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BECKENBAUER

Franz Anton Beckenbauer
WEST GERMANY · GER · SWEEPER · #5
11 SEP 1945 – 2024 · Bayern Munich · New York Cosmos · Hamburger SV
★ 1 WORLD CUPS
Der Kaiser
WEST GERMANY · #5

🌎 WORLD CUP RECORD

1
TITLES
18
MATCHES
5
GOALS
YEARHOSTAPPSGOALSRESULT
1966England64 RUNNER-UP
1970Mexico51 3RD PLACE
1974West Germany70 ★ WINNER
█ ATTRIBUTES
PACE 78
SHOOTING 72
PASSING 90
DRIBBLING 86
DEFENDING 88
PHYSICAL 82

⚡ DEFINING MOMENTS

▲ 1966 · Four goals and a leash at Wembley
Barely twenty, he announced himself with four goals from midfield on the way to the final. There he was assigned to shadow Bobby Charlton; the two cancelled each other out, and West Germany lost in extra time. He left England with a runner-up medal and a reputation.
▲ 1974 · Lifting it at home
As captain and the game's first true attacking libero, he marshalled West Germany past the Netherlands' Total Football in the final in Munich. He raised the trophy on home soil — the only goalless tournament of his three, and by some distance the most important.
▲ 1990 · The full set
Sixteen years after winning the World Cup as a player, he led West Germany to it again as manager, beating Argentina in Rome. He became one of a tiny handful to win football's grandest prize from both the pitch and the bench.

📜 CAREER TIMELINE

1964
Breaks into the Bayern Munich first team and begins reinventing the defender's role.
1966
First World Cup: four goals and a runner-up medal in England, aged 20.
1970
Plays on through a dislocated shoulder, arm strapped, in the semi-final loss to Italy; West Germany take third place.
1974
Captains West Germany to the World Cup title on home soil and completes the medal set.
1977
Leaves Bayern for the New York Cosmos after 103 caps for West Germany.
1990
Wins the World Cup again, this time as West Germany's manager.
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█ THE ALMANAC SPEAKS
PROF. INKSWORTH:

He did not so much play the sweeper role as invent its modern form, stepping out of defence with the ball as if the position had been waiting for him all along. The almanac records the full set — silver in 1966, bronze in 1970, gold in 1974 — and notes that his most decisive tournament was the one in which he never scored. Der Kaiser ruled from the back.

  • His three tournaments yielded every colour of medal: runner-up in 1966, third in 1970, champion in 1974.
  • All five of his World Cup goals came before the 1974 triumph; he captained the winning side without scoring.
  • He won the World Cup as both player (1974) and manager (1990) — a feat only a handful have managed.
Ready.
Zone: Historical