Bayern Munich are one of 12 European teams and two Bundesliga sides that will feature at the Mundial de Clubes FIFA 25™ (FIFA Club World Cup 2025™).

Read on to learn more about the history of Germany’s most successful club, some of their legendary players and how they qualified for the global showpiece.

How they qualified
Bayern secured their place at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 when the qualification process was announced back in December 2023. The club’s strong performances in the UEFA Champions League over the four-year qualifying period (2021-2024), when they reached at least the quarter-final stage each season, meant they qualified via the UEFA ranking pathway.

Club factfile
Founded: 1900
Stadium: Allianz Arena
Nickname: Die Roten

Club history

With roots in the football division of MTV Munchen, Bayern Munich were founded in 1900. The most successful club in German football history celebrated the first of their 33 league titles to date in 1932, well before the Bundesliga was set up in 1963. Bayern won 11 consecutive league titles between 2013 and 2023, before Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen brought this run to an end in the 2023-24 season. Die Roten are also record winners of the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) with 20 titles to their name, the most recent of which came in 2020.
Bayern’s long track record of success extends beyond the borders of Germany. The club’s vast trophy cabinet also includes six UEFA Champions League titles (previously the European Cup), two Intercontinental Cups and two FIFA Club World Cup™ trophies. Bayern became FIFA Club World Cup champions for the first time after beating Raja Casablanca (Morocco) 2-0 in 2013, repeating the feat with a 1-0 victory over UANL Tigres (Mexico) in 2020.

Club icons
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz ‘Der Kaiser’ Beckenbauer’s achievements as a player, coach and president shaped not just Bayern Munich but German football as a whole. As a player, Beckenbauer was an exceptional sweeper who led his club and country to numerous domestic and international titles, including four Bundesligas, four German Cups, three successive European Cups and the 1974 FIFA World Cup™. He also won the Ballon d’Or in 1972 and 1976. Beckenbauer later went on to win the World Cup for a second time in 1990, this time as Germany’s head coach.

Gerd Muller
Gerd Muller, also known as ‘Der Bomber der Nation’, is arguably the best German striker of all time. As a team-mate of Beckenbauer, he scored countless goals for Bayern and West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s, collecting a vast amount of silverware in the process, including four league titles, four German Cups, three European Cups and the 1974 World Cup, when he netted the winner in a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands.

Lothar Matthaus
Lothar Matthaus was a star player in the 1980s and 1990s. As a sweeper and central midfielder, he was known for his leadership qualities and technical skill on the ball. Matthaus also played a key role in several Bayern triumphs, including seven Bundesliga titles, three German Cups and the UEFA Cup. He is also Germany’s most-capped player with 150 international appearances to his name, becoming world champion in 1990 and a runner-up on two other occasions (1982, 1986). He won the Ballon d’Or in 1990 and was crowned FIFA World Player of the Year in 1991.