Stefan Wessels

Bayern Munich

Wessels was a youth team player at Bayern Munich, who progressed through the reserve team and broke into the first-team squad in September 1999 after Bayern lost both goalkeepers Oliver Kahn and Bernd Dreher to injury. Wessels' first game was a 1–1 draw at Ibrox against Rangers in the Champions League. He performed impressively whenever called upon, but was unable to dislodge Kahn for more playing time. Wessels was involved in a hugely successful period for Bayern, including the 2001 Champions League win, but eventually left for 1. FC Köln in 2003, seeking first-team football. Between 1999 and 2003, he appeared in a total of eighteen matches for Bayern.

1. FC Köln

Wessels' time in Köln was eventful, with the club relegated in his first season, before immediately gaining promotion back to the 1st division and again being relegated to the 2. Bundesliga the following season. Showing consistently good performances, Wessels was one of the few players to stand out in the squad. However, at the beginning of the 2007–08 season, Colombian goalkeeper Faryd Mondragón signed with the club, and after a fair but intense rivalry, Wessels lost his position as the club's number 1.

Everton

On 6 August 2007, Wessels agreed to a trial in England with Premier League team Everton and subsequently signed an initial one-year contract with the club on 21 August; he was given his favoured number 33 shirt. Upon signing he said: "I am excited to be here in…

Wessels has represented Germany, at various youth levels, up to the under-21 team, for whom he made one appearance. He also played for Team 2006, a Germany B team assembled in preparation for the 2006 World Cup, but did not make it into the senior squad.

After working as a goalkeeping coach at the youth academies of SV Meppen and VfL Osnabrück, Wessels joined the German Football Association in 2014 as goalkeeping coach of the Germany U15 team. He subsequently worked with the U18, U19 and U20 national teams before joining the senior national team's coaching staff during preparations for UEFA Euro 2024. In 2025, he was appointed second goalkeeping coach of the senior national team.

Bayern Munich

Bundesliga: 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03 DFB-Pokal: 1999–2000, 2002–03 DFB-Liga-Pokal: 1999, 2000 UEFA Champions League: 2000–01 Intercontinental Cup: 2001 UEFA Super Cup runner-up: 2001 1. FC Köln

2. Bundesliga: 2004–05 FC Basel

Swiss Super League: 2009–10 Swiss Cup: 2009–10 Germany U18

UEFA Under-18 Championship: runner-up 1998