Manuel Neuer is now the sole World Cup record goalkeeper. The 36-year-old Bayern Munich goalkeeper played his 19th World Cup game for the German national team against Costa Rica on Thursday evening. He replaced the German world champion from 1974, Sepp Maier, and Brazil’s Claudio Taffarel, who each played 18 times at a World Cup.
Neuer overtakes Taffarel: players with most World Cup appearances (all nations)
Neuer, who had his 117th international match, made his tournament debut at the 2010 World Cup against Australia (4-0). Since then he has been in goal for all German World Cup games with one exception. Only in the match for third place in South Africa a good twelve years ago did he make room for his then substitute Hans Jörg Butt in a 3-2 win against Uruguay. The culmination of Neuer’s career was the 2014 World Cup victory in Brazil with a 1-0 win over Argentina in the final after extra time.
Like Neuer, Thomas Müller also played his 19th World Cup game in the Al-Bait Stadium in Al-Khour. The World Cup record player is Lothar Matthäus, who played 25 times for Germany in five tournaments.
Müller & Neuer climb: German players with the most World Cup appearances
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