Why Thomas Müller is a stroke of luck for Vancouver

Thomas Müller Although he has only been living in Vancouver for almost three months, he has already noticeably adapted to his new home. Müller is currently sporting a lumberjack beard. To ensure that his beard hair sprouts and thrives as is typical for the country, he had his teammates at the Vancouver Whitecaps recommend a barber who monitors the growth and takes corrective action here and there.

The romantic story of the Bavarian who set out to seek his fortune in North America would be perfect if Müller also did forest work in checkered flannel shirts. But he doesn’t have the leisure to do that. Müller is after Vancouver traveled to address the skills shortage in a struggling industry. Canada has plenty of young men who can cut down a maple tree. But there are hardly any who can handle a ball at their feet with skill.

That Müller was born in Weilheim, Upper Bavaria, in 1989 and grew up with FC Bayern Munich, which has a special gift here, is beyond doubt not only for the Whitecaps, but also for the otherwise critical immigration authorities. Müller came to British Columbia on the Canadian west coast with the reference of 13 German championship titles, three Champions League victories and one World Cup triumph. After around twelve weeks of his work, it can be said: Müller is doing an excellent job as a development worker when it comes to football.

He has scored eight goals in his eight games for the Whitecaps; the most recent at the weekend, a converted penalty in the 3-0 win against FC Dallas at the start of the Major League Soccer (MSL) play-offs. Müller also celebrated winning the Canadian Championship with his team at the beginning of October – it was Müller’s 35th title. He is the German record holder and has overtaken Toni Kroos, who collected a total of 34 trophies and championship medals in his career.

But Thomas Müller wouldn’t be Thomas Müller if he only limited himself to preparing and scoring goals in Vancouver. No, Müller is also the team’s foreign minister. He also sees himself as a representative of a city whose attractiveness needs to be publicly praised. Müller likes to use the social media platform Instagram as an advertising drum. You can see him posing in front of the Vancouver skyline or standing at the harbor in a down jacket. Müller writes: “Vancouver in the fall. It’s always cool to see the seaplanes take off from Coal Harbor and it’s cool to walk through this beautiful city.”

In Vancouver, a metropolis with 620,000 inhabitants, people are enthusiastic about the fact that Müller is also taking care of city marketing. Vancouver has a proud sporting history – it hosted the Winter Olympics in 2010 and is also home to the legendary Vancouver Canucks ice hockey team – but it has so far looked pale in football, the most popular sport in the world.

That’s changing now. Müller draws a lot of attention to the Whitecaps, not only virtually, through posts to his almost 15 million followers, but also analogue. Since Müller played in Vancouver, the average attendance at home games has increased by 30 percent, to 26,000 visitors per game.

Müller knows how to stay in the conversation and is a master at playing with the media. That was already the case in Germany. Müller managed to celebrate his departure from the Bundesliga for months. First a documentary came out on Amazon (“Thomas Müller – One Like No Other”), then his last home game was celebrated, then his last away game, followed by the last game for FC Bayern at the Club World Cup and so on. 2025 was a year of never-ending Müller Festival in Germany.

The Vancouver Whitecaps don’t have to fear the hour when Müller, now 36 years old, leaves them. On this day, world football will look to Vancouver, that’s for sure. Thomas Müller knows how to build a big stage for himself.