VANCOUVER, BC – Meep, meep, meep, meep. Thomas Müller is here.
On Wednesday, Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced the signing of the legendary German international in what will be remembered as a monumental moment for the club, the city, and Major League Soccer.
Müller brings a wealth of experience to the ‘Caps, as well as a winning mentality thanks to his gold pot of achievements for club and country. He’s a guy who’s won it all at the club level during his 25-year career with FC Bayern Munich and a winner of the most prestigious crown in the beautiful game with Germany at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In fact, Müller is only the 19th player in MLS history to play in the league and have a World Cup title to their name. Not to mention he’s also one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of the World Cup, sitting as one of 15 players to have double-digit goals at the tournament with 10 goals to his name. Only eight players in history have more.
Those numbers are just a small fraction of the many illustrious accomplishments Müller has achieved in his career.
As we get set to welcome the Raumdeuter to Vancoüver, read along as we look at the numbers behind his legendary career.
250 goals and 238 assists in 756 appearances, to go along with a club-record 33 trophies. Nothing short of spectacular. In fact, his 250 goals for the Bavarians rank third all-time in the club’s history, behind only his namesake Gerd Müller (566) and FC Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski (344). As if that wasn’t enough, his totals for assists and appearances are the most in club history.
Having joined Bayern’s academy in 2000 and being promoted to the first team in 2009, Müller went on to win every title available, doing so in bunches.
His 13 Bundesliga titles are the most by a single player in the league’s history, while his six DFB-Pokal titles are second-most in the cup’s history behind former Chicago Fire FC midfielder and his long-time teammate Bastian Schweinsteiger. Müller also won eight DFL-Supercup titles, two UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups, and two FIFA Club World Cups.
Six of his 33 trophies with Bayern were won in 2019/20 alongside Whitecaps FC academy product and Canada’s men’s national team captain Alphonso Davies, as the club achieved a historic sextuple that included a famous 8-2 crushing of FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. Müller had two goals as well as an assist on that memorable night.
The Raumdeuter nickname describes Müller's unique style of play, which is characterized by intelligent movement, spatial awareness, and the ability to exploit space on the pitch. That style of play has earned him the reputation as one of the world’s best and an incredible amount of goals, 295 at the senior level to be exact.
45 of those have come with Germany’s men’s national team, where he sits tied for sixth all-time alongside Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, 56 have come in the UEFA Champions League, which is the most by a German player in the competition and sixth all-time in its history, and 150 have come in the Bundesliga, which is 17th in the league’s history and ranks fourth for Bayern.
Five of Müller's goals for Germany came at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which helped him secure the tournament’s Golden Boot. Another five of his goals for his country came four years later at the 2014 FIFA World Cup en route to winning the trophy. He also won the tournament’s Silver Boot for finishing second in goals behind his former Bayern teammate James Rodríguez and the Silver Ball as the tournament’s second-best player behind Lionel Messi. One of his goals at the tournament came in another heavy yet memorable demolishing, as Germany famously earned a 7-1 victory over World Cup hosts Brazil in the semifinals.
In addition, Müller has scored five senior hat-tricks in his career. Four have come for Bayern (two each in the Bundesliga and DFB Cup), and one for Germany in the 2014 World Cup against Portugal.
Perhaps even more impressive than his goalscoring is Müller's playmaking ability. As previously mentioned, the German sits as Bayern’s all-time assist leader with 238 and is also Germany’s all-time leader with 41 assists, combining for a total of 279 helpers.
Müller holds the Bundesliga record for most assists in a season with 21 during the 2019/20 campaign, which equaled Messi’s record for assists in a season across Europe’s top five leagues. In total, Müller set up 178 goals in Bundesliga action, which is the most by any player since data collection began in 1992. 30 of his career assists have come in UEFA Champions League play, ranking him joint-sixth all-time alongside legendary Spanish midfielder Xavi.
The number of trophies Müller has won in his career, making him the most decorated German player in history alongside former teammate and ex-Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos.
As if you thought that was enough, Müller has set plenty of other records in the competitions he’s played in for both club and country. Below are just some of the few that show why he’s one of the game’s most successful servants:
- 111 games won in the UEFA Champions League, only Cristiano Ronaldo has won more (115)
- 131 caps for Germany, only Lothar Matthäus (150) and Lukas Podolski (137) have more
- 163 appearances in UEFA Champions League play, which is a tournament record for appearances for a single club. He ranks joint-third on the all-time list alongside Messi, trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo (183) and Iker Casillas (177)
- 362 wins in the Bundesliga, the most in the league’s history and the only player to have won more than 300 games with one club
- 503 appearances in the Bundesliga, which is the most in Bayern’s history. Only 11 players have recorded more appearances in the league’s history
The ‘Caps Residency team actually faced off against FC Bayern Munich’s U-19 side in a friendly back in October 2007. Müller played that day as Bayern claimed a 2-1 victory.
Last but not least is the number 13. It’s the number Müller wore during most of his distinguished Germany career and the number he’ll wear with Whitecaps FC.
Here’s to more record-breaking numbers being added to the Raumdeuter’s legendary career.
Cheers / Prost.
