Luis Díaz’s Bayern predecessors as Goal of the Year winners

For the second time in a row and the ninth time overall, the coveted award of Sportschau’s Goal of the Year has gone to a Bayern, after Luis Díaz's finish away at Union Berlin saw him take the 2025 crown. The Colombian follows in the footsteps of some greats at the German record champions. Eight players have previously scored a Goal of the Year in a Bayern shirt, including Gerd Müller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Klaus Augenthaler, Lothar Matthäus, Giovane Élber and Harry Kane, who achieved the feat last year. We look back at these fantastic goals.

1976: Gerd Müller vs. Banik Ostrava

Müller scored the 1976 Goal of the Year with a beautiful flying header from a cross from the right in the first leg of the 1976/77 European Cup quarter-final against Baník Ostrava. It was the goal that brought Bayern back in the game at 2-1. “Gerd's header was fantastic. For me, the ball was too high, but he was there as always. He just had that unique instinct. The ball sailed into the corner, unstoppable,” said Uli Hoeneß about his teammate's goal. Bayern won the return leg 5-0 to advance to the next round.

1980: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge vs. Bochum

Rummenigge’s sublime finish was the only goal of the game in the third minute as Bayern beat Bochum in October 1980. “I had my back to goal, surrounded by Bochum players – the only one of us anywhere near the goal. So I had to juggle the ball three times before I told myself I had to shoot now. It was then a lob over the goalkeeper, a technically demanding goal but not planned that way. I had to do something special to even get a shot off,” Rummenigge described the goal.

1988: Jürgen Wegmann vs. Nürnberg

Wegmann produced the perfect overhead kick against Nürnberg in November 1988 to secure a 1-0 victory for Bayern, earning him the Goal of the Year award. “In the 35th minute, Olaf Thon crossed the ball from midfield into the penalty area. I was lying horizontally in the air and hit the ball perfectly. It paid off that I’d been doing 18 Bruce Lee exercises every day for four years, for coordination and agility. The fact that I bruised my ribs when I hit the ground was only a minor detail,” said Wegmann about award-winning finish.

1989: Klaus Augenthaler vs. Frankfurt

Augenthaler beat Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Uli Stein from just over 50 metres to score the winning goal for Bayern in the first round of the 1989/90 DFB Cup. “Before that match, coach Jupp Heynckes had mentioned that Stein liked to stand very far in front of his goal, like a kind of sweeper. During the game, I actually noticed that he was repeatedly outside his box when Frankfurt had possession. So I just gave it a try and the ball went perfectly,” Augenthaler said of his remarkable lob.

1992: Lothar Matthäus vs. Leverkusen

Matthäus took the title for 1992 with a superb volley at a corner against Bayer Leverkusen. “I’d returned to Munich from Inter Milan in the summer and had worked hard after tearing my cruciate ligament to be back on the pitch after just five months. During this phase, I wasn't quite back to my usual automatic reflexes, so I was criticised. And then came 21 November in Leverkusen. I volleyed a corner from the left 20 metres out the goal. The ball landed unstoppably in the top corner and we ended up winning 4-2. It was my first competitive goal in a year and a half and a real relief,” said Matthäus, describing the special significance of the goal.

1995: Jean-Pierre Papin vs. Uerdingen

Papin made history with a spectacular overhead kick against Bayer Uerdingen, scoring the goal of the year in 1995. “For that goal, I received a perfectly timed cross from Markus Babbel. Everything just fell into place perfectly. I didn't think for a second, it was 100 percent spontaneous. As soon as you start thinking, even for a fraction of a second, it's impossible to pull off a successful overhead kick. I also remember how the south stand exploded with joy when the ball flew into the net. It was a spine-tingling moment,” said Papin about his goal.

1999: Giovane Élber vs. Hansa Rostock

Élber’s 1999 winner against Hansa Rostock came from the most improbable of angles. “When Martin Pieckenhagen, Rostock's goalkeeper, ran out to the corner flag, I asked myself what he was doing there? He tried to block me and let the ball roll out of play. But he didn't get me. Instead he fell down and I pinched the ball on the line. Then everything happened in a flash. Pieckenhagen wasn't in goal, a defender came running towards me, so I thought to myself now I just have to score somehow – with my left foot, which was the hardest part. And it worked. It was the best goal of my career,” Élber explained.

2024: Harry Kane vs. Augsburg

“A unique goal combining technical and physical elements, plus a beautiful finish,” is how Kane himself described his 2024 Goal of the Year. The striker artistically plucked a cross from Leon Goretzka out of the air with his leg stretched out, taking it away from Augsburg's goalkeeper and heading the ball into the net. A piece of footballing art.

Now Díaz has added his name to the list with his 2025 winner: