Background and career
Mario Gómez García (German pronunciation: [ˈmaːʁi̯oː ˈɡɔmɛs]; born 10 July 1985) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. He represented the Germany national team over a period of 11 years between 2007 and 2018. Gómez began his professional career with VfB Stuttgart. When the team won the Bundesliga in 2006–07, Gómez contributed 14 goals and 7 assists and was selected as German Footballer of the Year. In 2009, he signed for Bayern Munich for an estimated €30–35 million, a league record at the time. With Bayern, Gómez was the Bundesliga top scorer in 2011 and helped the team win seven trophies, including the UEFA Champions League in 2013. He left for Serie A team Fiorentina in 2013 and was affected by injury during his time in Italy. Gómez was loaned to Turkey's Beşiktaş in 2015 and was top scorer as the club won the Süper Lig. He subsequently returned to Germany by joining Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg for the 2016–17 season, helping them avoid relegation. He rejoined Stuttgart the season after, helping them achieve promotion to the Bundesliga after the 2019–20 campaign. Gómez made his international debut for Germany in February 2007 and was included in their squads for three UEFA European Championships and two FIFA World Cups, finishing as top scorer at UEFA Euro 2012. He retired from international football in 2018.
Gómez played for VfB Stuttgart II in the Regionalliga Süd in the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons. He scored six goals in 19 appearances during the 2003–04 season and 15 goals in 24 appearances in the 2004–05 season. On 9 March 2004, Gómez played ten minutes for Stuttgart in the Champions League first knock-out round against Chelsea and made his debut in the Bundesliga on 8 May, coming on for Imre Szabics in a 2–1 loss to Hamburger SV. These were his only two appearances for the first team during the 2003–04 season. He went on to make eight league appearances, one DFB-Pokal appearance, and one UEFA Cup appearance. In the 2005–06 season, Gómez joined the first team permanently. He played in 30 matches in the Bundesliga, scoring six times. His first goal came on 17 September 2005, the winner in a 2–1 defeat of Mainz 05. Gómez also played five times in the UEFA Cup, scoring twice, and played three times in both the DFB-Pokal and DFL-Ligapokal.
In the 2006–07 season, Gómez established himself as one of the top scorers in the Bundesliga. However, he broke his hand on 10 March 2007 and suffered a torn ligament in his left knee. He made his comeback on 12 May 2007 and immediately scored after coming on from the bench. In that match, Stuttgart defeated VfL Bochum (3–2) and went two points clear heading into the Bundesliga's final weekend, where they won at home against Energie Cottbus, thus becoming German champions. Stuttgart also reached the final of the DFB-Pokal, where Gómez participated, but Stuttgart lost to 1. FC Nürnberg. He finished the season with 14 goals in 25 league appearances and two goals in five DFB-Pokal appearances. After the season, he was named German Footballer of the Year for 2007 and extended his contract at Stuttgart until 2012. In the 2007–08 season, Gómez scored 19 goals in 25 appearances, elevating him to second in the Bundesliga's top scorer list, just behind Bayern Munich's Luca Toni, who scored 24 times. In the DFB-Pokal, Gómez was the top scorer with six goals. Because of his development, many clubs became interested in the then-23-year-old forward. Gómez gained the nickname "Mr. Zuverlässig" ("Mr. Reliable"), as seen in his second of three goals in a 6–3 win against Bundesliga rival Werder Bremen, where he managed to net in a virtually unreachable pass by teammate Yıldıray Baştürk. On 9 May 2009, Gómez hit four goals in a 4–1 victory over Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg. He also had six goals in three DFB-Pokal appearances and three goals in four UEFA Champions League appearances. The 2008–09 season was his last in a Stuttgart uniform, as he transferred to Bayern Munich after the season. During the season, he scored 24 goals in 32 league appearances, three goals in two DFB-Pokal appearances, and eight goals in ten UEFA Cup appearances.
On 26 May 2009, Gómez transferred to Bayern Munich for a Bundesliga record transfer fee, signing a four-year contract. The reported amount of the transfer fee varies from €30–35 million, depending on different sources. Gómez scored ten league goals and one Champions League goal in his first season for Bayern. In the DFB-Pokal, Gómez was more prolific, with three goals in four matches. After an erratic first season at Bayern with 10 goals in 29 league appearances, Gómez established himself as a starter during the 2010–11 season (to an extent at the expense of Miroslav Klose and due to an injury sustained by Ivica Olić) and finished as top goalscorer in the Bundesliga with 28 goals. He scored his 100th Bundesliga goal with his third strike in a 1–8 away victory over FC St. Pauli on 7 May 2011; the hat-trick was his fifth in the Bundesliga in the 2010–11 season and his sixth overall after a hat-trick against CFR Cluj in the Champions League. Gómez scored 13 hat-tricks in his Bundesliga career, three with VfB Stuttgart and ten with Bayern. Gómez also netted eight times in the Champions League and finished second in the season's top scorers, tied with Samuel Eto'o, although Bayern was eliminated in the round of 16 by Inter Milan. Gómez scored 39 goals in all competitions in his second season with the Bavarian club.
Gómez scored his first league goal of the 2011–12 season on 20 August 2011 in Bayern's win over Hamburger SV. Seven days later, Gómez scored a hat-trick away against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. On 10 September, Gómez scored four goals as Bayern beat SC Freiburg 7–0, sealing four straight wins for the Bavarians and a return to the top of the Bundesliga table. Gómez' two first-half goals on 27 September helped Bayern defeat Manchester City 2–0 in the group stage of the Champions League. Gómez scored his second brace of the Bundesliga campaign against Hertha BSC when Bayern won 4–0, followed by another brace on 29 October when Bayern defeated 1. FC Nürnberg 4–0. On 11 December 2011, he scored his third brace of the season and sealed Bayern's 2–1 win over southern rivals VfB Stuttgart, his former club. On 2 November 2011, he scored a hat-trick in a Champions League group stage match against Napoli. Bayern went on to win the game 3–2. In the DFB-Pokal, Gómez contributed two goals. Gómez's 40th goal of the calendar year of 2011 came on 16 December 2011 against 1. FC Köln. On 10 January, when FC Bayern Munich visited India to play in a farewell match for Indian footballer Baichung Bhutia, Gomez scored the opening goal for Bayern as Bayern Munich won 4–0 over the India national football team. On 13 March 2012, during the second leg of their Champions League tie against Basel, Bayern Munich overturned their 0–1 away loss as Gómez netted four of Bayern's seven goals, firing the Bavarians through to the quarter-finals 7–1 on aggregate. In the quarter-finals, Bayern faced French Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille; in the first leg on 28 March, Gómez fired in his 11th Champions League goal of the campaign in a 2–0 win for the Bavarians. On 4 April, Gómez signed a new contract with Bayern Munich, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2016. Gómez scored the winning goal in Bayern's 2–1 victory over Real Madrid in the first leg of their semi-final clash. Bayern went on to win the tie 3–1 on penalties after the teams were deadlocked 3–3 on aggregate. On 19 May 2012, Gómez played in the Champions League final against Chelsea. He failed to find the net in regular time in the game but scored in the penalty shoot-out as Bayern fell at the final hurdle, losing 4–3 on penalties after a 1–1 finish. Gómez finished the 2011–12 season with 26 goals in 33 league appearances, two goals in five DFB-Pokal appearances, and 13 goals in 14 Champions League appearances.
Gómez came back late to the squad after having ankle surgery post UEFA Euro 2012. Because of his injury and the signing of Croatian striker Mario Mandžukić from VfL Wolfsburg, Gómez was relegated to the bench as Mandžukić hit a run of form that made him the Bundesliga's top scorer. Gómez returned to action on 20 November 2012 in the club's 1–1 draw with Valencia in the group stage of the Champions League, coming on as a 79th minute substitute for winger Franck Ribéry. The striker scored his first goal within a minute of his Bundesliga season debut, capping off a 5–0 victory over Hannover 96 on 24 November. On 5 December, Gómez opened the scoring for the hosts in their final group game of the Champions League, a 4–1 defeat of BATE Borisov, which secured the Bavarians top spot in the group over Valencia. Following the winter break, Gómez pushed for a first-team berth, scoring two goals and setting up another as Bayern cruised past Werder Bremen 6–1 on 23 February 2013. The game was his manager Jupp Heynckes' 1,000th game as a player and coach in the Bundesliga. The striker was a used substitute against Eintracht Frankfurt on 6 April, as a lone Bastian Schweinsteiger strike confirmed an 11th successive victory and a 23rd national title for the club. It was Gómez's second title win with Bayern, and his third overall. On 16 April, in the DFB-Pokal semi-final against VfL Wolfsburg, Gómez scored a six-minute hat-trick after being substituted on in the 77th minute, rounding off a comfortable 6–1 victory and securing a spot in the final against southern rivals and former club Stuttgart. In the club's next league match, on 20 April, Bayern managed another 6–1 victory and Gómez recorded a second brace in four days to lift Bayern to a 26th league victory of the campaign, a new Bundesliga record. Gómez led the line in the absence of Mario Mandžukić in the semi-finals of the Champions League on 23 April, poking home Bayern's second goal in their 4–0 first-leg defeat of Barcelona. Despite missing the better half of the first three months of the campaign, Gómez still managed 11 Bundesliga strikes, placing him as third top-scorer in the league for the club. He made an appearance as a late substitute in Bayern's 2–1 Champions League final victory over German rivals Borussia Dortmund on 25 May at Wembley Stadium in London. He scored a second-half brace in the DFB-Pokal final on 1 June as Bayern defeated Gómez's former club Stuttgart 3–2 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. The win secured a 16th DFB-Pokal trophy and an unprecedented league, cup and European cup treble for the Bavarians. Gómez finished the 2012–13 season with 11 goals in 21 league appearances. On 6 June 2013, Gómez's consultant Uli Ferber announced that it "is quite clear that he will separate from Bayern" as he had fallen behind Mario Mandžukić in the pecking order for starting striker.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
