Thomas Müller
Thomas Müller is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Müller has been praised for his positioning, finishing, work-rate, and consistency in both scoring and creating goals. He is both the all-time German top goalscorer and assist provider in the UEFA Champions League, scoring 57 goals and providing 30 assists.
A product of Bayern Munich's youth system, which he joined at age 10 in 2000, Müller represented the club until 2025. With Bayern, he won a record thirteen Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokals, eight DFL-Supercups, two UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups, and two FIFA Club World Cups. He joined the first team in the 2009–10 season after Louis van Gaal was appointed as the main coach; he played almost every game that season as Bayern won the league and cup double and reached the 2010 Champions League final. Müller also scored in the 2012 Champions League final, though Bayern lost that final on penalties. Müller scored 23 goals in the 2012–13 season as Bayern won a historic treble; the league title, cup and Champions League. In 2019–20, he broke the Bundesliga record for assists in a season with 21 and scored 14 goals as Bayern won a second treble. With 756 matches played across seventeen seasons, Müller is Bayern's all-time record appearance holder, scoring 250 goals and providing 223 assists for the club across all competitions, and one of only three players in league history to reach the landmark of 100 Bundesliga goals and 100 assists each. He also holds the record for the most UEFA Champions League appearances with one team.
Müller was called up to the Germany national team in 2010. At the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he scored five goals in six appearances as Germany finished in third place. He was named the Best Young Player of the tournament and won the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer. At the 2014 FIFA World Cup, he played a major role in helping the team win the trophy, as he scored five goals and received the Silver Ball as the tournament's second best player and the Silver Boot as the second top goalscorer. He was also named in the World Cup All-Star XI and in the Dream Team. He retired from international football after the UEFA Euro 2024. On 1 October 2025, Müller became the most decorated German footballer in history with 35 trophies.
Club career
Early career
Müller played as a youth for TSV Pähl, and at the age of 10 he made the journey to join local Bundesliga side Bayern Munich in 2000. He progressed through the youth system and was part of the team that finished runner-up in the Under 19 Bundesliga in 2007. Growing up, his favorite player was Giovane Élber.Bayern Munich
Müller made his debut for the reserve team in March 2008 when he replaced Stephan Fürstner in a Regionalliga match against SpVgg Unterhaching, in which he scored. He made two more Regionalliga appearances in the 2007–08 season, while continuing to play for the under-19 team. The following season, Bayern's second string qualified for the newly formed 3. Liga, and Müller established himself as a key player – he played in 32 out of 38 matches and scored 15 times to make him the league's fifth top scorer.2008–09 season
Müller became involved in the first-team under then manager Jürgen Klinsmann; he appeared in pre-season friendlies, and made his full debut on 15 August 2008, when he came on as a substitute for Miroslav Klose for the last ten minutes of a Bundesliga match against Hamburger SV. Despite Müller feeling that his performance did not go well, he made three more Bundesliga appearances that season and made his Champions League debut on 10 March 2009 when he was substituted on in the 72nd minute for Bastian Schweinsteiger in a 7–1 win over Sporting CP. He scored Bayern's last goal as they won the tie 12–1 on aggregate.In February 2009, Müller signed his first contract for the senior team, a two-year deal effective from the 2009–10 season, along with reserve teammate Holger Badstuber.
2009–10 season
Müller was prepared to be loaned or even transferred away to find first-team football, but when Louis van Gaal was appointed manager, both Müller and Badstuber became fixtures in the Bayern first team from the start of the season. In the first few matches, Müller was a regular substitute, and on 12 September 2009, he was brought on against Borussia Dortmund and scored two goals in a 5–1 victory. Three days later, he scored another brace in a 3–0 Champions League victory over Maccabi Haifa. He rounded off September by being named the Bundesliga Player of the Month and earned praise from his namesake, legendary former Bayern and Germany striker Gerd Müller. After the Haifa match, Müller was in the starting XI for almost every match, only missing one match, a Champions League match against Bordeaux, for which he was suspended, because he was sent off in an earlier match against the same team.In February 2010, Müller signed a new contract with Bayern Munich through 2013. During the second half of the season, Müller continued to be a regular first-team starter, usually playing in a central striking role due to the availability of other wide players Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben. In April 2010, he scored the second goal in a 2–1 win against title rivals Schalke 04, and in the penultimate league match of the season, he scored the first hat-trick of his career, in a 3–1 win over VfL Bochum which effectively secured the German title for Bayern. The title was confirmed a week later with a 3–1 win at Hertha BSC, a match which Müller started.
For the season, Müller played in all 34 Bundesliga matches, starting 29, and recorded 13 goals and 11 assists. Bayern and Müller were back in Berlin the following week, to face Werder Bremen in the final of the DFB-Pokal. He started the match and Bayern won 4–0 to complete the domestic double. Müller scored four goals and made two assists during the competition, which made him its leading scorer for the season. Bayern's season ended in pursuit of a first treble, in the 2010 Champions League Final against Inter Milan at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. It was not to be, however, as they lost 2–0, with both goals coming from Diego Milito. Müller was in the starting line-up and had a key chance just after half-time, with Bayern 1–0 down, but his shot was saved by Júlio César. Müller felt particularly disappointed by this defeat, but he ended his first season as a first-team player with 52 matches played and 19 goals in all competitions.
In a poll conducted by the sports magazine kicker, he was voted by his fellow professionals as the best newcomer of the 2009–10 season and was named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season. Müller credits Van Gaal for having had the biggest part to play in his rise to success – the coach arrived with a reputation for promoting youth team players, particularly at Ajax, and consistently gave Müller his chance in the first-team, going as far to say "Müller spielt bei mir immer". Müller, in return, described Van Gaal as "a genius technician" who makes players "improve every time".
2010–11 season
Müller returned from his post-World Cup break to sign another contract extension, this time extending his stay at Bayern until 2015. As with all of Bayern's World Cup participants, he missed much of pre-season, and his first match back was the Supercup against Schalke 04 on 7 August. He was named in the starting 11, and scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win. Two weeks later he scored the opening goal of Bayern's league season in a 2–1 home win against VfL Wolfsburg.Müller played in every match of the first half of the season, usually as a starter, but as the team struggled for results, Müller was unable to match the previous season's goalscoring exploits, being dropped to the bench, and even receiving a telling off from Louis van Gaal after missing an easy chance in a 2–0 defeat against 1. FC Kaiserslautern in August. He was philosophical about this dip in form, though, and after eight league games without a goal, he scored in a 4–1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt on 27 November; He followed that by scoring in consecutive league and cup wins against VfB Stuttgart three weeks later. These goals took his tally to eight goals in all competitions and included a spectacular goal to open the scoring in a 2–0 Champions League victory against Roma on 15 September.
As his team was on its winter break, Müller was left to reflect on what he described as "an almost unbelievable first year as a pro". Müller began the second half of the season in good form, but was involved in an altercation with teammate Arjen Robben, who was angered when Müller showed his displeasure at a poor free-kick Robben took during a 3–1 win at Werder Bremen. Müller again played in every game of the season and scored 19 goals, but the season was less successful for Bayern, as they finished third in the league, and were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal in the semi-finals by Schalke 04 and in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League by Inter Milan; Bayern had won 1–0 at the San Siro, and Müller scored 31 minutes into the second leg to make it 3–1 on aggregate, but Inter levelled the score at 3–3 in the 88th minute to go through on the away goals rule. Müller's mentor Van Gaal was increasingly criticised for inflexibility in tactical, transfer and selection policy, and ultimately lost his job, being replaced with Jupp Heynckes.
2011–12 season
In Bayern's first DFB-Pokal game Müller was awarded the man of the match after earning two penalties which were converted by Mario Gómez and Bastian Schweinsteiger, Müller then added a third in the closing stages to secure a 3–0 victory over Eintracht Braunschweig. It took Müller five matches for him to get his first league goal; he scored it against Schalke 04 in Bayern's 2–0 win. Müller then scored in Bayern's next home game in the early stages of the match, which they went on to win, 3–0. On 26 November 2011, Müller netted the opener on the half-hour in Bayern's 6–0 thrashing of FC Ingolstadt, giving him his second DFB-Pokal goal. Müller was on the short-list of this year's FIFA Ballon d'Or award. On 10 and 15 January, in Bayern's warm up friendlies, Müller scored three goals in two games, a brace against the India national team and one goal in Bayern's other 4–0 victory over Rot-Weiß Erfurt. Müller provided two assists in Bayern's win over VfB Stuttgart in the DFB-Pokal.On 11 February, Bayern played 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Müller ended a goal drought lasting since 24 September 2011 with a header in their 2–0 victory. On 31 March 2012, Müller played his 100th Bundesliga game against 1. FC Nürnberg. On 19 May 2012, Müller scored the opening goal in the 83rd minute of the Champions League final against Chelsea with a powerful header, before being substituted for defender Daniel Van Buyten moments later. Bayern, however, then conceded a late equaliser, and would go on to lose the final on penalties. Müller stated post match how dissatisfied he was about the amount of time he had spent on the bench recently, although also expressed his desire to stay at Bayern in spite of this. During the season, Müller had scored seven goals in 34 league matches, two goals in five German Cup matches, and two goals in 14 Champions League matches.