Germany: 8.27 million DFB members, including 2.34 million players (-0.46% in one year)

"The number of DFB members has risen once again, reaching 8.27 million in 2025-26. Having passed the historic 8-million mark in 2025, this positive trend is continuing. Since 2022, German football has gained more than 1.1 million members. A total of 23,713 clubs are registered under the DFB, representing a slight decrease of 0.65%,” the German Football Association announced on 16 July 2026 when presenting its official statistics for the 2025-26 season.

"After several years of growth, the number of active players has fallen slightly for the first time. During the 2025-26 season, 2.34 million players took part in competitions organised by the German governing bodies. This represents a decline of 0.46%," the Deutscher Fussball Bund stated.

In total, more than 1.42 million football matches…