After years of dominance by Robert Lewandowski in the race for the top scorer in the Bundesliga, the 2022/23 season is more like a snail race. The current leader of the ranking list, Niclas Füllkrug, is even heading for a historic minus record.
In the current season, Werder Bremen’s Niclas Füllkrug leads the top scorers list in the Bundesliga with just 16 goals two games to go. If it stays that way, it would be a new minutes record in the history of the Bundesliga since 1963.
But where is the worst result of a top scorer in the Bundesliga so far? SPOX gives an overview.
Bundesliga – The current top scorer list after 32 matchdays: Niclas Füllkrug in first place
player
Association
Gates
Niclas filling jug
SV Werder Bremen
16
Randal Kolo Muani
Eintracht Frankfurt
14
Vincenzo Grifo
Sc freiburg
14
Marcus Thuram
Borussia Monchengladbach
13
Serge Gnabry
FC Bayern Munich
13
Christopher Nkunku
RB Leipzig
13
Marvin Ducksch
SV Werder Bremen
12
Sheraldo Becker
Union Berlin
11
Jamal Musiala
FC Bayern Munich
11
Dodi Lukebakio
Hertha BSC
11
Marius Bülter
FC Schalke 04
11
20 goals – Ulf Kirsten (Leverkusen) and Anthony Yeboah (Frankfurt) – 1992/93
For goalscorer Kirsten it was the first goalscorer cannon, he was to repeat the feat with the Werkself twice more in 1997 and 1998, incidentally with 22 goals each time. Yeboah also got the cannon again, a year later together with Stefan Kuntz (18 goals each).
20 goals – Mario Basler (Bremen) and Heiko Herrlich (Gladbach) – 1994/95
Basler is one of only four players who did not become top scorer as a striker. In the end, his team from Werder ended up in second place, just one point behind champions Dortmund.
After his strong season, Herrlich caused a scandal when he made a verbal commitment and wanted to switch to BVB – the matter even went to court. In the end, Dortmund paid around eleven million marks, the highest domestic German transfer fee to date.
20 goals – Theofanis Gekas (Bochum) – 2006/07
Bochum was the first of four stops for the Greek in the Bundesliga. At the end of the season, he first switched Gekas, who had been loaned out by Panathinaikos, to VfL for €700,000 and then went directly to Bayer Leverkusen for €4.7 million. Later he was active for Hertha BSC and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Back then, Gekas scored more than 40 percent of the Ruhr club’s goals (20 out of 49) and thus played a huge part in VfL finishing in 8th place – one place ahead of BVB!
20 goals – Robert Lewandowski (Dortmund) – 2013/14
It’s hard to believe, but 2013/14 was Lewandowski’s third-worst goal tally in the Bundesliga. Only in his first season at BVB (10/11: 8 goals) and his first at FC Bayern (14/15: 17 goals) did the Pole score less often in Germany’s top division.
It was his last season in black and yellow, but he helped to finish second behind his future employer, just like the year before, but with a deficit of 19 points.
19 goals – Jurgen Klinsmann (Stuttgart) – 1987/88
The blond boy from Göppingen had already had a few productive years at VfB before he finally made his breakthrough in 87/88: top scorer ahead of Kalle Riedle (Werder/18), in November he also scored the goal with a spectacular overhead kick against FC Bayern of the year. A little later he made his debut for the German national team – and was voted Germany’s footballer of the year in 1988.
19 goals – Martin Max (1860 Munich) – 1999/00
1999/2000 was the best season for the Munich Lions since 1967 (second place) in the Bundesliga. The Blues finished 4th and subsequently played CL qualifiers but lost to Leeds United.
Nevertheless, it was an outstanding season for 1860, with two victories in the local derbies against eventual double winners FC Bayern as the highlight. Martin Max was the driving force during the season and probably had his best season in the Bundesliga.
19 goals – Alexander Meier (Frankfurt) – 2014/15
In an overall mixed season for Eintracht Frankfurt, Alexander Maier, already a crowd favorite, was the only ray of hope. The SGE only ended up in 9th place, but provided the top scorer with Meier.
The 19 goals was his best in the Bundesliga and ended up being the lion’s share of his team (19 out of 56).
18 goals – Jorn Andersen (Frankfurt) – 1989/90
Norwegian Andersen was crowned the first foreign top scorer in Bundesliga history, relegating Stefan Kuntz (Lautern/15 goals) to second place. Eintracht ended up third in the table, but Andersen left the club in the summer and signed for Fortuna Düsseldorf.
18 goals – Anthony Yeboah (Frankfurt) and Stefan Kuntz (Kaiserslautern) – 1993/94
In the 90s, it was not uncommon for two players to share the goalscoring cannon. 1993/94 was also such a year. It was a successful title defense for Yeboah after winning the cannon the year before, this time by two goals less. In the end, SBU finished fifth in the league, one point behind BVB.
The 1996 European champion, Stefan Kuntz, also secured his second top scorer in the Bundesliga. He previously won it for Bochum in the 1985/86 season. With his goals, he even led FCK to second place, just one point behind champions FC Bayern.
18 goals – Martin Max (1860 Munich) and Marcio Amoroso (Dortmund) – 2001/02
Two years after his first top scorer, Max struck again. This time, however, the lions only managed a ninth place.
Marcio Amoroso, on the other hand, came to BVB as the most expensive player in Bundesliga history and led the club directly to their first championship since 1996. Amoroso, who came from AC Parma for 25.5 million euros, formed a feared strike duo with the Czech giant Jan Koller. However, the Brazilian’s joy didn’t last long, he scored just ten goals in the two following seasons before his contract was terminated prematurely in April 2004. Previously, there were quarrels about a home leave after a ligament tear in the knee.
17 goals – Roland Wohlfahrt (Bayern Munich) and Thomas Allofs (Cologne) – 1988/89
Allofs had the cannon practically secured until Wohlfahrt recorded a four-pack against VfL Bochum on matchday 34 and drew level. A few weeks earlier, Wohlfahrt had decided the top game between eventual champions Bayern and Effzeh with two late goals (3-1).
The negative record of just 17 goals this season was to be set seven years later.
17 goals – Fredi Bobic (Stuttgart) – 1995/96
In the first season of the “Magic Triangle” with playmaker Krassimir Balakow and attacker Giovane Elber, VfB ended up in 10th place. Fredi Bobic was the top scorer, Elber was right behind with 16 goals.
“I’m not keen on keeping the record forever,” the 51-year-old said SID. “Records should also be broken – and that applies to both directions. I only played 26 games at the time due to knee surgery and it wasn’t my fault that the others didn’t score either. Jürgen Klinsmann and my teammate Giovane Elber were there and Sean Dundee illustrious names behind me. It was a fun ‘shooting contest’ on the final day.”
