Miroslav Klose Miroslav Josef Klose (, pl, Mirosław Józef Klose; born 9 June 1978 as Mirosław Marian Klose) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Austrian Bundesliga club Rheindorf Altach. A striker, Klose ...

is the all-time top scorer for the

Germany national football team The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deuts ...

, with 71 goals in 137 games between 2001 and 2014. He is also the top scorer in the history of the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

, with 16 goals in 24 appearances across four editions from 2002 to

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. In the 13 years Klose played for the national team, Germany never lost a game in which he scored. Klose scored on his debut for Germany, a 2–1 win over

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

on 24 March 2001 during qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. On 13 February 2002, he scored his first international

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

, in a 7–1 win over

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

at his then club ground, the

Fritz-Walter-Stadion Fritz-Walter-Stadion () is the home stadium of 1. FC Kaiserslautern and is located in the city of Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was one of the stadia used in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. It is named after Fritz Walter (1920–2 ...

in Kaiserslautern; this was followed by another treble on 18 May in a 6–2 win against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. At his first tournament finals, the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, Klose scored five goals to become the tournament's joint second top scorer, alongside

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo (), is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a ...

and behind Ronaldo. All of his goals came in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

, starting with a headed hat-trick in an 8–0 win against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

at the

Sapporo Dome is a stadium located in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, and is primarily used for baseball and association football. It is the home field of the association football club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, and was also home to the baseball team Hokkaido Ni ...

. Klose netted two goals in the opening game of the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, a 4–2 win against Costa Rica, and scored another brace in Germany's final group stage match, a 3–0 win against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. He finished his second World Cup again with five goals to take the FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe. On 10 September 2008, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, he scored the last of his four international hat-tricks, earning a 3–3 draw away to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. He scored four goals at the finals in South Africa, including two in a 4–0 quarter-final win over Argentina on his 100th cap. On 6 June 2014, Klose scored his 69th goal in 132 games in a 6–1 friendly win over

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, surpassing Gerd Müller's record of 68 goals in 62 games from 1966 to 1974. Klose added two more goals in Germany's victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup to retire with a record of 71 goals in 137 games. His final goal came in their 7–1 semi-final victory over hosts Brazil, taking him to 16 World Cup goals and surpassing Ronaldo as the tournament's record goalscorer. In addition to his 16 goals in World Cup finals, Klose scored another 13 in qualification games, as well as three goals in

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

finals and 16 in that tournament's qualification matches. The remainder of his goals, 23, were scored in friendly matches. He scored six times against Austria, his highest tally against one country, and also totalled five goals against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

and Sweden.

International goals

:''"Score" represents the score in the match after Klose's goal. "Score" and "Result" list Germany's goal tally first.''

Breakdown

By year

By competition

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klose, Miroslav Germany national football team records and statistics Klose

International goals

Breakdown

By year

By competition

See also

References