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The Bundesliga has been home to some of the greatest goalkeepers of all-time
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Many of these names are familiar, but others haven’t got the reputation their performances deserve
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Who are the best Bundesliga goalkeepers of all-time?
How much consideration does a goalkeeper get when placing a football bet? Probably not as much as their goal scoring counterparts.
Still, the best goalkeepers in Bundesliga history could impact matches.
Beyond the highlight saves, top class goalkeepers influence proceedings through leadership and organisation; skills that don’t always get considered when looking at Bundesliga betting.
Here are our 10 greatest Bundesliga goalkeepers of all-time.
9) Toni Schumacher
Debuting for FC Köln at just 19 years of age, Toni Schumacher enjoyed a long career with club and country.
He was between the sticks as Köln completed a double in 1978, a season which was in the middle of a span of 213 consecutive Bundesliga appearances.
Playing for Schalke, Bayern and Dortmund is a rare feat. Schumacher’s years with Köln are where his reputation was developed, though, and where he was twice named German Footballer of the Year.
8) Jens Lehmann
While Jens Lehmann’s career is most often associated with Arsenal’s unbeaten campaign, the former German international made almost 400 Bundesliga appearances across spells with Schalke, Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart.
In his pomp, Lehmann was the ideal modern goalkeeper, blending shot-stopping prowess with technical ability on the ball.
An aggressive demeanour didn’t always go down well with opponents, but Lehmann was a fearsome competitor and one of the best German goalkeepers of the last three decades.
7) Stefan Klos
Well-known by Rangers fans after spending almost a decade in Glasgow, Stefan Klos also played over 250 times for Borussia Dortmund, winning a pair of Bundesliga titles and the Champions League with Die Schwarzgelben.
These were Dortmund’s first league titles in the Bundesliga era. Klos wasn’t the biggest name in the team, but he was an important figure at the back. His standards remained high with Rangers too, winning another four league titles.
The fact he never earned a Germany cap speaks more to the depth of ‘keeping at the time than Klos’ talents.
6) Frank Rost
Appearing over 100 times for each of Hamburg, Schalke and Werder Bremen, Frank Rost featured in Bundesliga predictions from the early 1990s through to the start of the 2010s.
He played in more Bundesliga matches than Franz Beckenbauer, but Rost suffered a bridesmaid of a career.
A runner-up twice in the Bundesliga and twice in the DFB-Pokal, Rost’s main silverware was two domestic cups with Bremen. His international exploits were limited by superior compatriots, too.
Not the best of his generation, and with a limited medal collection, Rost is perhaps a contentious pick among the greatest Bundesliga goalkeepers. We give him the nod for such longevity, though.
5) Manuel Neuer
The premier Bundesliga goalkeeper of the last decade, Manuel Neuer has over 450 Bundesliga appearances.
He’s become synonymous with Bayern Munich and their relentless success over the last 10 years – it’s easy to forget Neuer actually started out with Schalke, who he made 156 Bundesliga appearances for.
Neuer’s supreme confidence is immediately obvious, yet that hasn’t become complacency. He has strived to improve, becoming a game-changing sweeper keeper under Pep Guardiola.
Leadership has come naturally for the Gelsenkirchen native, which has only helped the cause of Bayern and Germany.
A two-time Champions League winner and nine-time German champion, Neuer has consistently performed on the biggest stages.
IFFHS voted Neuer as the best goalkeeper of the 2010s, and he’s earned six selections to the Bundesliga Team of the Year. A no-brainer for this top 10.
4) Roman Weidenfeller
Not only one of the best Bundesliga goalkeepers ever, Roman Weidenfeller is the greatest Dortmund goalkeeper of all-time, and arguably the best value transfer in Bundesliga history.
Weidenfeller signed with Dortmund on a free in 2002. He went on to make 349 appearances for the club, including a run of six straight Bundesliga seasons with at least 30 appearances.
Young talents emerged in the Jurgen Klopp era, and Weidenfeller provided the reliable goalkeeper every great team needs. He won four domestic titles with Dortmund, including a double in 2011-12.
3) Ulrich Stein
Breaking through with Arminia Bielefeld in the wake of the match-fixing scandal, Uli Stein moved to his hometown club Hamburg in 1980 and was superb through an incredibly successful period, which featured back-to-back league titles.
Hamburg fired Stein after punching a Bayern player, and he joined Eintracht Frankfurt for a seven-year stint. With his reputation as one of the greatest Bundesliga goalkeepers of all-time secure, Stein had second spells with Hamburg and Ariminia.
While he’s unlikely to feature in a Bundesliga greatest XI, Stein is among the top six or seven BuLi ‘keepers of all-time. He’s currently 10th in appearances.
2) Sepp Maier
As the ‘the Cat from Anzing’ gives away, Sepp Maier was a remarkably agile goalkeeper with the reflexes to make the extraordinary appear standard.
Maier spent his entire career with Bayern, winning four Bundesliga titles as the Bavarian club made steps on the path to the world superpower they are known as today.
Once he made the decision to put his gloves away for good, Maier was recognised as a great in Germany and beyond.
Not only a three-time German Footballer of the Year, the Cat from Anzing was also voted the fourth-best goalkeeper of the 20th century behind Dino Zoff, Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks.
1) Oliver Kahn
Just reading his name provokes an image of an enraged Oliver Kahn screaming at his defenders.
The nicknames of Der Titan and Vol-kahn-o were well-deserved – Kahn was an angry character between the lines, but he was also a phenomenal goalkeeper.
Playing 557 times in the Bundesliga (third most all-time) and winning 86 caps for Germany, Kahn won eight Bundesligas and a Champions League.
IFFHS voting adjudged him to be the fifth-best goalkeeper this century, and he won UEFA Best European Goalkeeper four years in a row.
