? Bundesliga keeper reaches 500 games, only 13 did it before

When Oliver Baumann and his Hoffenheim team faced Mainz 05 away yesterday, it was a special occasion for the current number one in the national team: he played his 500th Bundesliga match. That’s an impressive number—and only 13 players have managed to do the same since 1963.

At 35 years and just over five months old, Baumann is, according to ‘transfermarkt.de’, the fourth-youngest player to reach his 500th Bundesliga appearance. He made his debut more than 15 years ago as a 19-year-old for SC Freiburg. He stayed there until he moved to Sinsheim in 2014—and since then, he has guarded the TSG goal several hundred times.

Who achieved this before him?

The most recent milestone breaker is Thomas Müller. Before his move to the USA, he hit this mark—about half a year ago.

? Alex Grimm - 2025 Getty Images

Then we have former Bayern player Stefan Reuter, who boasts 502 Bundesliga appearances—so still within Baumann’s reach, while Müller is unlikely to increase his tally any further.

Position twin and HSV legend Uli Stein also broke the 500-game mark in his career, as did Michael Lameck (who played 518 Bundesliga games for Bochum), DFB Cup winner Willi Neuberger, goalkeeper Eike Immel, former national player Klaus Fischer, and defensive midfielder Miroslav Votava, who only ended his career at the age of 41.

Incidentally, alongside Baumann and Müller, Manuel Neuer is the only other active player on this list. He too has broken the record and continues to work on increasing his total.

? Johannes Simon - 2008 Getty Images

One of Baumann’s role models—Oliver Kahn—also once broke the mark, as did Manfred “Manni” Kaltz and Klaus Fichtel, who played for Schalke and Bremen.

At the very top sits Karl-Heinz Körbel. With 602 Bundesliga appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt, he has held the Bundesliga record since 1990.

There’s more to come

So, it’s quite a prominent collection of names that Oliver Baumann joined last night—and he has the potential to climb even higher than 14th place. The TSG keeper has a contract until 2028 and can imagine standing between the posts until his 40th birthday—at least that’s what ‘transfermarkt.de’ reports. Ideally, he wants to do so in Sinsheim until the very end. So, we can look forward to seeing how many more appearances will follow these first 500.

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