58 Facts About Franz Beckenbauer

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, playing 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 the international level and the European Cup at the 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, the IFFHS All-time Men's Dream Team in 2021, 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 the youngest of two children, his older brother Walter having been born in 1941, and grew up in the working-class district of Giesing.

Franz Beckenbauer was raised as a Catholic, and was an altar boy in the Munich-Obergiesing parish.

Originally a centre-forward, Franz Beckenbauer idolised 1954 FIFA World Cup winner Fritz Walter and supported local side 1860 Munich, then the pre-eminent team in the city, despite their relegation from the top league, the Oberliga Sud, in the 1950s.

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.

In 1977, Franz Beckenbauer accepted a lucrative contract to play in the North American Soccer League with the New York Cosmos, playing alongside Pele in his debut season.

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 became the most capped player for the German national team in 1973, he beat Uwe Seeler's record of 72 matches and was overtaken by Lothar Matthaus in 1993.

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

Still, Franz Beckenbauer was nominated the Best Young Player of the tournament, while being awarded the Bronze Boot, together with Ferenc Bene, Geoff Hurst and Valeriy Porkujan.

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.

Franz Beckenbauer was a master of the one-two tactic, in which he'd pass the ball to a teammate and then go past an opponent to collect the ball.

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

Franz Beckenbauer then moved into club management and accepted a job with Marseille in 1990, but left the club midway through his first season.

From 28 December 1993 until 30 June 1994, and then from 29 April 1996 until 30 June of the same year, Franz Beckenbauer managed Bayern Munich.

In 1994, Franz Beckenbauer took on the role of club president at Bayern, and much of the success in the following years has been credited to his astute management.

In 1998, Franz Beckenbauer became vice-president of the German Football Association.

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 stated he had already paid the tax due on his share in Austria, where he was tax resident.

In 1976, Franz Beckenbauer paid 1.6 million D-Marks in back taxes.

Franz Beckenbauer had relied on advice to shelter income from tax using a financial structure which was later found to be invalid.

Franz Beckenbauer claimed in his memoir that the Bavarian Finance Minister Ludwig Huber, who had attended Beckenbauer's 30th birthday party in 1975, had given him tax advice, including about moving to Switzerland.

In 1982, Franz Beckenbauer moved to Austria, where tax rates were lower.

In 1987, Franz Beckenbauer was fined by Swiss authorities for evading taxes while living in Switzerland between 1977 and 1980.

Franz Beckenbauer was married three times and had five children, one of whom, Stephan, was a professional footballer, who died from a brain tumour on 31 July 2015, at the age of 46.

Franz Beckenbauer became an honorary consul of Kosovo in 2011, to help promote Kosovo's campaign for membership of UEFA and FIFA.

In 2016 and 2017, Franz Beckenbauer had cardiac surgery, and received an artificial hip in 2018.

Franz Beckenbauer gave the foundation the gate money of 800,000 DM from his farewell match on 1 June 1982, and later added another 200,000 DM.

In total, Franz Beckenbauer raised more than 20 million euros for the foundation.

Franz Beckenbauer died on 7 January 2024, at the age of 78, due to natural causes as announced by his family in a note sent to Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

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, and 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 manager, Franz Beckenbauer was praised 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.

When Franz Beckenbauer praised Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in 2019, Klopp said he felt that he had been given knighthood by a king.