Manuel Neuer
Goalkeeper · Bayern Munich · Germany
About Manuel Neuer
Manuel Neuer is the goalkeeper who redefined the position: a sweeper-keeper who leaves his box to intercept danger and plays with his feet as well as any outfield player. A 2014 World Cup winner with Germany, he has won 13 Bundesliga titles and two Champions Leagues with Bayern Munich.
Manuel Neuer's story
A Gelsenkirchen boy
Neuer grew up in Gelsenkirchen and spent 20 years at Schalke by his own count. As a boy he arrived early at home games to watch his idol, goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, warm up, impressed by how innovative his exercises were.
Nearly let go
Stepping up from Schalke's C-youth to B-youth, he was almost released, judged too short for a goalkeeper, and was dropped from the Westphalia regional selection. His U-19 coach backed him as first choice ahead of an older, established goalkeeper, and Neuer says the episode taught him he always had to fight.
Schalke to Bayern
He broke into Schalke's first team at 20, won the 2010-11 DFB-Pokal and took third place at the 2010 World Cup. Bayern Munich signed him in 2011 for a reported €30m, angering Schalke supporters, and he swept away the old goalkeeper stereotype: shot-stopper, organiser, distributor and libero in one.
Champions of Europe and the world
Bayern won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League treble in 2012-13, his second season, and a second Champions League in 2019-20. A domestic double of Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal in 2025-26 added to the tally. Thirteen Bundesliga titles in all make him one of the most decorated players in the club's history.
Retirement and return
Germany captain from 2016, he retired from international football on 21 August 2024 with 124 caps and 51 clean sheets. Recalled for the 2026 World Cup, he became Germany's oldest player at a major tournament, aged 40 years and 79 days against Curaçao on 14 June 2026, and set a record for World Cup appearances by a goalkeeper.
Did you know?
- 🧤 Germany conceded just four goals in seven games on the way to the 2014 World Cup, and Neuer won the tournament's Golden Glove as its best goalkeeper.
- 🥉 He finished third in the 2014 Ballon d'Or, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
- 👨👩👧 He married handball player Anika Bissel in a civil ceremony in 2023 and again in church in Bolzano, South Tyrol, on 19 July 2025. Their son Luca was born on 14 March 2024.
- 🏆 He was in goal for Bayern's 2020 sextuple: the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League, DFL-Supercup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
- 🎓 He went to the Gesamtschule Berger Feld in Gelsenkirchen, the same school as Germany team-mate Mesut Özil.
- 🏁 His brother Marcel is also in football, as a professional referee.
- 💶 In November 2011 he won €500,000 for charity on the German version of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'
- ❤️ He founded the Manuel Neuer Kids Foundation in Gelsenkirchen on 25 October 2010. Its MANUS centres support up to 130 children and young people a day, and he received the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia for the work on 30 October 2019.
- 🧠 His trick after conceding is to block out the error and tell himself it is still 0-0, he said in a 2024 interview with FC Bayern's media.
Honours
- FIFA World Cup: Germany (2014)
- UEFA Champions League x2: Bayern Munich (2012-13, 2019-20)
- Bundesliga x13: Bayern Munich (2012-13 to 2021-22, 2022-23, 2024-25, 2025-26)
- DFB-Pokal x7: Schalke (2010-11); Bayern Munich (2012-13, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2025-26)
- DFL-Supercup x7: Bayern Munich (2012, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2025)
- UEFA Super Cup x2: Bayern Munich (2013, 2020)
- FIFA Club World Cup x2: Bayern Munich (2013, 2020)
- World Cup Golden Glove: 2014
- The Best FIFA Goalkeeper: 2020
- UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season: 2019-20
- Ballon d'Or third place: 2014
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