A sofa of World Cup legends

Bayern are represented by 11 players at the 2018 World Cup, joining a long list of FCB stars who have left their mark on football’s biggest tournament. This photo shows a very special group of them on 17 July 2007.

In 2002, Oliver Kahn became the only goalkeeper to win the Golden Ball award for the best player of the tournament after his saves helped Germany to reach the final. Meanwhile, Luca Toni and Franck Ribéry faced each other in the 2006 final, and it was the Italian who had the happy ending. When this photo was taken, Miroslav Klose, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski certainly wouldn’t have known that seven years later, they’d be holding the coveted trophy in their hands and that Klose would go on to become the all-time World Cup top scorer.

Who wouldn’t to sit on the sofa and watch the action from Russia with these players? They’ve all retired now and will be seeing how their successors Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng, Mats Hummels, Niklas Süle, Joshua Kimmich, Sebastian Rudy, Thomas Müller, Corentin Tolisso, James Rodríguez, Robert Lewandowski and Thiago fare on the world stage.

In the ‘Looking Back’ series, fcbayern.com presents regular snapshots from the photo archives for fans to enjoy.