The best Swiss players in Bundesliga history (Top 10)

By the end of 2025, we’ll have seen more than 100 Swiss players in the German Bundesliga. This absolutely demonstrates that German clubs tend to keep an eye on the Swiss market and always strive to get the best players from there. Having said this, it was absolutely tough to pick players for this ranking. 

That’s why the following ranking was created together with the Switzerland experts from MySportwetten.de, who know the market as well as sports and athletes as best as possible.

10. Alex Frei (CF, Borussia Dortmund)

The beginning of our ranking already shows one of the Swiss legends with Alex Frei. After more than three great years at Stade Rennais, the striker joined Borussia Dortmund in July 2006 after the World Cup. The club wasn’t having too much money during that time, but still decided to go for Frei and every single cent turned out to be worth spent.

In three years in Dortmund, Frei scored 37 goals and assisted another 20 for the club. Incredible numbers for Frei and absolutely needed for the club. Especially his two goals plus an assist against Schalke in September 2008 will always be remembered since the club was 0:3 down when he entered the pitch.

Stats:  

74 Bundesliga matches, 34 goals, 18 assists

Achievements:  

Player of the year in Dortmund (2007)

9. Diego Benaglio (GK, VfB Stuttgart & VfL Wolfsburg)

The next spot had to be for one of the many great goalkeepers from Switzerland who have played in the Bundesliga. Diego Benaglio joined Germany quite early when he was transferred to Stuttgart in July 2002. Unfortunately, he never got a chance to play there since he was still quite young and left the club three years later.

He joined the Portuguese team CD Nacional, became a regular starter there, and developed greatly. That’s why Wolfsburg signed him in January 2008. At this point in time, nobody would have thought that Benaglio would become a club legend there and win titles as well. Benaglio was one of the best goalkeepers in the entire league during this time and proved himself on the highest international level, too. No wonder that he had to be in this Top 10 list too.

Stats:  

259 Bundesliga matches, 62 matches with a clean sheet

Achievements:  

Player of the year in Wolfsburg (2009 & 2013)

German Champion with Wolfsburg (2008/09)

German Cup winner with Wolfsburg (2014/15)

German Super Cup winner with Wolfsburg (2015/16)

UI Cup winner with Stuttgart (2002/03)

8. Raphael Wicky (CDM, SV Werder Bremen & Hamburger SV)

Another great player in the Bundesliga has been Raphael Wicky, despite making himself a bit unpopular by playing for both of the German giants in the north. In the summer of 1997, the flexible defensive specialist came to Werder Bremen and joined a Bundesliga club for the first time.

He proved himself and became a regular starter right away. His development was so good over the next few years that Atlético Madrid signed him in January 2001, but he was never able to deliver there. After only a year, he decided to move on and come back to the Bundesliga, but not to just any Bundesliga club. He joined the Bremen rival Hamburger SV in the north, which always turns out to be a difficult thing. It's not that he just moved there; Wicky played a crucial role in the team and was quite successful with the club, too. Nothing that Bremen fans like to see or hear.

Stats:  

218 Bundesliga matches, 5 goals, 9 assists

Achievements:  

Footballer of the year in Bremen (1998)

German Cup winner with Bremen (1998/99)

Ui Cup winner with Bremen (1998/99) and with Hamburg (2005/06)

German League Cup winner with Hamburg (2004)

7. Xherdan Shaqiri (AM, FC Bayern Munich)

One of the legends of Swiss football and another great athlete is, without a doubt Xherdan Shaqiri. In summer 2012, the young Swiss talent joined the German giant Bayern Munich on a permanent deal from Basel. It was the very first time that Shaqiri left his youth club and decided to move on.

During this time, he was one of the lucky players to experience and become part of Bayern's next few steps as a club. Pep Guardiola was Shaqiri's coach for two years, and despite not playing as a starter, the left-footed skiller still learned a lot and was an important player coming from the bench and creating danger. At the same time, Shaqiri became a crowd favorite and was absolutely missed after he decided to move on and play an even bigger role in a new club.

Stats:  

52 Bundesliga matches, 11 goals, 10 assists

Achievements:  

Champions League winner with Munich (2012/13)

German Champion with Munich (2012/13; 2013/14 & 2014/15)

UEFA Super Cup winner with Munich (2013/14)

German Cup winner with Munich (2012/13 & 2013/14)

FIFA Club World Cup winner with Munich (2024)

German Super Cup winner with Munich (2012/13)

6. Manuel Akanji (CB, Borussia Dortmund)

The next player was partly criticized a lot during his Bundesliga time, but not always in a fair way, and also not always deserved. Manuel Akanji joined Borussia Dortmund in the winter of 2018. The club struggled a lot during this time, but Akanji proved and established himself as a starter and reliable defender quickly.

In the next years at Dortmund, Akanji developed overall well and was part of a time that was really close to becoming champions under Lucien Favre as the coach. Unfortunately, Akanji is not free from mistakes, as everyone else makes them. That’s why some BVB fans wanted him to leave in the end, and he decided to move on as well. After that, he became a world-class defender in Manchester and won the Champions League. Still feels a bit like he wanted to prove himself and his qualities to some fans afterwards, and did in a fantastic way.

Stats:  

119 Bundesliga‑Matches, 4 goals, 1 Assist

Achievements:  

German Cup winner with Dortmund (2020/21)

German Super Cup winner with Dortmund (2019/20)

5. Granit Xhaka (CDM, Borussia M’gladbach & Bayer 04 Leverkusen)

There are plenty of players out there who are just having a good career, earn good money, and maybe win some titles by profiting from even better teammates, and then there are players like Granit Xhaka. The central midfielder is always a true leader and one of the loudest players on and off the field. 

In the summer of 2012, Xhaka joined Borussia M’gladbach and immediately played a big role in the team. During this time, the whole club was extremely successful, also thanks to captain Granit Xhaka. Only his sending-offs were annoying to teammates, the coach, as well as the fans. Other than that, he was crucial for the success of the team. 

After leaving his mark in England at Arsenal, Xhaka came back to Germany in the summer of 2023 and joined Bayer Leverkusen. Already in the preseason, the team of Xabi Alonso played extremely well, and Leverkusen managed to win the title after an incredible, unbeaten season. In the thick of it was again Granit Xhaka as the captain. No matter where Xhaka goes, success follows him.

Stats:  

174 Bundesliga matches, 11 goals, 10 assists

Achievements: 

German Champion with Leverkusen (2023/24)

German Cup winner with Leverkusen (2023/24)

German Super Cup winner with Leverkusen (2024/25)

4. Gregor Kobel (GK, TSG Hoffenheim, FC Augsburg, VfB Stuttgart & Borussia Dortmund)

Did we already mention the history of extraordinary goalkeepers from Switzerland in the German Bundesliga? Cause we have another goalie here that has developed himself into a world-class goalkeeper in the last few years. Not a big surprise that Gregor Kobel is on our list.

After moving to Hoffenheim in September 2014, Kobel developed nicely and earned his first professional matches for Hoffenheim in season 2017/18 season. After two incredible loans to Augsburg and Stuttgart, he decided to leave Hoffenheim on a permanent basis since Baumann was untouchable. After just one more season in Stuttgart, Kobel made the next big step, joined Borussia Dortmund, and became a world-class keeper since then. Incredible saves and fantastic BVB nights on the national and international level have followed since then.

Stats:  

178 Bundesliga matches, 48 clean sheets

Achievements:  -

3. Ciriaco Sforza (CM, 1.FC Kaiserslautern & FC Bayern Munich)

The first place on the podium in our ranking, as well as in the ranking of Swiss players with the most Bundesliga matche,s is an absolutely well-known player and fully deserved. Ciriaco Sforza joined Kaiserslautern in July 1993 and managed to play a couple of times for Kaiserslautern and Bayern Munich afterwards.

After two great years in Kaiserslautern, the central midfielder joined Munich in 1995 for the first time. Unfortunately, he couldn’t establish himself in Munich and got transferred to Inter Milan just one year later. Despite playing lots of matches there, Sforza came back to Germany and joined Kaiserslautern again. He became part of the absolutely incredible team that was able to win the German championship as a promoted team. Three years later, he joined Munich once more before retiring in Kaiserslautern in 2006. 

Stats:  

265 Bundesliga matches, 23 goals, 54 assists

Achievements:  

Football of the year in Kaiserslautern (1999)

Champions League winner (2000/01)

German Champion with Kaiserslautern (1997/98) & with Munich (2000/01)

UEFA Cup winner with Munich (1995/96)

Intercontinental Cup winner with Munich (2001)

German League Cup winner with Munich (2001)

2. Yann Sommer (GK, Borussia M’gladbach & FC Bayern Munich)

Gregor Kobel was already pretty high on the list, but still not the best Swiss goalkeeper in Bundesliga history in our opinion. With Yann Sommer, there is definitely one more who has been a true legend and successful too. 

Sommer joined Borussia M’gladbach in the summer of 2014 and became one of the most reliable and best goalkeepers in the entire league. Furthermore, he established himself internationally and made Bayern feel frustrated by saving an incredible amount of shots in every of their clashes. In the end, Sommer also joined Bayern Munich for half a year and won a trophy in Germany thanks to that. This also separated him a bit from Kobel so far.

Stats:  

291 Bundesliga matches, 77 clean sheets

Achievements: 

Footballer of the year in Gladbach (2016, 2018 & 2021)

German Champion with Munich (2022/23)

1. Stéphane Chapuisat (CF, Bayer Uerdingen & Borussia Dortmund)

The first place in our ranking has been decided directly from the get-go. Stéphane Chapuisat may not have been the greatest striker of all time from Switzerland, and he didn’t score as much as he maybe could in the national team, but on the club level, the striker has been amazing and a consistent threat in every single season.

Chapuisat joined Bayer Uerdingen in January 1991, which was his first club abroad. He became a starter directly and had some good matches. After being involved in five goals in just ten Bundesliga matches, Borussia Dortmund was convinced enough to buy him in the summer of 1991. The beginning of something magical in Dortmund. 

In eight years in Dortmund, Chapuisat became a true club legend. The striker scored a total of 123 goals and delivered 67 assists during this time, but that’s not everything. He also managed to win a couple of titles with the club and became a Champions League champion too. People are still talking about him in Dortmund today, and Chapuisat is still one of the greatest strikers that Dortmund has ever had. In the list of all-time top goalscorers of the club, Chapuisat is still on position eleven.

Stats:  

228 Bundesliga matches, 106 goals, 56 assists

Achievements:  

Champions League winner with Dortmund (1996/97)

German Champion with Dortmund (1994/95 & 1995/96)

German Super Cup winner with Dortmund (1995/96 & 1996/97)

Intercontinental Cup winner with Dortmund (1997)

Switzerland remains an interesting market for the Bundesliga

The following ranking is just a Top 10 list, but there were many, many more really good players who were contributing to the long history of the German Bundesliga. Players like Nico Elvedi, Pirmin Schwegler, Tranquillo Barnetta, or Ricardo Rodríguez all had some impact in their clubs, but were not able to achieve a spot in our list.

This also shows how many Swiss players are regularly coming to Germany for their next career steps and develop into great players in the Bundesliga. Every single year, there are some players coming to Germany in order to prove themselves, and lots of them do so, which is a great sign for the youth development in Switzerland, too.

As a football fan, the Swiss Super League should be followed a bit more. There is such a width of great youth players, but also some older players ready for the next step. Combined with potentially some bets on the matches there, this could be enjoyable and really entertaining. For some information about bookmakers in Switzerland, the experts from MySportwetten.de are the ones with the most concrete and detailed information on the market. After that, everything is in the bettors' as well as the players' hands