Thomas Muller – Profiling Germany’s Goalscorer

April 30, 2018

Thomas Müller celebrating after scoring for Germany

More Mr Bean than David Beckham, Thomas Müller is a curious beast. Clearly, an exceptional talent for both club and country but to watch him play is to sometimes wonder why you never made it in the profession yourself. Not blessed with speed or silky skills, his sheer cussedness and ability to find and use space effectively means that this summer he has a shot at becoming the all-time top-scorer in the World Cup. We assess his chances.

Of the 29 players to score eight or more goals in the World Cup to date, only one is still plying his trade. That player is Thomas Müller of Bayern Munich and Germany fame. The nearest player to him on the list that is likely to be playing in the World Cup this summer is his fellow Bayern Munich teammate, James Rodriguez of Columbia. The then-young Columbian announced himself to the world at large during the 2014 World Cup and secured himself a big-money move to Real Madrid on the back of his exploits. He helped himself to a healthy six goals during that tournament but that amount still sees him four goals short of Müller’s haul of 10.

That being the case, what chance does the effervescent Müller have of climbing to the very top of the list this summer? In addition to being a favourite of manager, Joachim Löw, Germany is expected to go deep in the tournament so assuming good form and fortune, the stage is set for Müller to reach for immortality. However, it will be far from easy to do. In order to become the all-time top scorer in the World Cup, he will need to bag seven goals.

The man currently at the top the list and surveying all below him is Müller’s old national teammate, Miroslav Klose. The rangy striker scored 16 goals across four different World Cups at a rate of .67 goals per game, slightly less than Müller’s rate of .77 goals per game. Klose overtook (the original) Ronaldo in 2014, the Brazilian’s record of 15 goals stood since 2006 when he overtook Gerd Müller’s record of 14 goals, a feat that had previously stood untouched for 32 years. It’s fair to say that the Germans have good form in this arena. Of the 13 players to have scored 10 or more goals in the World Cup, five of them hail from Germany.

Fancy Muller to hit the heights in Russia? Get the best top goalscorer odds with our preferred bookmakers here:

Germany’s No. 13 Looks for Immortality

But how is Müller’s form coming into this latest iteration of the World Cup? It’s fair to say that he hasn’t been scaling the heights of yesteryear. As is the custom in Germany, it looks as if Bayern Munich will have the league wrapped up with a month or two to spare. However, that says more about the current dearth of competition in the Bundesliga this season than it does about the form of the Munich players.

Furthermore, Müller has found it hard to come by goals this season and last. Although his tally of nine goals in 29 matches across all competitions this season isn’t to be sniffed at, relative to the four seasons from 2012-13 to 2015-16, it is markedly poor. He will be hoping that he can move up the gears in what is left of both the domestic season and the Champion’s League.

In order for Müller to score the seven goals required to get him to the top of the all-time goalscoring charts in the World Cup, he will likely have to be the top scorer in this tournament. Given his current form as outlined above, this is probably a long shot but it’s worth remembering that he is a World Cup animal so in his case the normal rules do not always apply.

The best price to be found for Müller to be top goalscorer comes from 888Sport at odds of 33/1.

About the author

Alan Penny

Editor-in-Chief

Alan hails from Northern Ireland and is an avid fan of all sports. He has been with us since 2017 and serves as SBO’s Editor-in-Chief. Alan passionately covers everything from the latest regulatory developments across the globe to tips on the latest football matches.