The Kaiser, born on 11 September 1945 in Munich, won everything you can win as a player.
He played professionally for FC Bayern from 1965 to 1977 (396 Bundesliga matches, 44 goals). Franz Beckenbauer won the European Cup three times in a row with FCB, the Bundesliga and DFB Cup four times each, the European Cup Winners' Cup once, and also the World Cup.
The long-serving captain and multiple-time German Footballer of the Year (1966, 1968, 1974, 1976) was an honorary captain of the national team and FC Bayern and one of the world footballers of the 20th century alongside Pelé, Johan Cruyff and Diego Maradona. As team manager, he led the Germany national team to second place at the 1986 World Cup before lifting the trophy four years later in 1990. He later also won the Bundesliga (1994) and UEFA Cup (1996) with FC Bayern.
Beckenbauer was president of FC Bayern München eV from 1994 to 2009 and chairman of the supervisory board of FC Bayern München AG from 2002 to 2009. Beckenbauer was appointed honorary president on 27 November 2009. He was also a member of the FIFA executive committee until 1 June 2011. After chairing the bid committee for the 2006 World Cup, he served as head of organisation for the tournament in Germany.
The world-class libero received numerous honours and awards, such as the Silver Laurel Leaf, the Bavarian Order of Merit and the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Beckenbauer died on 7 January 2024 at the age of 78 in his adopted home of Salzburg.