All players from Germany
bundesliga.com scans the names behind the squad numbers of the heroes of 2014 ..
1. Manuel Neuer (players ordered by squad number at Brazil 2014)
The finest goalkeeper on the planet not only lifted the World Cup in Rio, but he was also awarded the Golden Glove as the tournament's best custodian, making 25 saves and keeping four clean sheets at the finals. Even now at 39, the Bayern Munich and Germany captain is still proving he’s the best between the sticks and is up to 11 Bundesliga titles and two continental trebles. He retired from international duty after Euro 2024 and in February 2025 signed another contract extension at Bayern to summer 2026
Watch: Neuer's top 5 Bundesliga saves
2. Kevin Großkreutz
An often controversial figure during the end of his Borussia Dortmund days, Großkreutz went into the 2014 finals as a double Bundesliga winner and UEFA Champions League finalist. Immensely versatile, the winger/full-back made six senior international appearances during his career, but failed to get any playing time in Brazil. A spell at VfB Stuttgart preceded a move to second-tier Darmstadt and then third-division Uerdingen before announcing his retirement in January 2021. He’s since been playing amateur football with local teams in Dortmund, Bövinghausen and Wacker Obercastrop.
3. Matthias Ginter
Another former Dortmund man, Ginter was a Freiburg player when he was called into Joachim Löw's finals squad. At 20, the centre-back was the youngest player in Germany's set-up but didn't make an appearance at the tournament. Four days after the final, he signed for BVB before switching Borussias to Mönchengladbach three years later. After five years and more than 150 appearances, he returned home to Freiburg in summer 2022, bringing his experience of now 51 senior international caps, including the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. He last represented Germany in 2023.
4. Benedikt Höwedes
A centre-back by trade, Schalke youth product Höwedes was somewhat surprisingly used as a left-back in Brazil, but went down in history as one of 10 Germany players to win the World Cup having played every single minute of the tournament. He finished his international career in 2017 with 44 caps. After well over 300 appearances for Die Königsblauen, Höwedes joined Juventus on a season-long loan in 2017/18. His permanent departure from Schalke came the following year as he joined Lokomotiv Moscow. The now 37-year-old retired in July 2020 and would become part of Hansi Flick’s backroom staff with the national team. He also works as a TV pundit.
Watch: Unlikely world champion left-back Höwedes leaves boyhood club Schalke
5. Mats Hummels
Hummels has enjoyed a trophy-laden career that includes five Bundesliga titles across numerous spells at Bayern and Dortmund, plus the 2014 triumph in Brazil, where he was first-choice centre-back throughout and also scored the winning goal in the quarter-final against France. The last of his 78 caps came in November 2023, having made his senior debut over a decade earlier. The 36-year-old left the Bundesliga in 2024 after 442 appearances. He went on to join Roma in Italy, but in March 2025 announced he would retire at the end of the season.
Watch: The best of Hummels in the Bundesliga
6. Sami Khedira
The ying to Bastian Schweinsteiger's yang in central midfield for Löw, Khedira was a key cog in Germany's machine, featuring in five of the team's seven games in Brazil. The former VfB Stuttgart midfielder scored Germany's fifth against the hosts in the semis, before making way for Julian Draxler in the second half. The title win crowned a memorable summer for the then 27-year-old, who lifted the Champions League trophy with Real Madrid just a couple of months earlier. He moved on to Juventus in summer 2015, winning back-to-back league and cup doubles with the Italian giants. After five years in Serie A, Khedira spent six months at Hertha Berlin before hanging up his boots in June 2021. He would go on to return to Stuttgart as an advisor and work as a pundit for ARD.
7. Bastian Schweinsteiger
The heartbeat of the Germany team in Brazil, Schweinsteiger’s performance in the final is regarded as one of the best of any Germany player. He played a final season at boyhood club Bayern following the World Cup - winning what was a record-equalling eighth Bundesliga title at the time – before moving to Manchester United in summer 2015. The midfielder took over the Germany captaincy after Philipp Lahm's retirement, before stepping down from the international game himself in August 2016. He left Manchester for Chicago Fire in March 2017, where he spent two and a half years before retiring and returning to Germany, where he now works as a television pundit.
Watch: Schweinsteiger, made in the Bundesliga
8. Mesut Özil
An outrageously gifted playmaker, the former Schalke, Werder Bremen and Real Madrid midfielder started all seven of Germany's matches in Brazil. Özil remained a key part of Löw’s plans up to and including the 2018 World Cup, when he earned the last of his 92 senior caps. After seven years at Arsenal, where he became the fastest player in English Premier League history to bring up 50 assists, he joined Fenerbahce in January 2021 before moving to fellow Turkish SüperLig side Basaksehir in July 2022. Özil announced his immediate retirement due to recurrent injuries in March 2023. His list of honours include the DFB Cup with Bremen, La Liga and Copa del Rey with Real and four FA Cups with Arsenal.
9. André Schürrle
Schürrle played in six of Germany's games en route to glory and had a star turn in the 7-1 thrashing of the hosts in the semi-finals, coming off the bench to score Germany's last two goals – before going on to set up Mario Götze for the all-important winner against Argentina in the final. He played the first half of 2014/15 with Chelsea – playing enough games to win a Premier League winners' medal the following May – but joined Wolfsburg during the winter break. The attacking midfielder helped the Wolves win the DFB Cup that year before joining Dortmund in summer 2016, and helping them win it the following season. Schürrle spent the 2018/19 season on loan in England with Fulham in the Premier League and had a brief spell in Russia with Spartak Moscow before retiring at the age of 29 in 2020. He now has various business and investment ventures.
10. Lukas Podolski
Fourth in Germany's all-time list of most-capped players, Podolski earned just two of his 130 caps in Brazil, in the group games against Portugal and USA. Famed for his thunderous left foot, the former Cologne and Bayern star was a highly valued (and popular) member of Germany's squad despite his limited minutes on the pitch, thanks to his experience and laid-back, jovial demeanour. 'Poldi' had a third and final season at Arsenal after Brazil 2014 and has had a nomadic career path ever since, taking in stints in Italy (Inter Milan), Turkey (Galatasaray, Antalyaspor), Japan (Vissel Kobe) and now Poland (Gornik Zabrze), where the now 39-year-old has been since summer 2021. But he still has strong links to his hometown of Cologne, including a popular kebab shop.
Watch: Podolski's best long-range goals
11. Miroslav Klose
The elder statesman of the 2014 squad at 36, the former Werder and Bayern striker made himself an immortal in World Cup history with the second goal against the Seleção, overtaking Brazil's Ronaldo as the tournament's all-time leading scorer (16). He chose to bow out at the top after the World Cup, although he kept playing at club level with Lazio until summer 2016. Later that same year he began a DFB coaching course and joined Germany's staff. In May 2018, Germany's all-time record goalscorer (71 goals) was named Bayern’s U17 coach and was Flick's first-team assistant in 2020/21. He took his first role as head coach of a professional side at the start of 2022/23 with Austrian Bundesliga club Altach before taking over Bundesliga 2 side Nuremberg for the 2024/25 season.
12. Ron-Robert Zieler
Zieler was - and still is - regarded as a reliable pair of hands in goal. The former Manchester United goalkeeper had been a regular in Germany's squads since making his debut in a friendly against Ukraine in 2011, but was an unused substitute throughout the 2014 World Cup. He had two more seasons at Hannover after Brazil before a short-lived spell in the Premier League with Leicester City. Zieler, who was last called up to the national team in 2015, returned to Germany in 2017 with Stuttgart. He his now back at Hannover and remains the team's first-choice custodian in Bundesliga 2 at the age of 36, making over 375 appearances for the club across his two spells.
13. Thomas Müller
A German famed for his sense of humour and laid-back manner? Don't be fooled by Müller's off-field charisma, though; he's as ruthless as they come when he steps onto a football pitch. Müller scored five times at Brazil 2014, taking his career World Cup total to 10. The last of his 131 senior caps came at Euro 2024 on home soil. He is the most decorated player in Bundesliga history with 12 titles, plus a further 21 other winner's medals at club level. His 25-year spell on the books at Bayern is set to end in summer 2025.
Watch: Müller's funniest moments
14. Julian Draxler
Like Ginter, Draxler was just 20 when he joined up with Germany's all-conquering squad in 2014, having already had four seasons of Bundesliga football by that stage. The Schalke youth academy product came on a substitute as the eventual winners overwhelmed Brazil in Belo Horizonte, while he was an unused sub in the showpiece against Argentina five days later. Draxler moved on to Wolfsburg ahead of the 2015/16 season before joining Paris Saint-Germain in January 2017. He played a big part in his nation's Euro 2016 semi-final run and captained Germany to Confederations Cup glory in 2017. Draxler was a regular member of the national team's squads until 2022, when he earned the last of his 58 caps. The 31-year-old left PSG for Benfica in summer 2022 and then joined Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia the following year.
15. Erik Durm
2022/23 campaign. Toni Turek (Goalkeeper), Fritz Laband, Werner Kohlmeyer (Defenders), Hans Bauer, Herbert Erhardt (Defenders), Horst Eckel, Karl-Heinz Metzner (Midfielders), Josef Posipal, Helmut Rahn, Max Morlock, and Fritz Walter (Forwards)
