In fact, Klose might not even be the top-scoring German at World Cups by the end of Russia 2018. Unless the Polish-born hotshot finds the net in Sunday's final, he is unlikely to add to his 16 strikes so far. But Thomas Muller already has that total in his sights.
Germany coach Joachim Low praised Klose after the match but immediately tipped Muller to set a new record. 'It really means a lot to all of us,' said Low. 'This is a record that could be beaten only by Muller.'
Muller scored the first goal against the 7-1 victory against the hapless Brazilians to bring his haul up to 10 goals in just 12 World Cup games. And all signs seem to point towards Muller breaking his compatriot's record in future.
The Bayern Munich forward is just 24-years-old, so could conceivably have three more World Cups left in him should he play on to Klose's age of 36. If he continues his impressive current scoring rate of five goals in every World Cup, Muller could have 25 finals goals by the time he hangs up his boots.
TOP 10 WORLD CUP GOALSCORERS
1 Miroslav Klose (Germany)
16 goals in 23 games (0.70 per match)
2 Ronaldo (Brazil)
15 goals in 19 games (0.79 per match)
3 Gerd Muller (Germany)
14 goals in 13 games (1.08 per match)
4 Just Fontaine (France)
13 goals in 6 matches (2.17 per match)
5 Pele (Brazil)
12 goals in 14 games (0.86 per match)
6= Sandor Kocsis (Hungary)
11 goals in 5 games (2.20 per match)
6= Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany)
11 goals in 17 games (0.65 per match)
8= Helmut Rahn (Germany)
10 goals in 10 games (1.00 per match)
8= Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina)
10 goals in 12 games (0.83 per match)
8= Gary Lineker (England)
10 goals in 12 games (0.83 per match)
8= Thomas Muller (Germany)
10 goals in 12 games (0.83 per match)
8= Teofilo Cubillas (Peru)
10 goals in 13 games (0.77 per match)
8= Grzegorz Lato (Poland)
10 goals in 20 games (0.50 per match)
Muller also reaps the easy rewards of playing in front of the most powerful midfield in world football. Toni Kroos appears the natural successor to Xavi as the game's most technically gifted playmaker and is the key to Germany's Teutonic tiki-taka, which is strangling the life out of all who dare stand in their path. Combined with Bastian Schweinsteiger's brains and brawn, plus gifted footballers in Mesut Ozil, Mario Gotze and Sami Khedira among others, Germany look set to dominate international football for the forseeable future.
As Klose has proved there really is no better gig in football than playing up front for Germany in major tournaments. There are five Germans in the top 10 goalscorers in World Cups. Klose set his goals record by overtaking Ronaldo - the original one - who is among the most skilful and deadly strikers ever to have graced the game. Yet Klose has still managed to surpass his tally thanks to Germany's stunning consistency in major tournaments and a lack of injury problems.
Despite their huge strength in other areas of the pitch, there are also few rivals for Muller's position in Germany's team. The talented but raw Andre Schurrle has provided a sharper cutting edge than Muller when coming on from the bench and has three goals despite limited game time in Brazil. Otherwise only Klose, who is enjoying a last hurrah in his career, and the limited Lukas Podolski provide scant competition for the striker’s spot.
So long as Muller is at Bayern, he holds the advantage over Schurrle. Six of the German team against Brazil hail from the Bavarian giants, and Joachim Low or indeed any German boss would be foolish to disrupt such a strong club bond in the national side. The cohesion and familiarity which the Bayern clique bring to Germany is unrivalled among the major international sides.
Muller was not Pep Guardiola's first-choice striker for Bayern last season and is unlikely to be again next term with Robert Lewandowski arriving, but he'll still be Germany's main man. This is a feeling Klose will know well: he had a largely unsuccessful spell in Munich between 2007 and 2011 but still rattled in the goals for Germany during that period.
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