Sven Ulreich was born on 3 August 1988 in Schorndorf, Germany, and joined VfB Stuttgart's academy in 1998. He made his Bundesliga debut on 9 February 2008 in a 3-1 loss to Hertha BSC and went on to make 176 Bundesliga appearances for Stuttgart before joining Bayern Munich in 2015 as backup goalkeeper.
During the 2017-18 season, with Manuel Neuer injured, Ulreich became Bayern's starting keeper for an extended run, playing 47 matches in all competitions and being named Bayern's Player of the Season — though his most-remembered moment was an error in the Champions League semi-final loss to Real Madrid. After Alexander Nübel's signing in 2020 he transferred to Hamburger SV in October 2020, but his contract was terminated in June 2021 and he returned to Bayern as senior backup.
Across his Bayern career he has won Bundesliga titles in 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2024-25 and 2025-26, plus DFB-Pokals and the 2019-20 Champions League. On 14 March 2026 he made his first appearance in 539 days, in a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen.
He earned a single senior Germany call-up in 2019 without making an appearance.
A 1.92 m goalkeeper with calm decision-making and a strong work ethic, Ulreich is the consummate senior backup whose long Bayern tenure has helped bridge multiple eras around Manuel Neuer.