Bundesliga

2022-06-01T20:40:00Z

Bayern Munich's all-time top goalscorers

Robert Lewandowski features alongside Müllers Gerd and Thomas on the podium of Bayern Munich's all-time leading scorers.
Robert Lewandowski features alongside Müllers Gerd and Thomas on the podium of Bayern Munich's all-time leading scorers.

To be as successful as Bayern Munich, you need some reliable goalscorers. The record German champions have had two of the best ever in Robert Lewandowski and Gerd Müller, but who else is in the Bavarian giants' all-time top 10?

bundesliga.com takes you through the six-time European champions' most successful goalscorers…

1) Gerd Müller

Goals: 523
Games: 580
Minutes per goal: 100

One of the greatest strikers the world has ever seen, Gerd Müller was synonymous with both Bayern and West Germany's success in the 1960s and 1970s. The future Ballon d'Or winner was approaching his 19th birthday when he joined the club in 1964, and the man who became known as Der Bomber sniffed out goal after goal over the next 15 seasons. Müller found the net 33 times in his first year as Bayern won promotion to the Bundesliga, and the stocky, poacher supreme continued at a similar rate throughout his career. He won the Torjägerkanone as the German top flight's leading scorer seven times - sharing the prize twice - between 1967 and 1978. The UEFA Euro 1972 and 1974 FIFA World Cup winner hit 30 or more Bundesliga goals in a campaign on five occasions, and set a single-season record that stood for 49 years by registering 40 league goals in 1971/72. A four-time Bundesliga and four-time DFB Cup champion, he also lifted the European Cup three times with Bayern between 1974 and 1976 - scoring in the first two finals. Müller is still the all-time top goalscorer in Bundesliga history, having scored 365 goals in 427 league matches.

2) Robert Lewandowski

Goals: 344
Games: 375
Minutes per goal: 92

Named the best player in the world in 2020 and 2021, Lewandowski is another once-in-a-generation forward. While he is unlikely to reach Müller's overall mark with Bayern, the Polish superstar has been regularly hunting down his predecessor's records since arriving in Germany from Lech Poznan in 2010. Lewandowski netted 103 times in 187 games for Borussia Dortmund before joining Bayern in 2014, and since then he has improved with each passing year. The 33-year-old has scored 30 league goals or more in five of his seasons in Germany - getting five in nine minutes against Wolfsburg in 2015 - with his most spectacular campaign to date coming in 2020/21. Poland's leading goalscorer not only topped the scoring charts in the Bundesliga for a sixth time that year, but he also beat Müller's single-season record by getting a 41st goal of the campaign late in the very last game against Augsburg. Lewandowski also got 15 Champions League goals in 2019/20 as Bayern were kings of Europe for a sixth time, driving the record German champions on to win an incredible sextuple of trophies that culminated in FIFA Club World Cup success against Tigres in February 2021. A complete striker constantly refining his game to get an edge on his opponents, the Bundesliga's record foreign goalscorer has been week-by-week edging closer to Gerd Müller's all-time milestone.

Watch: Robert Lewandowski's 312 Bundesliga goals

3) Thomas Müller

Goals: 227
Games: 625
Minutes per goal: 205

A one-club man with well over 100 caps for his country, Müller has been perfecting the knack of ghosting into goalscoring positions since his first-team debut in August 2008. His first two goals for the club - fittingly against rivals Dortmund - came in a 5-1 rout in September 2009. The 2014 World Cup winner finished that maiden season as a first-team regular with an astonishing 13 goals and 11 assists, figures the charismatic attacking midfielder would often replicate throughout his career. The self-styled  Raumdeuter (space interpreter) has proven elusive for defences to get to grips with, constantly timing his runs perfectly to be in the right place at the right time before applying the right finish. He often delivers in the biggest games too, having scored - for example - eight goals against Barcelona. He netted in both legs of Bayern's Champions League semi-final matches against them in 2012/13 and again in the incredible 8-2 victory in the 2019/20 quarter-final. In both seasons, Müller finished as a European champion and a treble winner, part of his incredible haul of trophies that includes a record 11 Bundesliga titles, plus six DFB Cups, that make him the most decorated player in German football history.

Watch: Thomas Müller's Bundesliga mixtape

4) Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Goals: 217
Games: 422
Minutes per goal: 168

Rummenigge played a huge part in Bayern's success as vice-president and then CEO between 1991 and 2021, but as a player he was equally important. He joined the club in 1974, meaning he was part of the squad for two of their three successive European Cup triumphs. As stars like Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller grew older, the pacy and direct attacker became more prominent. He topped the Bundesliga scoring chart in both 1979/80 (26 goals) and 1980/81 (29 goals) - the two years Bayern won the league title while he was at the club. The European Footballer of the Year in 1980 and 1981, Rummenigge was strong with both feet and capable of playing in any forward position. That meant the UEFA Euro 1980 winner, two-time World Cup runner-up and former West Germany captain could threaten from any angle, something he did regularly with Bayern. After lifting the DFB Cup trophy for a second time and finishing as the Bundesliga's leading goalscorer for a third season - with 26 goals in 1983/84 - he eventually left for Inter Milan for a then club record fee that helped sort Bayern's finances.

Watch: Rummenigge's top 5 Bayern goals

5) Rainer Ohlhauser

Goals: 167
Games: 300
Minutes per goal: 163

Overshadowed by more famous teammates like Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier and Gerd Müller, Ohlhauser was a major player in Bayern's rise to the top of the Bundesliga and the world game. He played for the club between 1961 and 1970, a period which incorporated their promotion to the top flight in 1965, three DFB Cup wins, a first European trophy and a maiden Bundesliga title in 1968/69. Ohlhauser, who regularly played alongside Müller in attack before dropping deeper later in his career, got Bayern's first ever Bundesliga goal in a 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 2 of the 1965/66 season. He finished with 60 top-flight goals in 160 Bundesliga games, scoring 10 times and getting six assists in 1968/69. He also got on the scoresheet in the cup final in both 1966 and 1967, as well as starting as Bayern beat Rangers 1-0 after extra-time to win the 1966/67 European Cup Winners' Cup final.

Rainer Ohlhauser (c.) and Gerd Müller (r.) were often celebrating Bayern Munich goals together in the 1960s.

6) Roland Wohlfarth

Goals: 155
Games: 332
Minutes per goal: 170

Wohlfarth is not the most familiar name on the list but he is in the record books as one of only six players to have scored over 150 goals for Bayern. He moved to Munich from Duisburg in 1984, and the striker showed impressive staying power - despite fierce competition - to remain with the club until 1993. He left for French side Saint-Etienne having won five league titles between 1984 and 1990, as well as the DFB Cup in 1985/86 when he scored a hat-trick in a 5-2 final success against VfB Stuttgart. Wohlfarth had arrived at Bayern as the 1983/84 Bundesliga 2 top goalscorer, and he got 12 of his 120 Bundesliga goals for the record German champions in his first season there. The club signed new forwards almost every season, but Wohlfarth dug in to become the league's joint-top scorer with 17 goals in 1988/89 before netting 21 times in 1990/91 to take the prize for himself.

Roland Wohlfarth (l.) got 10 or more goals with Bayern Munich in eight Bundesliga seasons.

7) Dieter Hoeneß

Goals: 145
Games: 302
Minutes per goal: 167

Uli Hoeneß is the more famous sibling, and the more successful internationally having won three European Cups with Bayern as well as the European Championship and World Cup with West Germany in the 1970s. The former club president is only 14th on the list of all-time scorers, however, having ended his career with 112 goals in 339 appearances. Younger brother Dieter, meanwhile, netted 145 times in 302 matches across all competitions. Having joined from Stuttgart in the summer of 1979, he got 16 goals to lead Bayern to the 1979/80 league title. They were champions again the following year but 21 goals from Hoeneß only got Bayern a third-place finish in 1981-82. DFB Cup victory in that campaign provided some consolation, when both he and Rummenigge scored in a final win over Nuremberg. Particularly strong in the air, Hoeneß won five Bundesliga titles in total as well as three DFB Cup trophies during the 1980s. He retired after the 1986/87 campaign, during which he helped Bayern become Bundesliga champions again and reach the European Cup final. Hoeneß was also part of the West Germany team that reached the 1986 World Cup final, while his son Sebastian has also coached Hoffenheim and the Bayern reserves.

Dieter Hoeneß lifted the German league title in 195/86 - as his retired brother Uli (l.) watched on.

8) Arjen Robben

Goals: 144
Games: 309
Minutes per goal: 153

A lot of defenders knew what Robben was planning when he got possession in a certain area, but they could still do nothing about it. The scene played out dozens of times during the former Netherlands international’s stay in Germany between 2009 and 2019, when he'd cut in off the right wing and curl a shot left-footed into the far corner of the net. While that was the dazzling wide man’s trademark goal, he scored plenty of others too. Robben's speed on the pitch was only matched by his speed of thought, and the ex-PSV, Chelsea and Real Madrid winger won league titles in four different countries. The flying Dutchman collected a total of 20 trophies at Bayern, including eight Bundesliga medals. He was a key part of the treble-winning side in 2012/13 that had Franck Ribery - 11th on Bayern's all-time goalscoring list with 124 goals - positioned on the opposite wing. Along with Thomas Müller, the pair destroyed Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals, with Robben on target in both legs of the 7-0 aggregate success. His most memorable Bayern goal, however, came in an all-German decider at Wembley. Robben got free in the 89th-minute to slip the ball home and give his side a 2-1 win over old rivals Dortmund.

Watch: Arjen Robben's top 5 goals

9) Giovane Elber

Goals: 139
Games: 266
Minutes per goal: 144

A prolific goalscorer with Stuttgart before he joined Bayern in 1997, Elber won four Bundesliga titles with the club. A lethal finisher with either foot, he was the joint-top goalscorer in the German top flight in 2002/03 - one of two seasons in which he won a league and cup double with the Bavarians. Equally likely to find the net with a header, an acrobatic volley or a cheeky backheel, the inventive ex-Brazil international's most famous Bundesliga goal came in February 1999 against Hansa Rostock. After dispossessing the goalkeeper by the corner flag, Elber then whipped the ball home from an incredibly tight angle. His crowning glory with Bayern, though, came in the 2000/01 Champions League. Bayern became European champions for a fourth time after beating Valencia on penalties, with Elber contributing six goals along the way. He scored in a quarter-final win over Manchester United and in two victories over Real Madrid in the last four.

Claudio Pizarro and Giovane Elber (l-r.) were both prolific in Bayern colours.

10) Claudio Pizarro

Goals: 125
Games: 327
Minutes per goal: 161

The Bundesliga's record foreign goalscorer until a certain Polish striker came along, Pizarro tormented top-flight German defences for over 20 years. As well as enjoying five spells with Werder Bremen and a short stint with Cologne late in his career, the Peruvian also spent two fruitful periods with Bayern between 2001 and 2007 and 2012 and 2015. He hit double figures in the Bundesliga in six of his eight seasons in Munich - playing alongside Elber first time around - and won three Bundesliga titles in each of his two periods there. A sturdy frontman who was dangerous with his left and right foot as well as inside and outside the penalty box, the former Chelsea player also helped Bayern complete a league, cup and Champions League treble in 2012/13. That season, he scored a hat-trick against Lille in Europe as well as four goals in a 9-2 hammering of his old club Bremen’s northern rivals Hamburg.  Named an official Bayern ambassador in 2020, Pizarro joined the Bundesliga Legends Network a year later.

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