FIFA President Gianni Infantino recalled his early memories of German football and how it helped shape his love of the game when he addressed the German Football Association's (DFB) 125th anniversary celebration.

The Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz spoke of football’s power to bring people together during his address to the event, held in the eastern German city of Leipzig where the DFB was founded, while DFB President and FIFA Council member Bernd Neuendorf said football was a public good that must be protected.

The event was attended by numerous German legends including FIFA World Cup™ winners Paul Breitner, Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Klinsmann, Pierre Littbarski, Rudi Völler and Philipp Lahm and FIFA Women’s World Cup™ winner Bettina Wiegmann, as well as Karl-Heinz Körbel, Ewald Lienen, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Manfred Kaltz and Horst Hrubesch. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin was also present.

“I thank all of the members of the DFB: Bernd (Neuendorf), the directors, the fans, the clubs, the teams, the players, the legends, the referees, everyone who contributes to the fact that the world is watching Germany and can always learn something," Mr Infantino said.

Germany is one of the world's most successful footballing nations, having won the FIFA World Cup four times and the FIFA Women's World Cup twice among its many titles, which includes being the current FIFA U-17 World Cup champions. The country has also hosted the FIFA World Cup twice, in 1974 and 2006, and the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2011.

The DFB was founded on 28 January 1900 by 86 clubs and became a FIFA member in the days after world football's governing body was established in Paris on 21 May 1904.

Mr Infantino said that he grew up watching German football and was captivated by its players and supporters. "German football has shaped me," he said. "I was raised in Switzerland, in the mountains, in Valais. In my school bag, there was always (German football magazine) Kicker… That’s why I love football all over the whole world, especially in Germany.

“With great fans all over Germany, these fantastic clubs, in the ’80s and ’90s, when I was a young adult……that has an impact on you,” he said. "You never give up, you fight back, you want to win. That is football. That is what football is all about."

He commended all aspects of German football, including fans, clubs and players and asked for a round of applause for referees including Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb, who refereed the FIFA Women’s World Cup final in 2011 and joined FIFA as its first Head of Women’s Refereeing in October 2024.

He added that Germany had set an example with its hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 2006 when it welcomed the world with open arms. “The world was united in Germany (in 2006). That’s what FIFA is also trying to do, that’s what I’m trying to do: to bring the world together as much as we can. With football, through football,” the FIFA President said.

Mr Scholz spoke of football’s values and its unifying power. “Today, the DFB is a powerful force for togetherness in the country. No other sport, no other pastime unites us as much as football. Eighty-four million people live in Germany and almost eight million of them are members of the German Football Association through their clubs. What an unbelievably big number,” Mr Scholz said.

"Football always creates magical moments that bring our country together. Football stands for much of what is of real value here in Germany. Football stands for respect, fairness, diversity, integration and open-mindedness.”

Mr Neuendorf added: “(Football) is part of our heritage. It belongs to everyone who loves it ….Football is a public good. A good we must protect and preserve.”