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MATTHÄUS

Lothar Herbert Matthäus
GERMANY · GER · MIDFIELDER · #10
21 MAR 1961 · Borussia Mönchengladbach · Bayern Munich · Inter Milan
★ 1 WORLD CUPS
Loddar
GERMANY · #10

🌎 WORLD CUP RECORD

1
TITLES
25
MATCHES
6
GOALS
YEARHOSTAPPSGOALSRESULT
1982Spain20 RUNNER-UP
1986Mexico71 RUNNER-UP
1990Italy74 ★ WINNER
1994United States51 QUARTER-FINAL
1998France40 QUARTER-FINAL
█ ATTRIBUTES
PACE 80
SHOOTING 87
PASSING 88
DRIBBLING 84
DEFENDING 82
PHYSICAL 88

⚡ DEFINING MOMENTS

▲ 1986 · Shadowing Maradona, then losing to him
In the Mexico City final he was handed the job of marking Diego Maradona out of the game. He largely succeeded, but the Argentine still found the pass that broke West Germany's resistance late on. Matthäus left with a second runner-up medal and a private resolve about how the next final would go.
▲ 1990 · Captain in Rome
Released from man-marking duty and let loose from midfield, he drove West Germany through Italia '90 with four goals and the Silver Ball. He lifted the trophy in Rome after a narrow win over Argentina — the same opponent, the reverse result, four years on.
▲ 1998 · Five tournaments, twenty-five matches
Back in the side as a veteran sweeper, he became the first outfield player to feature at five World Cups and set a then-record of twenty-five matches played. The quarter-final exit to Croatia closed a personal account that had opened sixteen years earlier in Spain.

📜 CAREER TIMELINE

1982
Makes his World Cup debut off the bench in Spain, aged 21; West Germany reach the final and lose to Italy.
1986
Marks Maradona in the final in Mexico; West Germany are beaten by Argentina and he collects a second runner-up medal.
1990
Captains West Germany to the World Cup title in Italy, scores four and wins the tournament's Silver Ball.
1991
Named the inaugural World Player of the Year, a year after taking the Ballon d'Or — still the only German to win the former.
1994
Reinvented as a sweeper, scores a penalty against Bulgaria but Germany fall in the quarter-finals in the United States.
1998
Plays a fifth World Cup in France, setting a then-record 25 matches before retiring from the national side on 150 caps.
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█ THE ALMANAC SPEAKS
PROF. INKSWORTH:

He was the rare midfielder who could run a match from box to box and then, a decade on, hold the back line together as a sweeper — which is why he kept turning up, tournament after tournament. The almanac marks the symmetry of his finals: marking Maradona and losing in 1986, then lifting the trophy past the same Argentina in 1990. Loddar simply refused to leave the stage, and ended up owning the appearance record.

  • He was the first outfield player to appear at five World Cups and held the all-time match record at 25 before Lionel Messi passed it.
  • He reached three finals in three different roles — substitute in 1982, Maradona's marker in 1986, free-roaming captain in 1990 — winning only the last.
  • His four goals from midfield in 1990 earned the Silver Ball; he took the Ballon d'Or that year and the first World Player of the Year award the next.
Ready.
Zone: Historical