---

mail: jan@planetworldcup.com


 FACTFILE
Born: 11 Sep 1945
Caps: 103
Goals: 14
--
WORLD CUP FACTFILE
Winner
1974
Beaten finalist
1966
Bronze winner
1970
Participated
1966, 1970, 1974
Games/Goals
18/5
--











 

Franz Beckenbauer
(West Germany)



      The master of the sweeper's position, Franz Beckenbauer achieved legendary status in the game operating as an attacking defensive player. Elegant and confident on the ball, tactically superb and a great leader, The Kaiser was a superstar in every sense of the word. He won more than a century of caps for West Germany and captained his country in 50 of them. He was voted European Player of the Year twice as well.

    His World Cup career started in 1966 when West Germany lost to England at Wembley in the final with Beckenbauer in an unusual midfield position marking Bobby Charlton. Kaiser Franz scored four goals in that World Cup which introduced him to the world audience.

    In Mexico 1970, Beckenbauer is most remembered for playing on with an obvious shoulder injury in the classic 4-3 semifinal defeat to Italy. Heavily strapped he refused to be sustituted and battled throughout the full 120 minutes only to see his side lose the close contest. A win in the bronzematch over Uruguay was some consolation.

    His third and last World Cup was hosted by his own country in 1974. West Germany and Kaiser Franz peaked at the right time and won the whole thing. The memorable final win against Holland and Johan Cruyff was of course the highlight. The triumph in Munich meant that Beckenbauer - as one of only two players in World Cup history (Wolfgang Overath the other) - had the complete collection of medals at the World Cup (Gold, silver, bronze).

    His club career started off in little SC 1906 München as a boy before signing for much more famous Bayern Munich where he stayed for nigh on twenty years. It was a highly successful time. Bayern rose to the top of German and European football with Beckenbauer as the undoubted star. Many coveted titles were won such as three European Cups on the trot (1974-76), one Cupwinners Cup and a World Club Cup title in addition to numerous trophies on the domestic scene.

    After quitting the national team, Franz spent the twilight years of his career with New York Cosmos in the North American pro league joining Pele and other stars. The success continued and shortly before retiring Beckenbauer returned to the Bundesliga to play for Hamburger SV where he mopped up another Bundesliga title - his final - in 1982.

    Beckenbauer took over as coach for the German national team in 1984 and guided them to the final in 1986 and to the title in his last match in charge in 1990 against Argentina. It made him the first man to captain and coach a World Cup winning side. The Kaiser has since been highly involved in football as president for Bayern Munich, as commentator in newspapers and also with Germany's 2006 World Cup campaign.

 
 

| HOME | 1966 | 1970 | 1974 |

[HOME]


BACKGROUND
Info on how the World Cup was founded and about the trophy as well.
THE WORLD CUPS
Detailed info on every match in every tournament.
COLUMNISTS
Interesting columns about the past, present and future of the World Cup.
THE NATIONS
Every nation with appearances in the World Cup. Detailed info on every country.
LEGENDS
Player profiles of many of the most influential players in history.
A-Z STORIES
An A-Z collection of strange and different stories in World Cup history.
STATISTICS
A big collection of various statistics and records.
MASCOTS
Every mascot since it was introduced in 1966.
QUIZ
Test your knowledge about the WC. Three different levels. No prizes, just for fun.
TOP 10 RANKINGS
Rankings of lots of stuff. For instance Best Goals, Best Players and Best Matches.
LINKS
Our collection of links to other soccer sites with World Cup connection.
LINK TO
Some banners and buttons for you to link to us if you want.
ABOUT US
A little information on who keeps this site available.
| '30 | '34 | '38 | '50 | '54 | '58 | '62 | '66 | '70 | '74 | '78 | '82 | '86 | '90 | '94 | '98 | '02 | '06 | '10 | '14 |
---
Copyrights © 1998- - This website is created and maintained by Jan Alsos. It is an unofficial website not affiliated or connected in any way to FIFA. All rights reserved.