44 Facts About Franz Beckenbauer

Franz Anton Beckenbauer is a German former professional football player and manager.

Franz Beckenbauer is widely regarded to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.

Franz Beckenbauer is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper.

Twice named European Footballer of the Year, Franz Beckenbauer appeared 103 times for West Germany and played in three FIFA World Cups and two European Championships.

Franz Beckenbauer is one of three men, along with Brazil's Mario Zagallo and France's Didier Deschamps, to have won the World Cup as a player and as a manager; he lifted the World Cup trophy as captain in 1974, and repeated the feat as a manager in 1990.

Franz Beckenbauer was the first captain to lift the World Cup and European Championship at international level and the European Cup at club level.

Franz Beckenbauer was named in the World Team of the 20th Century in 1998, the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002, the Ballon d'Or Dream Team in 2020, and in 2004 was listed in the FIFA 100 of the world's greatest living players.

At club level with Bayern Munich, Franz Beckenbauer won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1967 and three consecutive European Cups from 1974 to 1976.

Franz Beckenbauer became team manager and later president of Bayern Munich.

Franz Beckenbauer led Germany's successful bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup and chaired the organizing committee.

Franz Beckenbauer worked as a pundit for Sky Germany, and for 34 years as a columnist for the tabloid Bild, both until 2016.

Franz Beckenbauer was born in the post-war ruins of Munich, the second son of postal-worker Franz Beckenbauer, Sr.

Franz Beckenbauer grew up in the working-class district of Giesing and, despite his father's cynicism about the game, started playing football at the age of nine with the youth team of SC Munich '06 in 1954.

In 1963, at the age of 18, Franz Beckenbauer was engulfed by controversy when it was revealed that his then girlfriend was pregnant and that he had no intention of marrying her; he was banned from the West Germany national youth team by the DFB and only readmitted after the intervention of the side's coach Dettmar Cramer.

Franz Beckenbauer made his debut with Bayern in a Bundesliga promotion play-off match on the left wing against FC St Pauli on 6 June 1964.

Franz Beckenbauer began experimenting with the sweeper role around this time, refining the role into a new form and becoming perhaps the greatest exponent of the attacking sweeper game.

Since 1968 Franz Beckenbauer, has been called Der Kaiser by fans and the media.

In 1977, Franz Beckenbauer accepted a lucrative contract to play in the North American Soccer League with the New York Cosmos.

Franz Beckenbauer played with the Cosmos for four seasons up to 1980, and the team won the Soccer Bowl on three occasions.

Franz Beckenbauer retired after a two-year spell with Hamburger SV in Germany with the win of the Bundesliga title that year and one final season with the New York Cosmos in 1983.

Franz Beckenbauer won 103 caps and scored 14 goals for West Germany.

Franz Beckenbauer was a member of the World Cup squads that finished runners-up in 1966, third place in 1970, and champions in 1974, while being named to the tournament all-star team in all three editions.

Franz Beckenbauer won the 1972 European Football Championship and finished as runners-up in the 1976 edition.

Franz Beckenbauer appeared in his first World Cup in 1966, playing every match.

Helmut Haller opened the scoring, with Franz Beckenbauer contributing the second of the match, his fourth goal of the tournament.

Franz Beckenbauer dislocated his shoulder after being fouled, but he was not deterred from continuing in the match, as his side had already used their two permitted substitutions.

Franz Beckenbauer stayed on the field carrying his dislocated arm in a sling.

Franz Beckenbauer became the first captain to lift the new FIFA World Cup Trophy after Brazil had retained the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1970.

Franz Beckenbauer retired from international football in 1977, at the age of 31, following his move to New York Cosmos.

On his return to Germany, Franz Beckenbauer was appointed manager of the West Germany national team to replace Jupp Derwall on 12 September 1984.

Franz Beckenbauer took the team all the way to the final of the 1986 World Cup, where they lost to the Diego Maradona inspired Argentina.

Franz Beckenbauer is one of three men to have won the Cup as player and as manager, and he is the first man and one of only two to have won the title as team captain as well as manager.

Franz Beckenbauer then moved into club management, and accepted a job with Olympique de Marseille in 1990 but left the club within one year.

Franz Beckenbauer chaired the organizational committee for the World Cup and was a commentator for the Bild-Zeitung.

In June 2014, Franz Beckenbauer was banned by FIFA Ethics Committee for 90 days from any football-related activity for allegedly refusing to cooperate with an inquiry into corruption dealing with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.

Franz Beckenbauer protested the ban, as he had requested the questions that were put to him be in German and in writing.

The ban was lifted after Franz Beckenbauer agreed to participate in FIFA's inquiry.

In February 2016, Franz Beckenbauer was fined CHF 7,000 and warned by FIFA Ethics Committee for failing to cooperate with the inquiry in 2014.

In March 2016, the Ethics Committee opened formal proceedings against Franz Beckenbauer regarding the awarding of the 2006 FIFA World Cup to Germany.

Franz Beckenbauer is widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game.

Franz Beckenbauer is the only defender in football history to win the Ballon d'Or twice.

Franz Beckenbauer is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper or libero, a defensive player who intervenes proactively in the offensive game of his team.

An icon in Germany, and one of only three men to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a manager, Franz Beckenbauer was lauded by former German chancellor Gerhard Schroder for winning the World Cup as a player in 1974, winning as manager in 1990, and for playing a leading role in Germany's success of achieving host status of the 2006 World Cup.

Franz Beckenbauer has been married three times and has five children, one of whom, Stephan, was a professional footballer, who died after a long illness on 31 July 2015, at the age of 46.