After restoring domestic supremacy in Germany, Bayern Munich arrive at the Club World Cup with a mission to reaffirm their place at the top of world football. Backed by experience and ambition, they’ll be aiming for their third global crown.
1) Who will Bayern Munich face at the Club World Cup?
Bayern Munich have been drawn into Group C and these are their group stage fixtures:
15 June: vs Auckland City. TQL Stadium, Cincinncati.
20 June: vs Boca Juniors. Hard Rock Stadium, Miami.
24 June: vs Benfica. Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte.
2) Deutcher Reckordmeister
Bayern Munich are, by some distance, Germany's most-successful club. They have won 34 Bundesliga titles, 20 of which have come since 1999. For context, Nürnberg can boast the second-most titles with nine, while fellow Club World Cup participants Borussia Dortmund are third on the all-time list with eight.
Bayern are also the record 20-times DFB-Pokal winners, hoisting aloft this trophy on 20 occasions, which is 14 more triumphs than anybody else, albeit the most-recent of these came in 2020.
3) European glory
On top of this domestic domination, die Roten have been crowned European champions six times.
They won three successive European Cups in the mid-70s, back when Franz Beckenbauer was their captain, before reclaiming the Champions League in 2001, defeating Valencia on penalty at San Siro. In more modern times, Bayern have added two more European titles to their collecting, beating Dortmund at Wembley in 2013 and PSG in Lisbon five years ago. Overall, they have featured in 11 European Cup Finals; only Real Madrid (18) have appeared in more.
4) Reclaiming the Meisterschale
The 2023/24 season was, by their own sky-high standards a complete disaster, ending the campaign trophyless; Bayer Leverkusen bringing to an end Bayern's streak of 11 successive Bundesliga titles.
Thus, season's primary aim was to reclaim the Meisterschale, achieving just that, ultimately finishing 13 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table, beaten only twice all season. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement, having been dumped out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage by Inter Milan, also ousted from the DFB-Pokal by Bayer Leverkusen in the third round.
5) Past Club World Cup expirence
This will be Bayern Munich's third FIFA Club World Cup appearance. On debut in 2013, they smashed Guangzhou Evergrande 3-0 in the semi-finals, before a 2-0 victory over Raja Casablanca in the final. Then, in February 2021, they reclaimed the trophy again, overcoming Al Ahly 2-0 and then Tigres UANL by a solitary goal in Al-Rayyan, thereby still yet to concede in the competition.
On top of this, the Bavaria juggernauts also won both Intercontinental Cups they featured in, defeating Cruzeiro 2-0 over two legs in 1976 as well as a 1-0 victory over Boca Juniors after extra time in Tokyo in 2001.
6) Bayern Munich players to watch: Harry Kane
Fair to say, since joining Bayern two years ago, Harry Kane has proved to be an excellent signing.
To date, the England captain has scored 82 goals in just 91 appearances for the club, thereby averaging a goal every 92 minutes, picking up back-to-back Torjägerkanone awards. Kane finally got his hands on that illusive first piece of major silverware in May, now chasing more this summer.
7) Bayern Munich players to watch: Michael Olise
This was Michael Olise's first season at Bayern and he certainly exceeded all expectations, scoring 17 times across all competitions, five of which came in the Champions League. The French international ended the Bundesliga season by scoring in four successive matches, so can he carry that form stateside this summer?
8) Bayern Munich players to watch: Thomas Müller
Someone who's been at Bayern a fair bit longer than either of those two is Thomas Müller. He joined the club as an 11 year old back in 2000, making 751 senior appearances since his debut against HSV in 2008, winning 33 major honours and scoring 248 goals.
Well, this summer will be Müller's last dance in a Bayern shirt, leaving his club following the conclusion of this tournament, so he'll be doubly determined to sign off with silverware in his hands on 13 July.
9) Manager Vincent Kompany: still something to prove?
Last summer, fair to say a few eyebrows were raised when Vincent Kompany was unveiled as the new Bayern head coach. This is just his third managerial role, having previously taken charge of Anderlecht and Burnley, enduring a miserable relegation as Clarets boss in 2023/24, with his team winning only five Premier League matches all season long.
Nevertheless, Kompany swapped Turf Moor for Bavaria and did prove a few people wrong, delivering Bundesliga glory and bringing the feel-good factor back to the Allianz Arena. Nevertheless, their Champions League exit in the quarter-finals was a failure, and Bayern have dominated German football for over a decade now, so he still has plenty to prove, starting with this tournament.
10) Are Bayern the team to beat?
Bayern Munich commence their Club World Cup campaign against Auckland City in Cincinnati, before also facing Boca Juniors in Miami and then Benfica in Charlotte.
They are overwhelming favourites to top Group C, with the real question can they go all the way? Well, they will be without injured trio Kim Min-jae, Alphonso Davies and Jamal Musiala, which is far from ideal, but they certainly have to be considered to be amongst the genuine favourites.