Borussia Dortmund is one of the largest teams in the whole of German Soccer, the “Yellow and Black’s” were founded in 1909 and have a total of five Bundesliga titles to their name.
The team based in North Rhine-Westphalia also won the 1997 UEFA Champions League, this is still the biggest achievement in the clubs’ history.
A team this successful is also likely to have been home to some fine players over the years and this is what we’ll be focussing on today.
It’s time to take you through our picks for the top 15 best Borussia Dortmund players of all time.
15. Erling Haaland
- Position: Striker
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 89 | 86 | 23 |
Our list gets underway with Borussia Dortmund’s newest legend, the big Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland. Haaland joined Dortmund in 2020 after impressing at both Molde and Red Bull Salzburg.
During his two-year spell in Germany, Haaland bagged a staggering total of 86 goals in just 89 appearances (a strike rate of almost a goal per game). The most impressive display of his time with the club came on his debut though.
After coming on as a second-half substitute against FC Augsburg, Haaland scored a quite astonishing hat-trick in only 23 minutes on the field.
This started a prolific period of the Norwegian’s career that saw him earn a move to Premier League champions Manchester City.
14. Mats Hummels
- Position: Centre-Back
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 434 | 33 | 22 |
The dependable German defender is one of the finest center-backs to have played the game and has spent considerable time at both of Germany’s biggest clubs (Dortmund and Bayern Munich), making himself indispensable to both in his prime.
Hummels first joined Dortmund on loan from their Bavarian rivals Bayern in 2007, he would later join on a permanent basis and established himself as the first choice in the Dortmund team.
After remaining with Dortmund until 2016, Hummels later re-joined Bayern and won three Bundesliga titles during his time there.
In 2019, Hummels then made the switch once more and returned to Dortmund for a second spell in yellow and black.
At the age of 33 Hummels remains a key component of Dortmund’s squad and is looking to add to his already impressive list of honors.
13. Stéphane Chapuisat
Embed from Getty Images- Position: Striker
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 284 | 123 | 64 |
Widely regarded within his home country of Switzerland as the greatest player the country has ever had, Stéphane Chapuisat played for Dortmund between the years of 1991-1999 and made a total of 283 appearances for the club.
In his first season with the club, Chapuisat scored 20 goals as Dortmund fell short of the Bundesliga title. The following season, however, Dortmund managed to get over the line and take the German title and defended the season after.
During the 1996-97 UEFA Champions League campaign, Chapuisat was a crucial part of the trophy-winning side. The Swiss striker scored 3 goals in 10 appearances during this run.
In total, Chapuisat scored 102 goals for Dortmund during his 8-year stay in Germany.
12. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
- Position: Striker
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 213 | 141 | 36 |
Staying with prolific strikers, next up on our list is the Gabon hero Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. After a couple of promising season with St. Etienne in France, Aubameyang made the move to Dortmund in 2013 and hit the ground running.
Similar to Haaland, the Gabonian scored a hat-trick against FC Augsburg on his Bundesliga debut to introduce himself to the world.
Aubameyang would go on to become one of Dortmund’s top scorers in their history (7th), falling just short of 100 goals for the club with 98 in 144 appearances (Bundesliga only).
In early 2018, Aubameyang decided it was time for a new challenge and departed for English side Arsenal where he remained until 2022.
11. Mario Götze
- Position: Attacking Midfield
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 219 | 45 | 61 |
Another player that has had multiple spells in the North Rhine, Mario Götze is one of the silkiest attacking midfielders of his generation. The German scored the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina.
For Dortmund, Götze came from the clubs youth academy system and as such is praised by the fans as ‘one of their own’.
In his first spell with the club, he was brought into the squad by legendary manager Jürgen Klopp and made a total of 83 appearances and scored 22 goals. Götze departed for Bayern Munich in 2013 following the UEFA Champions League Final.
After spending three years in Bavaria, Götze returned to Dortmund in 2016 and made a further 75 appearances, and scored 13 more goals before joining PSV Eindhoven in 2020.
10. Lars Ricken
Embed from Getty Images- Position: Attacking Midfield
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 406 | 69 | 68 |
As we move into the top-ten of our list, it only seems right that we include a man that never left his hometown of Dortmund in his 15-year career. Midfielder Lars Ricken played for Dortmund between 1993 and 2009 (he finished his career with Borussia Dortmund 2).
What makes Ricken such a legend for Dortmund fans is not his contributions to the successes of the club, but more his longevity and devotion to his hometown. Ricken was a man plagued by injuries that severely hampered his playing career.
Perhaps his most famous moment in a Dortmund shirt came in the UEFA Champions League triumph over Juventus, where he bagged himself a goal after just 16 seconds on the pitch.
9. Robert Lewandowski
- Position: Striker
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 187 | 103 | 42 |
A player that we’re sure you will all be familiar with, the next man on our list is the great Robert Lewandowski.
Like many players on this list, the Polish striker has spent time at both Dortmund and Bayern Munich and is a legend to both clubs.
Lewandowski spent four seasons with Dortmund, where he forged himself into one of the world’s greatest players.
In 131 appearances for the club, he put the ball in the net 74 times making him the 12th highest scorer in the teams history.
In his time at Dortmund, Lewandowski made the team one of the most threatening in Europe. The prolific nature of his goals caught the eyes of Bayern Munich though and the pull of the Bavarian giants was too great to ignore.
Lewandowski joined Bayern in 2014, where he went on to score 238 times in 253 appearances.
8. Stefan Reuter
Embed from Getty Images- Position: Right Midfield
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 421 | 15 | 31 |
A versatile player that could play either in defence or midfield, Stefan Reuter spent the majority of his playing career in Dortmund between 1992-2004.
Reuter is one of foremost appearance makers for the club having stepped foot on the pitch for them 307 times during his long period in Dortmund.
Before joining Dortmund from Juventus in 1992, Reuter had been a key part of the West-German side that won the famous 1990 World Cup and was subjected to interest from Liverpool before moving to Dortmund.
Reuter scored 11 goals during his 12 years with Dortmund, before retiring from Soccer in 2004. He is now the general manager of FC Augsburg.
7. Roman Weidenfeller
- Position: Goalkeeper
| Games | Goals Conceded | Clean Sheets |
|---|---|---|
| 453 | 510 | 148 |
Goalkeepers are one of the most important yet often most forgotten players in lists of this kind, so it felt right to put Dortmund’s greatest ever shot stopper so high in our list.
German goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller played for the club between 2002 and 2018, notching up an impressive 349 appearances in his glittering career.
Weidenfeller was initially signed to be a replacement for the departing Jens Lehmann and quickly established himself as at least his compatriots equal, if not better (at least for Dortmund).
Across the plethora of seasons that Weidenfeller spent in Dortmund, he kept 148 clean sheets. Given the level of longevity that he spent at the club, it was viewed by the fans as the end of an era when he eventually retired in 2018.
6. Michael Zorc
- Position: Defensive Midfield
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 572 | 159 | 31 |
Staying with players who have proven themselves to be loyal servants to Borussia Dortmund, the next player on our list is the club’s all-time appearance maker.
Michael Zorc played was a man that bridged the generations at the Westphalenstadion, playing for Dortmund between 1981 and 1998.
Across this staggering playing career, Zorc made 572 appearances for the club. This is 119 more than second on that list, Roman Weidenfeller. Zorc also scored 131 goals over the years for Dortmund.
Following his retirement in 1998, Zorc remained with the club in a non-playing role. The German became Sporting Director of Dortmund, a role in which he remained until June 2022. Zorc oversaw three Bundesliga titles during his time at the top.
5. Karl-Heinz Riedle
Embed from Getty Images- Position: Striker
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 112 | 36 | 26 |
One of the key figures in the 1997 UEFA Champions League victory, Karl Heinze Riedle takes us into the top five of our list. Riedle played for Dortmund between 1993-1997 and made a total of 112 appearances and registered 36 goals.
What made Riedle such a vital component of the Dortmund team was his aerial ability which earned him the nickname ‘Air’ Riedle. The German scored a number of impressive headed goals throughout his career.
The most vital contribution Riedle made to the ‘Yellow and Black’s’ were his two strikes against Juventus in the 1997 UEFA Champions League Final that gave Dortmund the platform to take a 3-1 win over their Italian opponents.
Riedle later moved to England, where he appeared for both Liverpool and Fulham.
4. Alfred Preissler
- Position: Striker
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 271 | 174 | N/A |
We would simply not be allowed to leave out the club’s greatest ever goal scorer in this list, even if these goals were scored before the establishment of the German Bundesliga.
Preissler scored 174 times for Dortmund across two separate spells with the club, he also played 271 games for the club during his time in the North Rhine.
The West-German striker would be the main driver in Dortmund winning the old German Championship in both 1956 and 1957.
After achieving a great deal of success with the club, Preissler retired in 1959. Despite being such a prolific goal scorer for his domestic club, Preissler only made two appearances for West Germany and failed to score for his country.
3. Jürgen Kohler
Embed from Getty Images- Position: Centre-Back
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | 18 | 13 |
As we start to approach the end of our list, next up is the finest defender to have ever played for Borussia Dortmund. Jürgen Kohler was not the tallest of centre-backs, measuring at just 6 ft 1 inch.
Despite this, Kohler became a defensive rock for Dortmund and one of the most reliable men to have ever played for the club. When he joined in 1995, Kohler already had a reputation as one of the best defenders in the world, he had even scored against Dortmund for Juventus in the UEFA Cup Semi-Final.
Over his time at Dortmund, Kohler helped lead the club to four major trophies and eventually retired in 2002.
Unfortunately for the German, his career ended in disappointment following a sending-off in the 2002 UEFA Cup Final that Dortmund eventually lost 3-2 to Feyenoord.
2. Manfred Burgsmüller
- Position: Striker
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 252 | 158 | 2 |
Second place on this list belongs to yet another lethal goal scorer that has spent time in the famous colours of Borussia Dortmund, German striker Manfred Burgsmüller played for the team between 1976 and 1983.
What makes Burgsmüller stand out from the other forwards in this list is that he is Dortmund’s top scorer in the Bundesliga. In total Burgsmüller scored 135 times for Dortmund in all competitions across 224 appearances.
After departing Dortmund in 1983, the striker went on to play Soccer until 1990 when he retired from the game.
Following his retirement, Burgsmüller switched his attention to American Football and joined NFL Europe team Rhein Fire where he won two World Bowls as the team’s kicker.
1. Matthias Sammer
Embed from Getty Images- Position: Sweeper
| Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 153 | 232 | 24 |
After much deliberation, there could only be one man who can be declared as the best Borussia Dortmund player of all time.
You may expect another striker at the head of our list; however, it is defensive midfielder Matthias Sammer who makes it to the top spot.
Sammer played for Dortmund during their so called ‘Golden Years’ and won three Bundesliga titles, as well as the UEFA Champions League whilst with the club.
Alongside these triumphs, Sammer also won a series of individual awards. The German was declared European player of the year in 1996, an award that was considered highly prestigious to win.
After retiring from Soccer in 2000, Sammer would later return to Dortmund as a manager in 2002. The former midfielder would lead his side to the Bundesliga title in the same year.
After a lot of consideration and changes to our choices, that is our list of the 15 best Borussia Dortmund players of all time. Would you have included anyone else?
