Bayern Munich Foreign Players All-time Greatest Team

Robben, Lewandowski and Xabi Alonso

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
Bayern Munich All-Time team
Bayern Munich All-Time Team for German Players

This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for Bayern Munich's foreign players.  The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.

Bayern Munich is the most successful, German clubs.  They won more European Cups and Bundesliga than any other German teams.  However, they were not a big club until the 1960's when Bundesliga became a professional league.  Their successes began around the time Franz Beckenbauer joined them in 1965.  They won three, straight European Cup from 1974 to 1976.  After twenty-five years of successes in the domestic competitions and near misses at the European Cup, they won the European Cup (Champions' league) again in 2001 and in 2013.  They won the title 5 times, making them one of the most successful clubs in Europe.

Lerby and Pfaff

Team
GK : Jean-Marie Pfaff (Belgium)
Jean-Marie Pfaff was one of the best keepers in the world during the 1980's.  He spent most of his professional career with Beveren and Bayern Munich. Pfaff was capped 64 times playing for Red Devils. He participated at the World Cup Finals of 1982 and 1986, and at the European Championship of 1980 and 1984.  He was the starting goalkeeper as Belgium finished second at Euro 1980 and reached the semifinal at Mexico 1986.

GK: Yann Sommer (Switzerland)

Sommer played for Basel, where he won the Swiss Super League on four consecutive occasions before transferring to Mönchengladbach in 2014. In 2023, he joined Inter Milan. He also won the Swiss Challenge League and two Liechtenstein Football Cups while on loan to Vaduz. Sommer made his debut for Switzerland in 2012. He represented the nation at the World Cup in 2014 and 2018, and the  European Championship in 2016 and 2020.

GK: Pepe Reina (Spain)
Pepe Reina first became a star at Villarreal when he helped the club to reach the Champions' league for the first time in history.  A year later, he joined Liverpool FC.  At Liverpool FC, he won three Premier League Golden Glove between 2005 and 2014. From 2015 to 2018, he played for Napoli. He was a part of Spain at the World Cup 2010, Euro 2008 and Euro 2012, but served as a backup to Iker Casillas.  In total, he had 36 caps.

RB: Johnny Hansen (Denmark)
Johnny Hansen most notably played six years for Bayern Munich, where he won three European Cups and three Bundesliga, playing alongside Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Gerd Muller, etc. He was named 1967 Danish Player of the Year. He also played for local top-flight club Vejle Boldklub and 1. FC Nürnberg.  He only 45 caps for Denmark because Denmark did not select professional footballers during a part of his career.

Johnny Hansen

RB: Willy Sagnol (France)
Willy Sagnol started with St Etienne and  later, played Monaco before going to the Bundesliga.  He was better known for his stint with Bayern Munich between 2000 and 2009, winning the Champions' League in 2001.  He played 58 times for the French national team from 2000 to 2008.  He went to the World Cup Finals in 2006. He became the regular stater after Lilian Thuram moved to centre-back.  

CB: Lucio (Brazil)
Lucio was the star of Brazil 2002 World Cup winning Team. He earned 105 caps for Brazil between 2000 and 2011.  He reached the Champions' League final with Bayer Leverkusen in 2002.  In 2004, he moved to Bayern Munich, where he won one German Cup and three Bundesliga titles. He also helped Inter Milan to win the 2010 Champions League against his former club Bayern Munich.  He also played for Juventus.

CB: Samuel Kuffour (Ghana)
Samuel Kuffour was probably Ghana's most famous defender.  He spent 11 seasons with Bayern Munich, winning almost everything.  He won the Champions' League in 2001. He was twice runnerup for the African Player of the Year and won Ghana Player of Year in 1998, 1999 and 2001. He was capped 59 times.  He played in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany. His youth career started with Torino in Italy.  He also played for Roma, Ajax and Livorno. 

Samuel Kuffour

CB: Martín Demichelis (Argentina)
Demichelis spent most of his professional career with Bayern Munich in Germany (seven and a half years), winning 11 major titles with the team. He also competed in his home country with River Plate, in Spain with Espanyol and Málaga and in England with Manchester City. Demichelis earned 51 caps for Argentina, representing the country in two World Cups – finishing second in 2014 – and the 2015 Copa América.

CB: Daniel Buyten (Belgium)
Van Buyten hegan at Charleroi as a striker, his career took off when he converted to a centre back. At the club level, he also played for Marseille, Manchester City, Hamburger SV and Bayern Munich.  He played with Bayern Munich from 2006 and 2014, winning the Chamlions' league in 2013.  Over there, he played alongside Lucio, Dante and Jérôme Boateng.  With Belgium, he played 83 times.  He played in the 2002 and 2014 World Cup Finals.

LB:  Bixente Lizarazu (France)
Bixente Lizarazu was the leftback for the all-conquering French national team, winning the World Cup in 1998 at home and European Championship in 2000. He had 97 caps from 1992 and 2004. Lizarazu began his professional career with Girondins de Bordeaux. He also played fort Athletic Bilbao, but better known for playing with Bayern Munich for 9 seasons between 1997 and 2004. He won the Champions' League in 2001. He is a Basque and he also played for Atletico Bilbao. 

 Bixente Lizarazu 

LB/DM/RW: David Alaba (Austria)
David Alaba was a son of a Nigerian father and Filipino mother living in Austria.  In 2008, he joined the youth team of Bayern Munich, making his senior debut in 2010.  Apart form a brief loan deal with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, he has been with the club, winning the 2013 Champions' League.  In 2021, he moved to Real Madrid. For Austria, he played in Euro 2016. He is the Austrian Footballer of the Year: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.

DM: Mark van Bommel (Netherlands)
In Netherlands, Mark van Bommel's career was associated PSV, where he had two separated stints.  However, his most famous part of his career was spent with Bayern Munich. He was their first ever non-German captain.  He also played for Barcelona FC. At the international level, he played 79 times for Netherlands and was a main player as they reached the Final of the World Cup in 2010.

CM: Thiago Alcantara (Spain)

Thiago Alcantara is the son of the 1994 World Cup winner Mazinho.  He was born in Italy when his father was playing in Italy. He joined Barcelona in 2005.  He was a star with the Spanish Under-21 team as they won the European Under-21 Championship in 2013.  In 2013, he shocked the Barcelona fans by joining Bayern Munich.  He helped them to win the Champions League in 2020.  For Spain, he played 46 times.

DM/CM: Xabi Alonso (Spain)
Xabi Alonso started with Real Sociedad in 2000.  He joined Liverpool in 2004 winning the Champions' League trophy in his first season.  In 2009, he moved to Real Madrid, winning the Champions' League again in 2014. In 2014, he joined Bayern Munich. He was a key member of the Spanish team that won the World Cup and two European Championships.  His 114 caps between 2003 and 2014 make him the fifth most capped player in the nation's history.

Xabi Alonso

DM/CM/LWB: Ze Roberto (Brazil)
Zé Roberto made his name with Portuguesa in Brazil. He then joined Real Madrid in 1997 for a brief spell, where he helped them win La Liga, before moving back to Brazil to play for Flamengo.  However, his peak years were spent in the Bundesliga. In 1998, he joined German side Bayer Leverkusen and went to Bayern Munich in 2002.  Ze Roberto was capped 84 times.  He went to France 1998 and Germany 2006.

CM: Owen Hargreaves (England)
Born in Canada, Hargreaves began his career with Bayern Munich. He spent 7 years there, winning the Champions League. He joined Manchester United in 2007, winning the Premier League and Champions League in his first season.  He was capped by Wales on the youth level, but played for England as a senior.  In 2001, he became the first English international who never lived in England.  He played in the WC Finals of 2002 and 2006, and the Euro 2004.

CM: Soren Lerby (Denmark)
Soren Lerby was most prominently played professionally for Dutch clubs Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, winning five Eredivisie championships with Ajax and the 1988 European Cup with PSV.  He also played for Bayern Munich between 1983 and 1986. He also played for AS Monaco. At the international level, he had 67 caps for Denmark. He was a key member of the Danish team known as "Dynamite Denmark", Euro 1984 and the 1986 World Cup team that dazzled the world.

Soren Lerby

RW/RB: Hasan Salihamidžić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Hasan Salihamidžić is best remembered for playing 9 seasons with Bayern Munich.  With Bayern, he won the 2001 Champions' League final, scoring one of the penalties in the shootout win in the Final. He also played for Juventus and Wolfsburg. At the international level, he earned 43 caps and scored six goals for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He is regarded by many as one of the most successful Bosnian football players in recent times.

RW/LW/FW: Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
Arjen Robben was an important player for Bayern Munich's dominance in Europe as they reached three Champions' League Finals in 4 years, winning the one in 2013.  He also played with Real Madrid, Chelsea and PSV Eindhoven at the club level.  For Netherlands, he had 96 caps between 2003 and 2017.  He helped Netherlands to reach the Final of the 2010 World Cup Finals and then, four years later the semi-final of the World Cup in Brazil.  

Arjen Robben 

RW/LW: Franck Ribery (France)
Ribery is one of the best French players of his generation.  Individually, Ribéry is a three-time winner of the French Player of the Year award and has also won the German Footballer of the Year becoming the first player to hold both honours.  He won the Champions' League in 2013 with Bayern Munich. He played in two World Cup Finals and helping France to a 2nd place in 2006. He played 81 times for France.

AM/FW: Conny Torstensson

Tortsensson represented Åtvidabergs FF, Bayern Munich, and FC Zürich during a career that spanned between 1967 and 1980. With Bayern Munich, he impressed most in European Cup matches, where he scored a number of important goals, and won the competition three times consecutively between 1974 and 1976. A full international between 1972 and 1979, he won 40 caps and scored seven goals for Sweden and represented his country at the 1974 and 1978 World Cup.

ST: Giovane Élber (Brazil)
At his prime, Giovane Élber was one of the greatest strikers playing in Europe.  He formed the famous magic triangle with Krassimir Balakov and Fredi Bobic at VfB Stuttgart.  With Bayern Munich, he was the star player as the club that won 4 league titles and the Champions' League in 2001.  However, he only played 15 times for Brazil, largely due to stiff competition. He played in the same generation with Ronaldo, etc.

Giovane Élber 

ST:  Robert Lewandowski (Poland)

At the time of writing, Robert Lewandowski is Poland's all-time leading scorer.  He started with Znicz Pruszków and Lech Poznań, but he is known for his career with Borussia Dortmund, where he scored over 70 goals and reached the Champions' League Final in 2013.  After the 2013-2014 season, he moved to rival Bayern Munich under a controversial situation. He won the 2020 Champions' League. For Poland, he was capped over 90 times.  He played in Euro 2012 and 2016, and the World Cup Finals in 2018.

ST: Roy Makaay (Netherlands)
Makaay played for Vitesse and CD Tenerife before becoming a big star with Deportivo La Coruna.  He helped them to win their first ever La Liga title in 1999-2000.  In 2002-2003, he scored 29 goals and became the European Golden Boot winner.  In 2003, he moved to Bayern Muinch.  He won two Bundesliga title.  For the national team, he was only capped 43 times, largely because he was playing at the same time as Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Kuivert and Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

ST: Claudio Pizarro (Peru)

At the time of writing, Claudio Pizarro is the all-time leading foreign scorer in the Bundesliga history.  His career in Germany was sandwiched between Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen.  He also played for Chelsea in England.  For the national team, he only scored 20 times for 85 matches at the time of writing between 1999 and 2016. He played in the 2018 World Cup Final, Peru's first World Cup Finals since 1982.  He scored a single goal in the Finals.

Claudio Pizarro

Honorable Mention
Dante (Brazil), Dayot Upamecano (France), Lucas Hernández (France), Robert Kovac (Croatia), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands), Patrik Anderssen (Sweden), Benjamin Pavard (France), Jorginho (Brazil), Rafinha (Brazil), Alphonso Davies (Canada), Arturo Vidal (Chile),  Javi Martinez (Spain), Branko Oblak (Slovenia), Alan McInally (Scotland),  Paulo Sergio (Brazil),  Hamit Altintop (Turkey), Brian Laudrup (Denmark), Mario Mandžukić (Croatia), Roque Santa Cruz (Paraguay), Luca Toni (Italy), Harry Kane (England).

Squad Explaination

-- This team was created in November, 2018.  I redid this team on August, 2024.

-- Seven players from my Bayern Munich All-Time Team are non-Germans.  They are Willy Sagnol, Giovane Elber, Robert Lewandowski, Bixente Lizarazu, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben.  Mark Van Bommel should also be undisputed.  Basically, I need to select 18 foreigners to this team.  

-- Giovane Élber and Bixente Lizarazu are the only foreign players elected to Bayern Munich Hall of Fame.

-- The 2020 Champions League winning team is still relatively young.  David Alaba (Austria) is the only significant player who stayed in Munich long enough.

-- In 2005, the Bayern fans voted for their Best XI.  The results: Sepp Maier, Klaus Augenthaler, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Franz Beckenbauer, Paul Breitner, Steffan Effenberg, Mehmet Scholl, Lothar Matthaus, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Gerd Muller and Giovane Élber.  Except Giovane Élber, they were all Germans.

--The official Bundesliga Greatest Best XI of Bayern Munich features the following legendary players: Oliver Kahn, Philipp Lahm, Klaus Augenthaler, Franz Beckenbauer, Paul Breitner, Arjen Robben, Lothar Matthaus, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Franck Ribery, Gerd Muller, and Robert Lewandowski.   The three foreigners were Ribery, Robben and Lewandowski.

-- The Bild came upon with 50 greatest Bayern Munich players in 2022.  The foreign players ranked were as followed:  4) Robert Lewandowski, 8) Franck Ribery, 9) Arjen Robben, 17) David Alaba, 19) Giovane Elber, 24) Javier Martinez,  25) Bixente Lizarazu 26) Sammy Kuffour, 27) Willy Sagnol, 28) Hasan Salihamidzic, 29) Claudo Pizarro, 32) Rafinha, 36) Luca Toni, 41) Patrik Andersson, 42) Roy Makaay, 43) Ze Roberto, 44) Xabi Alonso, 45) Thiago, 50) Jean-Marie Pfaff.

-- Sport.de listed as their 10 greatest ever Bayern players, but no foreign player was on their list.

Goalkeepers

-- Jean-Marie Pfaff is the only one foreign goalkeepers who is considered an all-timer over here.  So I have difficulty to find two other foreign keepers.

Jean-Marie Pfaff 

-- From my research, Ladislav Jirasek was the only other foreign keeper who started regularly for Bayern Munich.   There is limited information on his background on the internet. He was born in Czechoslovakia in 1927, but he was playing for German clubs when he was only 20 years old.  He started his career with Stuttgart Kickers in 1949.  He seemed to be the starting keeper for Bayern Munich between 1950 and 1952 before the birth of Bundesliga.  While playing for Borussia Neunkirchen between 1952 and 1961, he was capped once by Saarland in 1954 against Uruguay. He also played a single game for Saarland B team in the same year.  His nationality was often listed as Czech, but since he represented Saarland, a team considered one of the many German national teams during the Cold War era, he was officially cap-tied to a German national team. Therefore, he is considered a German player.

-- Both Pepe Reina and Zlatko Skoric (Yugoslavia) were backup keepers for a single season. I took Reina because I knew him better as a player. He only played 4 games for them, collecting a single red card. The other keepers were Robert Dekeyser (Belgium) and Ivan Lucic (Austria).

-- Yann Sommer came to Bayern Munich during the midseason break in the 2022-2023 season for an injury replacement to Manuel Neuer. He actually played more games than Pepe Reina.  He at least contributed half of a season in Munich.

Defenders

-- Lucio was among the best defender in the world while playing for Bayern Munich.  He was named on the ESM Team of the Year while playing for Munich.  Samuel Kuffour was named the BBC African Footballer of the Year in 2001 while playing for Bayern.  Robert Kovac was born in Germany, but he played for Croatia, which qualified him for this team.  However, his career here lasted 4 seasons only.  Matthijs de Ligt only spent two years here, but he was named on the Bundesliga Team of the Season.  Nonetheless, his spell was very short.  By contrast, Martín Demichelis and Daniel Van Buyten both had longer careers here.  So I decided to select Demichelis. and Van Buyten.

-- Dante was also seriously considered.  He was named on the ESM team of the Year in the 2012-2013 season. Patrik Anderssen also spent a short time here.  He was selected by Bild one of Bayern's 50 greatest players, but I still counted against him because of his longevity of Demichelis and Van Buyten.

-- Bayern Munich has two great foreign right backs, namely Willy Sagnol and Johnny Hansen. Sagnol belonged to my all-time Bayern team while Hansen was very close to making that team.  Hansen notably scored the first goal in a Bundesliga match at Munich's Olympic Stadium.  I also selected Hasan Salihamidžić as a right winger, but he could also play over here.  I had no space for Benjamin Pavard, Rafinha, Jorginho.  Rafinha was also a long-time rightback for the club. Jorginho was restricted to a backup for a long period of time in Munich.

-- Bixente Lizarazu has won all the titles there are to win in world football – only missing the UEFA Cup, which he ironically lost in 1996 with Bordeaux in the final against Bayern.  Alphonso Davies also has done many wonderful things in Munich, but he is not going to displace Lizarazu and Alaba. Ze Roberto could also play as a leftback. David Alaba could also play as a leftback.

Midfielders/Wingers

-- David Alaba played as a midfielder, central defender, and left-back during his time in Munich. He played a significant role in an era characterized by domestic league supremacy and continental "treble" crown successes. 

David Alaba

-- Mark Van Bommel is the first foreigner to be named Bayern's captain.  He is one of the undisputed selections for the club. Ze Roberto was a left wingback, but I selected him as a defensive midfielder, largely for his partnership with Van Bommel.  He later starred for Brazil in the 2006 World Cup Finals, playing as a defensive midfielder.  Thiago Alcântara's career was plagued with injuries, but he played enough games to solidify a place on the team.  He was named the Champions' League Team of the Season as Bayern won the title in 2020.

-- Most of the outfielders selected had a lengthy career with the club, but Xabi Alonso was only here for three seasons at the end of his career. However, he made the Bundesliga Best XI for the season 2014-2015.  I also selected him for his passing skills.  Lerby also only played three seasons, but he played in Munich at his prime.  

-- Javi Martinez's career with Bayern Munich was plagued by injuries.  I gave the last spot to Owen Hargreaves. He was a big contributor to the 2001 Champions' League title.

--  Brian Laudrup was Danish Player of the Year while playing for Bayern  Munich, but he earned it mainly through Denmark's victory at Euro 1992.  He only spent 2 seasons in Munich, and was affected by some injury issues.  On the hand, in all European competitions, Conny Torstensson netted 10 goals across 21 matches, with several being crucial strikes, leading to him being dubbed "Mr. European Cup" in Munich.   Consequently, he emerged as a more significant player for the club than Laudrup.

-- Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery became known as ‘Robbery’ in Munich.  They defined a generation of Bayern's successes.  The pair won 77 per cent of the games when they played together on the same field.  In 2013, they won the Champions' League with Robben scoring the winning goal.  Ribery is also one of Bundesliga's all-time leading assist providers.  Hasan Salihamidžić and Ze Roberto would be the backup wingers. Salihamidžić spent 9 seasons with the club playing over 360 matches for Bayern.  Kingsley Coman played many years in Munich.  He scored the winning goal in the 2020 Champions' league Final, but I stayed with the players selected.

Franck Ribery

Forwards

-- As you can see above, Giovane Élber was consistently ranked among Bayern Munich's greatest players.

-- Claudio Pizarro's international reputation was not well-known as the others, but in the Bundesliga, he is among the greatest ever foreign players.  He is the ninth top scorer in the history of Bayern Munich and the sixth top scorer in the history of the Bundesliga and its second top scorer in the 21st century. 

-- In August, 2020, I decided to add Robert Lewandowski after Bayern Munich won the 2020 Champions' League.  He is now the second All-Time leading scorer for Bayern Munich. In the 2020-2021 season, Lewandowski broke Gerd Muller’s 40-goal season record in the 1971–72 season that was thought to be unbreakable. He is Bayern Munich's all-time top scorer for foreign player. Arjen Robben is second.

-- Harry Kane finished as the top scorer in the Bundesliga during his first season, but Bayern Munich finished trophy-less.  At the time, he is heading toward his second season.  Luca Toni played 3 seasons in Munich.  He finished as the Bundesliga top scorer in his first season, but he only had two good seasons. I onmly put Kane and Toni on Honorable Mentions.  Instead, I selected Roy Makaay.  He scored over 100 goals for Bayern in 4 seasons.

Roy Makaay

Formation