There will never be another Franz Beckenbauer – a record winner, guiding light, Der Kaiser. The footballing legend passed away on Sunday at the age of 78. “Franz Beckenbauer is the greatest figure FC Bayern has ever had. Nobody will ever equal him,” said Uli Hoeneß, his former teammate. The Munich native goes down as one of the greatest German footballers in history, having set countless records and creating unforgettable moments.
Three straight European cups
His trophy collection as a player is the stuff of dreams for anyone starting out in the game. With Bayern, Beckenbauer won the Bundesliga four times (1969, 1972, 1973, 1974), four DFB Cups (1966, 1967, 1969, 1971), a hat-trick of European Cups (1974, 1975, 1976), the 1967 European Cup Winners’ Cup, and the 1976 Intercontinental Cup. With Germany, he lifted the 1972 European Championship and 1974 World Cup, was the country’s Footballer of the Year four times, and twice won the Ballon d’Or, becoming only the second German to win the award after Gerd Müller.
The start of a great career
Beckenbauer came through the FC Bayern youth system between 1959 and 1964 before making his debut for the first team in 1964. In the 1964/65 campaign, Beckenbauer won the Regional League South with FCB and promotion to the Bundesliga following an 8-0 win over Tennis Borussia Berlin in the play-offs. The elegant athlete played his first game in the German top flight on 14 August 1965 against none other than local rivals 1860 Munich, which ended in a 1-0 defeat.
Trophies first as a player…
With Beckenbauer in the side, Bayern became the first team to be crowned champions of Germany three years in a row (1972-74). Beckenbauer's FCB were also the first German club to win the European Cup in 1974, a feat they repeated in 1975 and 1976. To this day that makes them one of only three clubs, along with Ajax (1971-1973) and Real Madrid (1956-1960 and 2016-2018), to have won the title three years running.
…and then as Bayern coach
The Munich man also enjoyed success after hanging up his boots. He guided Bayern to Bundesliga glory in 1994 and to the club’s sole UEFA Cup triumph in 1996. He is one of only eight people to have won the Bundesliga as both a player and coach, alongside Helmut Benthaus (1984 with VfB Stuttgart), Jupp Heynckes (first with Bayern in 1989), Matthias Sammer (2002 with Borussia Dortmund), Thomas Schaaf (2004 with Werder Bremen), Felix Magath (first with Bayern in 2005), Niko Kovac (2019 with Bayern) and Hansi Flick (2020 with Bayern).
World Cup winner as player and manager
The former sweeper wrote another chapter in his illustrious career when he guided Germany to World Cup gold against Argentina as manager at Italia 90. Only after winning the tournament did Beckenbauer receive his coaching licence from the German FA, in an honorary manner. He also became the first Germany boss to step down on the back of winning a competitive fixture.
Beckenbauer is one of only three people to have won the World Cup as a player and a coach alongside Brazil’s Mario Zagallo (1958, 1962 and 1970) and France’s Didier Deschamps (1998 and 2018).
World Cup final expert
Beckenbauer and his team had also reached the 1986 World Cup final in Mexico, losing 3-2 to Diego Maradona’s Argentina, before beating the South Americans 1-0 four years later. Only six coaches have overseen two World Cup finals with Der Kaiser, Vittorio Pozzo 1934 and 1938, Helmut Schön 1966 and 1974, Carlos Bilardo 1986 and 1990, Zagallo 1970 and 1998, and Deschamps 2018 and 2022. Pozzo of Italy is the only one to have won both.
History-makers Beckenbauer & Zagallo
While Pozzo was a former player, he can’t quite match Beckenbauer and Zagallo. They remain the only men to have reached the World Cup final twice both as a player and a coach – so four times in total. Beckenbauer’s first came at Wembley in 1966 and then again in 1974. His two on the touchline were 1986 and 1990. Zagallo did so in 1958 and 1962, then 1970 and 1998, as well as working as assistant at the 1994 final in the USA,
Don’t forget the European stage
Beckenbauer remains the only European to have appeared in two European Championship finals (1972, 1976) as well as two World Cup finals (1966, 1974). The German team he captained is also the only side apart from Spain (EURO 2008, World Cup 2010) to have won the European Championship and World Cup back-to-back (1972 and 1974).
How it started with Germany…
The 20-year-old Beckenbauer made his senior debut with the national team in a World Cup qualifier against Sweden on 26 September 1965, having made just six Bundesliga appearances for Bayern. Barely six years later he captained his country for the first time against Turkey in Istanbul in April 1971.
…and how it finished
On 24 November 1973 against Spain, Beckenbauer won his 73rd cap to surpass Uwe Seeler as Germany’s record appearance holder. He would play a total of 103 games in the end, becoming the first player to pass 100 appearances for Die Mannschaft. Since then, 11 players have moved ahead of him, including Lothar Matthäus who surpassed him in November 1993 on his way to the record of 150.
Champion in New York
During his time at the New York Cosmos, Beckenbauer shone alongside fellow legend Pelé, winning three NASL titles (1977, 1978, 1980) and being inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. The final competitive game of his professional career was on 12 September 1983, the day after his 38th birthday, losing the NASL quarter-final 1-0 against Le Manic de Montreal.
A winner off the pitch as well
The guiding light of German football, as he was known, also kept fans entertained away from football, including with his record ‘Gute Freunde kann niemand trennen’, which reached 31 on the charts. He also remains the only person to date to score in Aktuelle Sportstudio’s legendary goal wall from the top of a Weißbier glass. He achieved the feat after guiding Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 1994. Beckenbauer, Der Kaiser, could simply do it all, making history in the process.
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