Legends to play for Beckenbauer Cup to mark FC Bayern’s 125th anniversary

As part of the club’s 125th-anniversary celebrations, FC Bayern will host a one-off legends tournament on 17 March 2025 in honour of its late honorary president. All proceeds from the Beckenbauer Cup will go to the Franz Beckenbauer Foundation. FC Bayern will host teams of former players from Real Madrid, AC Milan Glorie, Borussia Dortmund, VfB Stuttgart and another top European club that will be confirmed soon in a small-sided indoor football tournament at the SAP Garden in Munich. Former Bayern captain, treble and World Cup winner Philipp Lahm will be involved with the club’s legends for the first time as coach.

Jan-Christian Dreesen, FC Bayern CEO: “We’re delighted that the memory of Franz Beckenbauer has been given a very special place through this tournament as part of our club’s 125th anniversary. Franz Beckenbauer is the person without whom the success story of FC Bayern would have been unthinkable. His name will always be inextricably linked with this club. It was particularly important to us to support the Franz Beckenbauer Foundation with this tournament. Franz always had an open ear for everyone and was always willing to give a lot of himself. We want to keep this legacy alive.”

Philipp Lahm, FC Bayern Legends coach: “I’m very proud to be part of the FC Bayern Legends for the first time at this special event. We’re excited about the tournament with amazing clubs from around Europe, and I’m personally looking forward to seeing one or two familiar faces from previous big games - games where Franz Beckenbauer often kept his fingers crossed in the stands. We’ll never forget him. As someone from Munich, he was always someone who inspired me in special ways.”

The matches will be played on 17 March from 6.30pm in two groups on artificial turf with LED boards around the pitch. Each match will last 10 minutes (two six-minute halves from the semi-finals onwards). The top two from each group will reach the semi-finals. The losers will meet in a match for third place and the winners will contest the final for the Beckenbauer Cup. As a special rule, attacking time is limited in the last minute of the game, similar to basketball, to prevent the score from simply being managed until the final whistle. The legends from all the teams will of course be available to sign autographs for fans during the event.  

With this tournament, FC Bayern and some of the biggest football clubs in Europe are once again honouring the most significant figure in the club’s history in a special way to mark the club's anniversary. At the annual general meeting, the club decided, with the overwhelming approval of its members, to retire the Kaiser's No.5 shirt in memory of Beckenbauer. Over 1,000 members also visited the exclusive exhibition at the AGM, which featured special exhibits, some of which were privately owned by Beckenbauer's wife Heidi Beckenbauer, who had travelled to the meeting with her son Joel and attended alongside Beckenbauer's long-time companion Uli Hoeneß.

FC Bayern have retired Beckenbauer's iconic No.5 shirt: