Franz Anton Beckenbauer (German pronunciation:[fʁantsˈbɛkn̩ˌbaʊɐ]ⓘ; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professionalfootball player,manager, and official. Nicknamedder Kaiser ("the Emperor"),[1][2] he is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential players of all time.[3] Beckenbauer was a versatile player who started out as amidfielder, but made his name as acentre-back. He is often credited as having invented the role of themodern sweeper (libero).[4]
At club level withBayern Munich, Beckenbauer won theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup in1967 and three consecutive European Cups from 1974 to 1976. The latter feat made him the first player to win three European Cups as captain of his club. He became team manager and later president of Bayern Munich. After two spells with theNew York Cosmos he was inducted into the USNational Soccer Hall of Fame.[10]
Beckenbauer led Germany's successful bid to host the2006 FIFA World Cup and chaired theorganizing committee. He worked as a pundit forSky Germany, and for 34 years as a columnist for the tabloidBild, both until 2016.[11] Beginning August 2016, he was investigated for fraud and money laundering in connection with the 2006 World Cup.[12] The investigation was closed without a verdict in 2020 as thestatute of limitations expired.[13]
Franz Anton Beckenbauer[14] was born on 11 September 1945 at a clinic in theMaxvorstadt borough ofMunich, the second son of postal-worker Franz Beckenbauer Sr. and his wife Antonie (née Hupfauf).[15][16] He was the youngest of two children, his older brother Walter having been born in 1941, and grew up in the working-class district ofGiesing.[17] Beckenbauer was raised as a Catholic, and was analtar boy in the Munich-Obergiesingparish.[18] Despite his father's cynicism about the game, Beckenbauer started playing football at the age of nine with the youth team of SC Munich '06 in 1954.[19]
Originally acentre-forward, Beckenbauer idolised1954 FIFA World Cup winnerFritz Walter and supported local side1860 Munich, then the pre-eminent team in the city, despite their relegation from the top league, theOberliga Süd, in the 1950s."It was always my dream to play for them" he would later confirm.[19] That he joined theBayern Munich youth team in 1959, rather than that of his favourites' 1860 Munich, was the result of a contentious Under-14 youth tournament in nearbyNeubiberg. Beckenbauer and his teammates were aware that their SC Munich '06 club lacked the finance to continue running its youth sides, and had determined to join 1860 Munich as a group upon the tournament's conclusion. Fortune decreed that SC Munich and 1860 would meet in the final and a series of niggles during the match eventually resulted in a physical confrontation between Beckenbauer and the opposingcentre-half. The ill-feeling this engendered had a strong effect upon Beckenbauer and his teammates, who decided to join Bayern's youth side rather than the team they had recently come to blows with.[20]
In 1963, at the age of 18, Beckenbauer was engulfed by controversy when it was revealed that his girlfriend was pregnant and that he had no intention of marrying her; he was banned from the West Germany national youth team by theDFB and only readmitted after the intervention of the side's coachDettmar Cramer.[21]
Beckenbauer (left) after Bayern Munich'sCup Winners' Cup triumph in 1967
Beckenbauer made his debut with Bayern in aBundesliga promotion play-off match on the left wing againstFC St. Pauli on 6 June 1964. In his first season in theRegionalliga Süd ("Regional League South", then the second level in Germany), 1964–65, the team won the league and was eventually promoted to the Bundesliga.[22]
Bayern soon became a force in the new German league, winning theGerman Cup in 1966–67 and achieving European success in theCup Winners' Cup in 1967. Beckenbauer became team captain for the 1968–69 season and led his club to their first league title. He began experimenting with thesweeper(libero) role around this time, refining the role into a new form and becoming perhaps the greatest exponent of the attacking sweeper game.[1]
During Beckenbauer's tenure at Bayern Munich, the club won three league championships in a row from 1972 to 1974[23] and also a hat-trick ofEuropean Cup wins (1974–76)[23] which earned the club the honour ofkeeping the trophy permanently.[24]
Beginning in 1968, Beckenbauer was called "der Kaiser" ('the Emperor') by fans and the media.[1] The following anecdote is told (even during his lifetime by Beckenbauer himself) to explain the origin: On the occasion of a friendly game of Bayern Munich inVienna, Austria, Beckenbauer posed for a photo session right beside a bust of the former Austrian emperorFranz Joseph I. The media called himFußball-Kaiser ('football-emperor') afterwards, and soon he was just calledder Kaiser. According to a report in the German newspaperWelt am Sonntag, this explanation is untrue, though very popular. According to the report, Beckenbauer fouled his opposite number,Reinhard Libuda fromSchalke 04, in the cup final on 14 June 1969. Disregarding the fans' hooting, Beckenbauer took the ball into the opposite part of the field, where he balanced the ball in front of the upset fans for half a minute. Libuda was commonly calledKönig von Westfalen ('king ofWestphalia'), so the press looked for an even more exalted moniker and inventedder Kaiser.[25]
In 1977, Beckenbauer accepted a lucrative contract to play in theNorth American Soccer League (NASL) with theNew York Cosmos, playing alongsidePelé in his debut season. He played with the Cosmos for four seasons up to 1980, and the team won theSoccer Bowl on three occasions (1977, 1978, 1980).[1]
Beckenbauer retired after a two-year spell withHamburger SV in Germany (1980–82) with the win of the Bundesliga title that year and one final season with the New York Cosmos in 1983.[26]
Beckenbauer won 103caps and scored 14 goals for West Germany.[1] He made his debut in a World Cup qualification match againstSweden inStockholm on 26 September 1965, with West Germany winning 2–1.[1][27] Beckenbauer scored his first goals for the West Germany national team against theNetherlands on 23 March 1966 atDe Kuip, Rotterdam; he scored twice as West Germany won 4–2. He was a member of the World Cup squads that finished runners-up in 1966, third place in 1970, and champions in 1974, while also being named to the tournament all-star team in all three editions. He also won the1972 European Football Championship and finished as runners-up in the1976 edition. Beckenbauer became the mostcapped player for the German national team in 1973, he beatUwe Seeler's record of 72 matches and was overtaken byLothar Matthäus in 1993.
Beckenbauer appeared in his firstWorld Cup in1966, playing every match. In his first World Cup match, againstSwitzerland, he scored twice in a 5–0 win.[29] West Germany won their group, and then beatUruguay 4–0 in quarter-finals, with Beckenbauer scoring the second goal in the 70th minute.[29]
In the semi-finals, the Germans faced theUSSR;Helmut Haller opened the scoring, while Beckenbauer netted the second goal of the match, his fourth goal of the tournament, thus contributing to a 2–1 win and helping West Germany advance to theWembley Stadium final against hostsEngland.[29]
West Germany won their first three matches before facing England in the second round in a rematch of the 1966 final. The English were ahead 2–0 in the second half, but a spectacular goal by Beckenbauer in the 69th minute helped the Germans recover and equalise before the end of normal time and win the match in extra time.[29] West Germany advanced to the semi-finals to faceItaly, in what would be known as theGame of the Century. He dislocated his shoulder after being fouled, but he was not deterred from continuing in the match, as his side had already used their two permitted substitutions.[1] He stayed on the field carrying his dislocated arm in a sling. The result of this match was 4–3 (after extra time) in favour of the Italians. Germany defeatedUruguay 1–0 for third place.[1]
The1974 World Cup was hosted byWest Germany and Beckenbauer led his side to victory, including a hard-fought 2–1 win over the hotly favouredNetherlands side featuringJohan Cruyff. Beckenbauer and his fellow defenders man-marked Cruyff so well that the Dutch were never quite able to put their "Total Football" into full use.[1]
Beckenbauer became the first captain to lift the newFIFA World Cup Trophy after Brazil had retained theJules Rimet Trophy in 1970.[1] This also gave West Germany the distinction of being the first European national team to win the European Championship and World Cup consecutively (two other countries have done it since:France in 2000, andSpain in 2010).[34]
In the1976 competition, West Germany again reached the final, where they lost on penalties toCzechoslovakia. Beckenbauer was selected in the Team of the Tournament.[35]
Beckenbauer retired from international football in 1977, at the age of 31, following his move to New York Cosmos.[36]
A complete player, Beckenbauer is regarded by many critics and fans as being one of the greatest players of all time and as Germany's greatest player ever. Considered to have revolutionized the role of a sweeper in football, Beckenbauer was not only brilliant at helping out his fellow defenders and goalkeeper in their duties in protecting the goal from the opponents, but was also equally capable of offensive duties, often being the driving force of said attacks, with his passing range and elegant technique allowing him to operate as a playmaker for Bayern Munich and the West Germany national team. Beckenbauer was also a master of the one-two tactic, in which he'd pass the ball to a teammate and then go past an opponent to collect the ball.
Earlier in his career, Beckenbauer played as a midfielder, and was partnered with1. FC Köln playmakerWolfgang Overath in a two-man midfield for the West Germany national team in the 1966 and 1970 World Cups.
Throughout his career, Beckenbauer stood out for his leadership and fair play, having never received a red card during his time at Bayern.[37]
In 1990, before theGerman reunification, Beckenbauer managed the lastGermany national football team without East German players in aWorld Cup, winning the final 1–0, against Argentina, in a rematch of the previous World Cup final. Beckenbauer was one of three men (withMario Zagallo, andDidier Deschamps) to have won the Cup as a player and as a manager, and he is the first man and one of only two (with Didier Deschamps) to have won the title asteam captain as well as a manager.[1]
From 28 December 1993 until 30 June 1994, and then from 29 April 1996 until 30 June of the same year, Beckenbauer managedBayern Munich. His brief spells in charge saw him collect two further honours – theBundesliga title in 1994 and theUEFA Cup in 1996.[40][41]
In 1994, Beckenbauer took on the role of club president at Bayern, and much of the success in the following years has been credited to his astute management. Following the club's decision to change from an association to a limited company, he was chairman of the advisory as of since the beginning of 2002. He stepped down as president of Bayern in 2009, being succeeded by long-time general managerUli Hoeneß.[42]
In 1998, Beckenbauer became vice-president of theGerman Football Association.[1] At the end of the 1990s, Beckenbauer headed the successful bid by Germany to organize the2006 FIFA World Cup.[1] He chaired the organizational committee for the World Cup and was a commentator for theBild-Zeitung.[43]
In June 2014, Beckenbauer was banned byFIFA Ethics Committee for 90 days from any football-related activity for allegedly refusing to cooperate with an inquiry into corruption dealing with the allocation of the2018 and2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.[44] He protested the ban, as he had requested the questions that were put to him be in German and in writing. The ban was lifted after Beckenbauer agreed to participate in FIFA's inquiry.[45] In February 2016, Beckenbauer was fined CHF 7,000 and warned by FIFA Ethics Committee for failing to cooperate with the inquiry in 2014.[46]
In March 2016, the Ethics Committee opened formal proceedings against Beckenbauer regarding the awarding of the2006 FIFA World Cup to Germany.[47]
In the course of investigations, Swiss officials also found evidence of a payment of at least 1.7 million euro, allegedly from the South African Football Association, to Beckenbauer, via Gibraltar.[48] It was claimed this was a consultancy fee for helping secure the hosting of the 2010 World Cup for South Africa.[49]
It also emerged that Beckenbauer, who had claimed to be working for free for the World Cup Organizing Committee of the German Football Association (DFB), had been paid 5.5 million from the income of a sponsorship deal that the German Football Association had made with betting companyOddset in 2004. No tax had been paid in Germany on the money until the authorities chanced upon it in 2010.[50] Beckenbauer stated he had already paid the tax due on his share in Austria, where he was tax resident.[51]
In 2021, FIFA closed its ethics inquiry against Beckenbauer, as the statute of limitations had expired.[52]
In October 2019, Black Mirror Leaks published email correspondence of Russian member of Parliament, Sergey Kapkov, where Beckenbauer and his adviser, Fedor Radmann, were named as recipients of €3 million for their votes in favour of Russia as host of the 2018 World Cup. Both allegedly received an additional €1.5 million in success fees after the 2018 cup was allocated to Russia.[53]
In 1976, Beckenbauer paid 1.6 million D-Marks in back taxes. He had relied on advice to shelter income from tax using a financial structure which was later found to be invalid. In this instance, he was not fined.[54] He claimed in his memoir that the Bavarian Finance Minister Ludwig Huber, who had attended Beckenbauer's 30th birthday party in 1975, had given him tax advice, including about moving to Switzerland. Huber was also president of the state-owned bank and approved a loan of 1 million D-Marks to enable him to pay the back-taxes.[55]
In 1982, Beckenbauer moved to Austria, where tax rates were lower.[50] In 1987, Beckenbauer was fined by Swiss authorities for evading taxes while living in Switzerland between 1977 and 1980.[56]
During his playing career, Beckenbauer's popularity was such that he was included as a character inMonty Python's sketch "The Philosophers' Football Match" as the sole genuine player and a "surprise inclusion" to the German team. During the match, between famous Greek and German philosophers, instead of actually playing football, the "players" walk in circles contemplating philosophy, while "asking questions", a popular phrase used by English football commentators, much to the confusion of Beckenbauer.[57]
In a 2013 advertisement for South Korean companySamsung, Beckenbauer appeared as the manager of a Galaxy XI of football players from around the globe, and hands the captain's armband toLionel Messi.[58] Beckenbauer features in EA Sports'FIFA video game series; he was included in theFIFA 15 Ultimate Team Legends.[59]
Beckenbauer was married three times and had five children, one of whom,Stephan, was a professional footballer,[60][61] who died from a brain tumour on 31 July 2015, at the age of 46.[62] Stephan's son Luca is also a professional footballer, playing forSV Wacker Burghausen in theRegionalliga Bayern.[63]
A practicing Catholic, Beckenbauer believed that one's soul travels after death.[64][65]
After appearing in an advertisement for a mobile phone company, Beckenbauer specifically requested the number 0176 / 666666 for his mobile phone.[66] He was soon called by several men who thought it was aphone sex number (in German, "6" translates to "sechs", sounding similar to "sex").[67]
Beckenbauer became an honorary consul ofKosovo in 2011, to help promote Kosovo's campaign for membership of UEFA and FIFA.[68]
In 2016 and 2017, Beckenbauer had cardiac surgery, and received anartificial hip in 2018.[69]
At the end of his career as a Bundesliga player, Beckenbauer established the foundationFranz-Beckenbauer-Stiftung[70] in Hamburg on 15 May 1982 to support the disabled, the sick and people in need. He gave the foundation thegate money of 800,000DM from his farewell match on 1 June 1982 (Hamburger SV versus Germany national team, which the national team won 4–2), and later added another 200,000 DM.[71] In total, Beckenbauer raised more than 20 million euros for the foundation.[72] His wife, Heidrun, is chairman of the foundation.
Beckenbauer is widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game.[1][2] He is the only defender in football history to win the Ballon d'Or twice,[79] and is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper orlibero, a defensive player who intervenes proactively in the offensive game of his team.[4] NamedEuropean Footballer of the Year twice, Beckenbauer was chosen on theWorld Team of the 20th Century in 1998, and theFIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002.[7][80]
An icon in Germany, and one of only three men (Mário Zagallo andDidier Deschamps being the others) to have won the World Cup both as a player and manager, Beckenbauer was praised by former German chancellorGerhard Schröder for winning the World Cup as a player in 1974, winning as manager in 1990, and for playing a leading role in Germany's success of achieving host status of the2006 World Cup.[28] His reputation as an administrator was later tarnished by repeated allegations of bribery.[81]
When Beckenbauer praisedLiverpool managerJürgen Klopp in 2019, Klopp said he felt that he had been givenknighthood by a king.[82] After his death in 2024,La Gazzetta dello Sport declared Beckenbauer to be the "greatest defender ever",[83] and was praised by many outlets to be one of the greatest players of all time.[84] On 19 September 2024, it was announced thatAllianz Arena's address was changed to "Franz Beckenbauer Platz 5" on 1 May 2025.[85]
^Hesse, Uli (2024) [First published 2023].The Three Lives of the Kaiser: A Biography of Franz Beckenbauer. London: Simon & Schuster UK. pp. 14,18–19.ISBN978-1-4711-8912-8.
^"Die Frau seines Lebens" [The woman of his life].Münchner Merkur (in German). 11 January 2006. Retrieved4 January 2025.
^Hesse.The Three Lives of the Kaiser: A Biography of Franz Beckenbauer. pp. 14, 19.
^Gänswein, Georg (2012).Benedikt XVI. Prominente über den Papst (in German). Media Maria. p. 12.ISBN978-3981444469.
Beckenbauer, Franz and Dettmar Cramer,Nicht nur ein Spiel! Reinbek: Rowohlt, 2006,ISBN3-498-00640-1.
Körner, Torsten,Franz Beckenbauer – der freie Mann. Scherz, Frankfurt 2005,ISBN3-502-18391-0.
Kratzert, Armin:Beckenbauer taucht nicht auf. Roman. Kirchheim Verlag, München 2012,ISBN978-3-87410-119-6
Kummermehr, Petra (Hrsg.):Das Buch Franz. Botschaften eines Kaisers. Diederichs, München 2011,ISBN978-3-424-35063-0.
Suling, Nils (4 November 2023).Wir Helden von Rom. Die wahre Geschichte der WM 1990 – erzählt von den Weltmeistern (in German). Edel Sports - ein Verlag der Edel Verlagsgruppe.ISBN978-3-98588-080-5.
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