The Bundesliga's generational talent

Franz and Stephan Beckenbauer

The late, great Franz Beckenbauer - a Bayern Munich legend, FIFA World Cup and two-time Ballon D'or winner, amongst countless other accolades - hardly needs an introduction, but few will be aware that his son Stephan made 12 Bundesliga appearances for Saarbrücken in 1992/93. That was his one and only campaign in the top flight before he went on to spend 17 years as a scout and youth coach at Bayern, before sadly passing away in 2015.

Claudio and Gio Reyna

Claudio Reyna moved to Europe from the U.S.A in 1994 following the World Cup in his homeland and would spend the next five years in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg. Indeed, he became the first American to captain a European team with the latter. Twenty-one years after his father's departure from Germany in 1999, Gio made his debut for Borussia Dortmund and became the youngest American to play for BVB as well as the DFB Cup's youngest-ever goalscorer. Reyna junior has racked up 146 appearances, and counting, for the Black-and-Yellows. 

Watch: the best of Gio Reyna at BVB

Rolf and Oliver Kahn

Midfielder Rolf Kahn made 11 appearances for Karlsruhe across two seasons, with the first 10 coming in the maiden Bundesliga season of 1963/64. However, it was his son Oliver who enjoyed far more success. After starting out at Karlsruhe, the goalkeeper moved to Bayern in 1994, where he spent the next 14 years until retiring in 2008. Only Sepp Maier and Thomas Müller have made more appearances for the record champions, while he won 23 trophies throughout his career - 10 of which came as Bayern captain.

Souleymane and Leroy Sané

Souleymane Sané was something of a trend-setter, becoming one of the first African players to feature in the Bundesliga when he joined top-tier outfit Nuremberg in 1988. He enjoyed his best spell with Wattenscheid, where he netted 39 times in 139 league matches before departing. Meanwhile, his son Leroy made his Bundesliga debut with Schalke in 2013/14 and shone before switching to Manchester City. After three successful seasons between 2016 and 2019, he returned to his homeland with Bayern, for whom he remains a key component of the team.

Johannes and Thomas Riedl

No father/son duo has made more Bundesliga appearances than the Riedls. Versatile midfielder Johannes features in the top 40 of all-time Bundesliga games with 411 across stints at MSV Duisburg, Hertha Berlin, Kaiserslautern and Arminia Bielefeld. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Thomas starred for the Red Devils, even featuring six times and scoring once, as Kaiserslautern won the title in 1997/98 immediately after earning promotion.

Bum-Kun and Du-Ri Cha

Bum-Kun Cha is widely regarded as one of the greatest Asian players of all time, mainly down to his exploits in the Bundesliga. He netted 98 times in 308 top-flight appearance as a striker for Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen, winning two UEFA Cups along the way. His son, meanwhile, was a right-sided player who played for no fewer than five Bundesliga clubs, including Frankfurt, Freiburg and Mainz.

Harry and Robin Koch

As Kaiserslautern beat the odds to stand on top of the Bundesliga podium in 1997/98, centre-back Harry Koch was integral to their success, appearing in 31 of their 34 matches. That was part of a career that eventually ended with 187 German top-tier matches, and son Robin is currently following in his footsteps. In 2024/25, he had arguably his best season yet, playing 30 times as Frankfurt qualified for the Champions League through the league for the first time.

Andreas and Pascal Köpke

Goalkeeper Andreas Köpke spent the majority of his Bundesliga career with Nuremberg, either side of a short stint with Frankfurt, although he is best known for his role between the sticks as Germany won the World Cup in 1990. Son Pascal, though, has so far only managed 11 Bundesliga appearances compared to his father's 346, but the Duisburg forward is still only 29 and could well add to that tally in the future should he retrieve his best form.

Pál and Bence, Márton, Palko Dárdai

There appears to be a magnetic connection between Pál Dárdai and Hertha Berlin - no matter what happens, the Hungarian eventually ends up back at the Olympistadion, having coached the Old Lady three times following a 14-year playing career with them. Remarkably, three of his offspring have featured in the Bundesliga too - Márton and Palko now play in Bundesliga 2 for Hertha, while Bence made 21 appearances in 2024/25 for VfL Wolfsburg.

Harald and Dominik Kohr

The older of the two Kohrs, Harald, only spent four seasons in the Bundesliga, yet was rather prolific, netting 45 in 97 games - mainly for Kaiserslautern. Dominik, on the other hand, is a defensive-minded player who currently plies his trade at Mainz and who made his Bundesliga debut in 2011/12. He has played in every German top-flight season since. Instead of scoring goals like his father, though, he has a knack of notching up yellow cards and has received at least 10 in six separate terms so far.

Günter and Stefan Kuntz

Günter Kuntz was the first-choice left-winger for Borussia Neunkirchen in their three years in the Bundesliga in 1960s. His son and heir Stefan, though, spent 15 seasons in the Bundesliga between 1983 and 1999, scoring 179 goals - enough to put him in the top 10 of all time. A Bundesliga and DFB Cup winner with Kaiserslautern, Kuntz Jr. topped the Bundesliga scoring charts twice.

Stephan and Pascal Groß

Stephan Groß was a relatively late bloomer, making his first Bundesliga appearance at the age of 27. He enjoyed four seasons in the top flight, scoring 30 times in 113 matches - an impressive return given he was usually used as a right-back. While Hoffenheim was Pascal's first stop amongst the elite, it was his first Bundesliga season with Ingolstadt that earned him a move to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion. He returned to Germany in the summer of 2024 and shone for Dortmund and still has plenty left to give.

Dieter and Michael Zorc

Dieter Zorc spent one season in the Bundesliga with VfL Bochum in 1970/71, making 21 appearances. By that point, his son Michael was not even 10, but he would go on to become Dortmund's all-time record appearance maker with 572 outings - he is also the third-highest goalscorer in their history and also captained the team to their first and only UEFA Champions League success in 1997.

Martin and Philipp Max

Patrick and Mitchell Weiser

Thomas and Tobias Kempe

Bernd and Carsten Cullmann

Alois and Dominik Reinhardt

Karl-Heinz and Steffen Handschuh

Franklin and Leonardo Bittencourt

Miroslav and Michal Kadlec

Jürgen and Daniel Baier

Zvonimir and Nikola Soldo

Maurizio and Gianluca Gaudino

Helmut and Christian Nerlinger

Fahrudin and Sascha Jusufi

Diego and Mateo Klimowicz

Jörn and Niklas Andersen

Hans and Ralf Sturm

Hans-Jürgen and Philipp Bargfrede

Bruno and Benjamin Hübner + Florian Hübner

Peter and Roman Neustädter

Fred and Felix Klaus

Rudolf and Stefan Wimmer

Franz and Fabian Gerber

Nico-Jan and Justin Hoogma

Marco and Noah Weißhaupt

Willi and Daniel Bierofka

Reinhard and Tobias Willi

Dirk and Marvin Bakarlorz

Günter and Carsten Pröpper

Roland and Klaus Wabra

Bernd and Tim Dierßen

Wlodzimierz and Ebi Smolarek

Horst and Thomas Remark

Uwe and Patrick Helmes

Max and Thomas Reichenberger

Thomas and Tjark Ernst

Jonny and Antoine Hey

Bernardo and Bernardo Jr.

Andrzej and Martin Koblyanski

Fred and Louis Schaub

Francisco and Lucas Copado

Ove and Christian Flindt-Bjerg

Igor and Zvonko Pamic

Goran and Alexander Sørloth

Poul-Erik and Mikkel Thygesen

Werner and Sebastian Schachten

Heinz and Marco Toppmöller

Alassane and Assan Ouédraogo