trophy winner whose exceptional skating, physica…
German
Leon Draisaitl
Centre/Left Wing
The greatest German player in NHL history — Art Ross winner and Hart Trophy recipient.…
🏓 Table Tennis
German
Patrick Franziska
Professional Table Tennis Player
German table tennis champion whose reliable performances, powerful forehand and consistent world ran…
German
Timo Boll
Table Tennis Player
The most successful European table tennis player of the 21st century — world number one, multiple Eu…
German
Dimitrij Ovtcharov
Table Tennis Player
Germany's most decorated table tennis player of the modern era — Olympic bronze medallist twice, Eur…
🏁 Motorsport
🏊 Swimming
German
Michael Gross
Freestyle/Butterfly Swimmer
The Albatross — two Olympic golds at Los Angeles 1984 and a 2.21m wingspan that gave him a unique ph…
German
Kornelia Ender
Swimmer (Freestyle/Butterfly)
The most dominant swimmer of the 1976 Montreal Olympics — four gold medals in a single Games, Ender'…