Top 10 most appearances amongst active Bundesliga players as Matthias Ginter prepares for game 400
Matthias Ginter is set to make his 400th Bundesliga appearance when Freiburg host Werder Bremen on Matchday 21 of the 2025/26 campaign. Amongst outfield players currently in the top flight, he has featured more frequently than anyone else, but where does he rank overall?
Ginter will become the 73rd player to play 400 Bundesliga games if he features at the weekend, although he would still be some way behind record holder Charly Köbel’s 602. Here is the current active top 10…
1) Manuel Neuer (539 appearances)
At the top of the pile, as is the case in numerous Bundesliga all-time lists, is Bayern Munich custodian Neuer. Starting out at Schalke, he moved to Bavaria in 2011 and has since become one of the greatest goalkeepers the game has ever seen.
Watch: The best of Manuel Neuer so far in 2025/26
No shot-stopper has kept more clean sheets than his 243, while he also holds the record for most Bundesliga wins (369). Should Bayern clinch the Bundesliga this season, he will also move level with Thomas Müller on 13 titles and, considering how he continues to command the penalty area, you wouldn’t bet against him adding more despite being close to 40 years old.
2) Oliver Baumann (509 appearances)
Earlier this season, current Germany number one Baumann surpassed the 500-appearance mark in the Bundesliga and celebrated by gifting 500 litres of beer to the Hoffenheim supporters.
Since rocking up in Sinsheim from Freiburg in 2014, Baumann has missed just 16 Bundesliga games. He has been club captain since 2022 and, along with Andrej Kramarić, one of the few constants at Hoffenheim over the last decade.
Watch: Baumann honoured in recognition of 500th Bundesliga appearance
3) Matthias Ginter (399 appearances)
Ginter had just turned 18 when he made his Bundesliga debut for Freiburg in 2012 – it was a dream introduction for the defender, too, scoring the winning goal as his side narrowly defeated Augsburg 1-0.
He joined Borussia Dortmund in the same summer he was part of Germany’s 2014 FIFA World Cup-winning squad, before moving to Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2017.
Ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, Ginter returned to where it all began, helping the Breisgau Brazilians establish themselves in the top half of the table. Having signed a new contract going in to Matchday 21 of the 2025/26 campaign, he should be around for several more years to come.
4) Maximilian Arnold (393 appearances)
A rare breed as a one-club man, Arnold became Wolfsburg’s youngest-ever player when he made his first appearance against Augsburg in 2011, aged 17 years, five months, and 30 days. Since then, he has played at least 27 times in 12 different Bundesliga seasons.
Watch: Arnold's best free-kicks
Possessing a deadly left foot and incredibly dangerous from set-pieces, Arnold was appointed Wolfsburg captain in 2022. Although he has not won the Bundesliga during his time at the club, he was an integral figure as the Wolves won the 2014/15 DFB Cup.
5) Julian Brandt (369 appearances)
Also a product of the Wolfsburg youth system, Brandt departed the Volkswagen Arena without making a first-team appearance, instead joining Bayer Leverkusen in 2014. He was one of several exciting young talents at the BayArena, along with Kai Havertz, but is now better known for his spell at Dortmund.
He joined the Black-Yellows in 2019 and has been a constant provider of Bundesliga goals and assists ever since. Remarkably, he has made at least 30 appearances in each of the previous nine full league campaigns, underlining his ability to stay fit and available.
6) Christian Günter (359 appearances)
Joining Ginter on the list is Freiburg captain Günter, one of two players included here who have spent their entire careers at one club. He has been captain since 2021 and has experienced both ups and downs in the Black Forest, featuring in Bundesliga 2 and the UEFA Europa League.
A key quality of any player with this many appearances is avoiding injuries, and Günter has done so better than most – between Matchday 24 of 2018/19 and Matchday 21 of 2022/23, the left-back played in 134 consecutive Bundesliga matches.
7) Mario Götze (331 appearances)
Forever remembered for scoring Germany’s winner in the 2014 FIFA World Cup final, Götze has featured for Dortmund, Bayern and Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. His time in the division has brought with it plenty of success, including lifting the Meisterschale five times in total.
Watch: The best of Mario Götze in the Bundesliga
Götze was at his irresistible best at Dortmund, playing a starring role as they won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012. Had he not spent two seasons at PSV in the Netherlands before moving to Frankfurt in 2022, he may well have been higher up this ranking.
8) Jonathan Tah (324 appearances)
Bayern’s 2025 summer signing Tah first featured in the Bundesliga for Hamburg in 2013, although the vast majority of his top-flight games came at Leverkusen, who he joined two years later.
Growing in stature year on year, he displayed the full extent of his ability in 2023/24, playing in all but one Bundesliga game as the Werkself won the title unbeaten. Now with the record champions, he is well on his way to adding a second winner's medal to his collection.
9) Dominik Kohr (321 appearances)
Mainz’s Kohr has made an impressive number of Bundesliga appearances when you consider his disciplinary record amongst the elite. Only Steffen Effenberg has amassed more than his 110 yellow cards in Bundesliga history, while he holds the outright record for most red cards (nine).
Nevertheless, the 32-year-old has been a consistent and versatile performer across stints with Leverkusen, Augsburg, Frankfurt and Mainz, continuing his association with the colour red.
10) Leon Goretzka (314 appearances)
Goretzka had already played a full Bundesliga 2 season at Bochum before making his top-flight debut for Schalke in 2013. He quickly developed into a crucial player for the club, linking up with fellow academy graduate Leroy Sané as Schalke regularly competed towards the top of the Bundesliga.
Following the end of the 2017/18 season, when Schalke finished second behind Bayern, he moved to the Allianz Arena – it is perhaps no coincidence that the former have finished no higher than 12th in the Bundesliga since.
Seven Bundesliga titles and over 290 Bayern outings later, he will be eager to add an eighth Meisterschale before he departs Bayern this summer.
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