All-time Bundesliga top scorers: Gerd Muller on top, but no current players on the list

Thomas Muller has consistently scored for both Bayern Munich and Germany

The German Bundesliga is slowly starting to fascinate viewers across the world. The competition, which was initiated in the year 1963, has largely been dominated by Bayern Munich (the most decorated club with 24 league titles) over the past decade, with their major competition coming from rivals Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, FC Schalke, Werder Bremen and VfL Wolfsburg.

The Bundesliga boasts some extremely talented players and international stars like Arjen Robben, Frank Ribery and Manuel Neuer. The likes of Robert Lewandowski, Stefan Kiessling and Thomas Muller are the leading marksmen who have been topping the goalscoring charts for the past few years.

The league has, of course, also been witness to the legendary Gerd Muller, who holds an incredible goal scoring record both at international and club level. Muller was a class act, but there were also a few others who got close to matching his records, like Klaus Fischer, Manfred Burgsmuller and Jupp Heynckes.

Germany are renowned for producing top quality home-grown strikers. So let’s have a look at the players featuring in the all-time Bundesliga top scorers list, as well the top scorers among the players who are still active in the game.

All-time German Bundesliga top goal scorers

Gerd Muller leads the goalscoring charts in Bundesliga history with 365 goals. The former Bayern Munich star is regarded as one of football’s greatest strikers for his clinical finishing and killer instinct inside the penalty box. He also has an incredible goal scoring tally at international level, netting 68 goals in 62 appearances for Die Mannschaft.

Realistically speaking, there is currently no active player in the league capable of matching his record.

Klaus Fischer is second on the list, scoring 268 goals in 535 appearances in the league. He was known for his bicycle kicks, and played for four different clubs including FC Koln and FC Schalke.

Much to our surprise, there is no active Bundesliga player featuring in the league’s all-time top goal scorers list. Claudio Pizzaro comes the closest, but he announced his retirement after playing his last season with FC Bayern Munich (2014/15).

Here’s a look at the all-time Bundesliga top goal scorers (all stats have been collected from the official website of the German Bundesliga):

No	Player	Clubs	Season	Appearances	Goals	Goals/Game
1	Gerd Muller	FC Bayern Munich	1964- 1979	427	365	0.85
2	Klaus Fischer	TSV 180 Munchen FC Shalke 04 1 FC Koln VfL Bochum	1968-1970 1970-1981 1981-1984 1984-1988	60 305 96 84	28 182 31 27
Total				535	268	0.50
3	Jupp Heynckes	Borussia Monchengladbach Hannover 96 Borussia Monchengladbach	1963-1967 1967-1970 1970-1978	82 86 226	50 25 168
Total				369	220	0.59
4	Manfred Burgsmuller	Rot-Weiss Essen Bayer Uerdingen Rot-Weiss Essen Bayer Uerdingen Borussia Dortmund 1 FC Nurnberg Werder Bremen	1968-1971 1971-1974 1974-1976 1976 1976-1983 1983-84 1985-1990	12 101 64 7 224 34 115	0 80 32 1 135 12 34
Total				447	213	0.47
5	Ulf Kirsten	Bayer Leverkusen	1990-2003	350	182	0.52
6	Stefan Kuntz	VfL Bochum Bayer 05 Uerdingen 1 FC Kaiserslautern Arminia Bielefeld VfL Bochum	1983-86 1986-1989 1989-1995 1996-1998 1998-1999	100 94 170 65 20	41 32 75 25 6
Total				449	179	0.39
7	Klaus Allofs	Fortuna Dusseldorf 1 FC Koln Werder Bremen	1975-1981 1981-1987 1990-1993	169 177 78	71 88 18
Total				424	177	0.42
	Dieter Muller	1 FC Koln VfB Stuttgart 1 FC Saarbrucken	1973-1981 1981-1982 1985-1986	248 30 23	159 14 4
Total				303	177	0.58
9	Claudio Pizzaro	Werder Bremen Bayern Munich Werder Bremen (loan) Weder Bremen FC Bayern Munich	1999-2001 2001-2007 2008-2009 2009-2012 2012-present	56 174 26 77 50	29 71 17 43 16
Total				383	176	0.46
10	Hannes Lohr	1 FC Koln	1964-1978	381	166	0.44

Top 4 German Bundesliga goal scorers who are still active in the game

Mario Gomez is among the top goalscorers in Bundesliga who are still active in the game

Former Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez tops the charts here, followed by Stefan Kiessling, Miroslav Klose and Kevin Kuranyi who are all German nationals. Gomez had a promising start to his Bayern Munich career but failed to live up to the expectations at the Allianz Arena, and a sudden dip in form saw him move to the Italian side Fiorentina.

Miroslav Klose is the top goalscorer in the history of the FIFA World Cup with 16 goals. He was sublime for Die Mannschaft and played in two of Germany’s biggest teams – Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich. However, Klose has been more far reliable for the national team than at the club level.

Here’s the Top 4 list:

No	Player	Clubs	Season	Appearances	Goals	Goals/Game
1	Mario Gomez	VfB Stuttgart FC Bayern Munich	2003-2009 2009-2013	121 115	63 75
Total				236	138	0.58
2	Stefan Kiessling	1 FC Nurnberg Bayer Leverkusen	2003-2006 2006-present	73 287	15 123
Total				348	136	0.39
3	Miroslav Klose	1 FC Kaiserslautern Werder Bremen Bayern Munich	1999-2004 2004-2007 2007-2011	120 85 98	44 50 24
Total				307	121	0.39
4	Kevin Kuranyi	VfB Stuttgart FC Schalke 04	2001-2005 2005-2010	99 162	40 71
Total				264	111	0.42

Top 10 goal scorers who are still playing in the German Bundesliga

Stefan Kiessling tops the charts with 136 goals

Stefan Kiessling, who has been with Bayer Leverkusen since 2006, tops the list here, and is followed by the Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, Vedad Ibisevic and Marcelinho – who are all playing in the top division of German football.

Even though the Leverkusen skipper has the most number of goals, Dutch international Arjen Robben from Bayern Munich has a better games per goal ratio (0.56) than the tall German striker.

Here are the 10 players in the list:

No	Player	Appearances	Goals
1	Stefan Kiessling	348	136
2	Robert Lewandowski	165	93
3	Vedad Ibisevic	202	82
4	Marcelinho	205	77
5	Thomas Muller	200	76
6	Alexander Meier	235	75
7	Marco Reus	182	75
8	Arjen Robben	130	74
9	Ivica Olic	231	72
10	Lukas Podolski	210	70

Note: Stats updated as on 31st August 2015