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 Foda in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1966-04-23)23 April 1966 (age 58) | ||
| Place of birth | Mainz, West Germany | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Kosovo (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1973–1979 | SV Weisenau | ||
| 1979–1981 | Mainz 05 | ||
| 1981–1984 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1983–1984 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 3 | (0) |
| 1984–1985 | Arminia Bielefeld | 43 | (8) |
| 1985–1987 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 52 | (3) |
| 1987–1990 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 87 | (5) |
| 1990–1994 | Bayer Leverkusen | 113 | (10) |
| 1994–1996 | VfB Stuttgart | 69 | (0) |
| 1997 | Basel | 13 | (0) |
| 1997–2001 | Sturm Graz | 99 | (1) |
| Total | 479 | (27) | |
| International career | |||
| 1985–1987 | West Germany U21 | 7 | (1) |
| 1987 | West Germany | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2001–2002 | Sturm Graz (amateurs) | ||
| 2002 | Sturm Graz (assistant) | ||
| 2002–2003 | Sturm Graz | ||
| 2003–2006 | Sturm Graz II | ||
| 2006–2012 | Sturm Graz | ||
| 2012–2013 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | ||
| 2014–2018 | Sturm Graz | ||
| 2018–2022 | Austria | ||
| 2022 | Zürich | ||
| 2024– | Kosovo | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Franco Foda (born 23 April 1966) is a Germanfootball manager and formerplayer who is the manager ofKosovo national team.[1]
Foda appeared in over 400 top-flight matches in (West) Germany, Switzerland and Austria.[2] During his second spell with1. FC Kaiserslautern in the 1980s he won two caps with theWest Germany national team under coachFranz Beckenbauer; Foda played againstArgentina andBrazil in late 1987.[3] During his first ever international appearance, on 12 December 1987 in Brasilia against Brazil, Foda was at the centre of controversy. Both at the reading of the team names and later when he was substituted in, he was met with great applause by the Brazilian fans. Foda only found out the next day that this was due to his name translating to "free intercourse" in Portuguese.[4]
Foda joinedFC Basel's first team during the winter break of their1996–97 season under head coachKarl Engel. Foda played his domestic league debut for his new club in the home game in theSt. Jakob Stadium on 2 March 1997 as Basel won 1–0 againstZürich.[5] During his few months with the club, Foda played a total of 15 games for Basel, without scoring a goal. 13 of these games were in theNationalliga A, one was in theSwiss Cup and the other one was a friendly game.[6]
Foda moved into coaching withSturm Graz as an assistant coach. He had been interim head coach between 20 September 2002[7] until November 2002.[8] At this point, Foda became the permanent head coach until they hiredGilbert Gress to become the head coach on 4 June 2003.[8] He then went on to coach the reserve team immediately after to when he was promoted to head coach of the first team on 1 June 2006.[9] Sturm Graz won the2010–11 Bundesliga[10] and the2009–10 Austrian Cup[11] under Foda. He was originally scheduled to leave after the 2011–12 season.[12] However, he ended up being sacked on 12 April 2012 after the club was knocked–out of theAustrian Cup.[13]
On 22 May 2012, Foda was announced as new head coach of1. FC Kaiserslautern, who had just been relegated to the second division after two seasons in the top flight.[14] On 29 August 2013, he was sacked as head coach with immediate effect.[15]
Foda returned to Sturm Graz on 30 September 2014[16] and won his first match in–charge on 4 October 2014 againstGrödig.[17]
In October 2017 it was announced that Foda would become manager of theAustria national team, with effect from January 2018.[18] Foda resigned from the position in March 2022, following their failure to qualify for the2022 FIFA World Cup after the defeat to Wales in Cardiff.[19]
On 8 June 2022, he was announced as the new head coach of Swiss championsFC Zürich, replacingAndré Breitenreiter.[20] Foda was sacked by Zürich on 21 September.[21]
On 17 February 2024,Kosovo appointed Foda after agreeing to a contract until February 2026, this happened after the former coachPrimož Gliha decided to resign after weak results in November 2023.[1]
Foda is of Italian descent through his father.[22] His sonSandro (born 1989) first appeared professionally with Sturm Graz in 2007, when his father was head coach.[23]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | Ref. | |||
| Sturm Graz | 20 September 2002[7] | 4 June 2003[8] | 33 | 13 | 4 | 16 | 039.39 | [24] |
| Sturm Graz II | 4 June 2003[9] | 1 June 2006[9] | 93 | 34 | 24 | 35 | 036.56 | |
| Sturm Graz | 1 June 2006[9] | 12 April 2012[13] | 258 | 117 | 65 | 76 | 045.35 | [25][26][27][28][29][30] |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 22 May 2012[14] | 29 August 2013[15] | 44 | 20 | 13 | 11 | 045.45 | [31][32] |
| Sturm Graz | 30 September 2014[16] | 1 January 2018 | 141 | 71 | 28 | 42 | 050.35 | |
| Austria | 1 January 2018 | 29 March 2022 | 47 | 26 | 6 | 15 | 055.32 | |
| FC Zürich | 8 June 2022 | 21 September 2022 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 026.32 | |
| Kosovo | 17 February 2024 | present | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 063.64 | [1] |
| Total | 646 | 293 | 144 | 209 | 045.36 | |||
1. FC Kaiserslautern
Bayer Leverkusen
Sturm Graz
Sturm Graz
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