1. Early Life and Youth Career
Lars Edi Stindl was born on 26 August 1988, in Speyer, West Germany. He began his football journey at a young age, joining the youth teams of TSV Wiesental in 1991, where he played until 2000. In the summer of 2000, Stindl moved to the youth setup of Karlsruher SC, a club where he would spend the next seven years developing his skills before making his professional debut.
2. Club Career
Lars Stindl's professional club career spanned several prominent German clubs, marked by his leadership and goalscoring ability.
2.1. Karlsruher SC
Stindl started his professional career with Karlsruher SC, his boyhood club, after progressing through their youth ranks. He made his first appearance for the senior team on 15 March 2008, in a Bundesliga match, coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute of a 1-0 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt. On 29 November 2008, he scored his first Bundesliga goal against Hannover 96. During his initial professional spell, Stindl also played for Karlsruher SC II, the club's reserve team, making 49 appearances and scoring 11 goals between 2006 and 2010. For the senior team, he played 56 matches and scored 13 goals. In February 2010, Stindl announced his intention to leave Karlsruher SC.
2.2. Hannover 96
On 16 March 2010, Lars Stindl's transfer to Hannover 96 was confirmed. He quickly established himself as a key player for the club. During the 2010-11 season, he contributed to Hannover 96 finishing fourth in the Bundesliga. In the 2011-12 UEFA Europa League season, he helped the team reach the quarterfinals. Stindl served as captain of Hannover 96 during the 2014-15 season. Over his tenure at Hannover 96, he made 161 appearances across all competitions, scoring 26 goals.
2.3. Borussia Mönchengladbach
On 25 March 2015, it was confirmed that Stindl would join Borussia Mönchengladbach for the 2015-16 season. He made an immediate impact, scoring two goals in his competitive debut on 8 August 2015, in a 4-1 win against FC St. Pauli in the first round of the 2015-16 DFB-Pokal. On 1 August 2016, Stindl was named the new captain of Borussia Mönchengladbach, succeeding Martin Stranzl and Granit Xhaka.
He showcased his goalscoring prowess on 23 February 2017, when he scored a hat-trick against ACF Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League Round of 32, helping his team overturn a 3-0 aggregate deficit to advance to the Round of 16. Stindl continued to deliver notable performances, including another hat-trick on 15 December 2020, against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2020-21 Bundesliga, with two of his goals coming after the 90th minute.
During his eight years at the club, Stindl contributed significantly to Borussia Mönchengladbach's successes, including two fourth-place finishes in the Bundesliga (in the 2015-16 and 2019-20 seasons) and reaching the semifinals of the DFB-Pokal in 2016-17. In April 2023, Borussia Mönchengladbach confirmed that Stindl would depart the club at the end of the 2022-23 season following the expiration of his contract. He made 271 appearances for the club, scoring 83 goals.
2.4. Return to Karlsruher SC
On 28 April 2023, Karlsruher SC announced that Lars Stindl would rejoin his boyhood club for the final phase of his professional career. He scored his first goal upon his return on 11 August 2023, in the first round of the 2023-24 DFB-Pokal against 1. FC Saarbrücken, though his team was ultimately knocked out of the competition.
3. International Career
Lars Stindl represented Germany at both youth and senior international levels.
3.1. Youth International Career
Stindl was a former Germany U20 international, earning 3 caps without scoring a goal. He also made one appearance for the Germany U21 squad in 2009.
3.2. Senior International Career
Stindl received his first call-up to the senior national team in May 2017. This call-up was for a friendly match against Denmark on 6 June 2017, a 2018 World Cup qualification match against San Marino on 10 June 2017, and for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup held from 17 June to 2 July 2017.
He made his international debut on 6 June against Denmark, playing the full 90 minutes. In the opening game of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup against Australia, Stindl scored his first goal for Germany in the fifth minute of the match, contributing to a 3-2 victory. He followed this with his second international goal in Germany's 1-1 draw with Chile three days later.
Stindl repeated his goalscoring feat against Chile in the final of the tournament, scoring the only goal of the match to help Germany claim their first-ever Confederations Cup title. He finished the tournament as a joint top goalscorer with three goals. On 14 November 2017, he scored a vital equalizer in the 90th minute of a friendly against France, securing a 2-2 draw and extending Germany's unbeaten streak in 2017. His eleventh and final match for the national team was a 0-1 loss against Brazil in March 2018. Overall, Stindl earned 11 caps for the senior German national team, scoring 4 goals.
4. Career Statistics
Lars Stindl's professional career statistics are detailed below, covering his appearances and goals for both club and country across various competitions.
4.1. Club
| Club | Season | League | DFB-Pokal | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Karlsruher SC II | 2006-07 | Regionalliga Süd | 12 | 2 | - | - | 12 | 2 | ||
| 2007-08 | Regionalliga Süd | 26 | 4 | - | - | 26 | 4 | |||
| 2008-09 | Regionalliga Süd | 10 | 5 | - | - | 10 | 5 | |||
| 2009-10 | Regionalliga Süd | 1 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 49 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 11 | ||
| Karlsruher SC | 2007-08 | Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | |
| 2008-09 | Bundesliga | 21 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | 22 | 4 | ||
| 2009-10 | 2. Bundesliga | 33 | 9 | 2 | 0 | - | 35 | 9 | ||
| Total | 56 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 13 | ||
| Hannover 96 | 2010-11 | Bundesliga | 33 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | 34 | 2 | |
| 2011-12 | Bundesliga | 28 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 43 | 6 | |
| 2012-13 | Bundesliga | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 29 | 4 | |
| 2013-14 | Bundesliga | 31 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | 33 | 3 | ||
| 2014-15 | Bundesliga | 21 | 10 | 1 | 1 | - | 22 | 11 | ||
| Total | 131 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 22 | 4 | 161 | 26 | ||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2015-16 | Bundesliga | 30 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 39 | 14 |
| 2016-17 | Bundesliga | 30 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 44 | 18 | |
| 2017-18 | Bundesliga | 31 | 6 | 3 | 0 | - | 34 | 6 | ||
| 2018-19 | Bundesliga | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | 22 | 3 | ||
| 2019-20 | Bundesliga | 25 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 30 | 11 | |
| 2020-21 | Bundesliga | 30 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 42 | 17 | |
| 2021-22 | Bundesliga | 26 | 4 | 3 | 1 | - | 29 | 5 | ||
| 2022-23 | Bundesliga | 29 | 8 | 2 | 1 | - | 31 | 9 | ||
| Total | 222 | 62 | 21 | 9 | 28 | 12 | 271 | 83 | ||
| Career total | 458 | 105 | 32 | 12 | 50 | 16 | 540 | 133 | ||
4.2. International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2017 | 10 | 4 |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 11 | 4 | |
Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stindl goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 June 2017 | Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi, Russia | Australia | 1-0 | 3-2 | 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 2 | 22 June 2017 | Kazan Arena, Kazan, Russia | Chile | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 3 | 2 July 2017 | Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia | Chile | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 4 | 14 November 2017 | RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany | France | 2-2 | 2-2 | Friendly |
5. Honours and Awards
Lars Stindl achieved several team and individual accolades throughout his professional football career.
5.1. Club Honours
With Hannover 96:
- Bundesliga: 4th place (2010-11)
- UEFA Europa League: Quarterfinals (2011-12)
With Borussia Mönchengladbach:
- Bundesliga: 4th place (2015-16, 2019-20)
- DFB-Pokal: Semifinals (2016-17)
5.2. International Honours
With Germany:
- FIFA Confederations Cup: 2017
5.3. Individual Awards
- FIFA Confederations Cup Silver Boot: 2017 (jointly with Leon Goretzka)
- FIFA Confederations Cup Top Goalscorer: 2017 (jointly with Leon Goretzka and Timo Werner)
- FIFA Confederations Cup Fair Play Award: 2017
- Bundesliga Player of the Month: December 2020
6. Retirement
On 28 March 2024, Lars Stindl announced his decision to retire from professional football at the end of the 2023-24 season. Over his extensive career, he played in more than 430 league matches across both the first and second divisions of the German league pyramid.