Franz Beckenbauer

• 1. A Boy From Giesing

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  Franz Anton Beckenbauer was born on the 11th of September 1945 at a clinic in the Maxvorstadt borough of Munich. He grew up in the working-class district of Giesing as the second son of postal-worker Franz Beckenbauer Sr. and his wife Antonie. His older brother Walter had been born four years earlier in 1941. The family raised him as a Catholic, and he served as an altar boy in the Munich-Obergiesing parish. Despite his father's cynicism about football, the young Beckenbauer started playing with the youth team of SC Munich '06 in 1954. He began as a centre-forward but idolized 1954 FIFA World Cup winner Fritz Walter. He supported local side 1860 Munich even after they were relegated from the top league during the 1950s. It was always his dream to play for them, he would later confirm. That he joined the Bayern Munich youth team in 1959 instead resulted from a contentious Under-14 youth tournament in nearby Neubiberg. Beckenbauer and his teammates decided to join 1860 Munich as a group upon the tournament's conclusion. Fortune decreed that SC Munich and 1860 would meet in the final match. A series of niggles during the game eventually resulted in a physical confrontation between Beckenbauer and the opposing centre-half. The ill-feeling this engendered had a strong effect upon Beckenbauer and his teammates. They decided to join Bayern's youth side rather than the team they had recently come to blows with.

• 2. The Emperor Emerges

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  Beckenbauer made his debut with Bayern in a Bundesliga promotion play-off match on the left wing against FC St. Pauli on the 6th of June 1964. In his first season in the Regionalliga Süd, the team won the league and was eventually promoted to the Bundesliga. Bayern soon became a force in the new German league, winning the German Cup in 1966, 67. Beckenbauer began experimenting with the sweeper role around 1968 while refining it into a new form. He became perhaps the greatest exponent of the attacking sweeper game. Fans and media started calling him Kaiser starting in 1968. One anecdote explains the origin: On the occasion of a friendly game of Bayern Munich in Vienna, Austria, Beckenbauer posed for a photo session right beside a bust of the former Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I. The media called him Kaiser afterwards, and soon he was just called Kaiser. According to a report in the German newspaper Bild, this explanation is untrue though very popular. Another account states that Beckenbauer fouled his opposite number, Reinhard Libuda from Schalke 04, in the cup final on the 14th of June 1969. Disregarding the fans' hooting, Beckenbauer took the ball into the opposite part of the field. There he balanced the ball in front of the upset fans for half a minute. Libuda was commonly called Der Libido, so the press looked for an even more exalted moniker and invented Kaiser.

• 3. Three World Cups

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  Beckenbauer won 103 caps and scored 14 goals for West Germany. He made his debut in a World Cup qualification match against Sweden in Stockholm on the 26th of September 1965. West Germany won 2, 1. Beckenbauer scored his first goals for the national team against the Netherlands on the 23rd of March 1966 at De Kuip in Rotterdam. He scored twice as West Germany won 4, 2. He appeared in his first World Cup in 1966 playing every match. In his first World Cup match against Switzerland, he scored twice in a 5, 0 win. West Germany beat Uruguay 4, 0 in quarter-finals with Beckenbauer scoring the second goal in the 70th minute. In the semi-finals, the Germans faced the USSR. Helmut Haller opened the scoring while Beckenbauer netted the second goal of the match. This was his fourth goal of the tournament thus contributing to a 2, 1 win. They advanced to the Wembley Stadium final against hosts England. He and Bobby Charlton were instructed by their respective managers to man-mark each other. England went on to win the final and the Jules Rimet Trophy in extra time. Still, Beckenbauer was nominated the Best Young Player of the tournament. He also received the Bronze Boot together with Ferenc Bene, Geoff Hurst and Valeriy Porkujan.

• 4. The Game Of The Century

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  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. They equalised before the end of normal time and won the match in extra time. West Germany advanced to the semi-finals to face Italy in what would be known as the Game of the Century. He dislocated his shoulder after being fouled but he was not deterred from continuing in the match. His side had already used their two permitted substitutions so 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 defeated Uruguay 1, 0 for third place. In 1972, West Germany won the European Championship beating the Soviet Union 3, 0 in the final. Beckenbauer became captain of the national side in 1971. The 1974 World Cup was hosted by West Germany and Beckenbauer led his side to victory. This included a hard-fought 2, 1 win over the hotly favoured Netherlands side featuring Johan 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.

• 5. The Cosmos And Pelé

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  Beckenbauer retired from international football in 1977 at the age of 31 following his move to New York Cosmos. Beginning in 1968, Beckenbauer was called Kaiser by fans and media. He accepted a lucrative contract to play in the North American Soccer League with the New York Cosmos in 1977. He played alongside Pelé in his debut season. Beckenbauer played with the Cosmos for four seasons up to 1980. The team won the Soccer Bowl on three occasions in 1977, 1978, and 1980. He retired after a two-year spell with Hamburger SV in Germany between 1980 and 1982. They won the Bundesliga title that year. He also played one final season with the New York Cosmos in 1983. After two spells with the New York Cosmos he was inducted into the US National Soccer Hall of Fame. During his time with the Cosmos, he became an icon in North America. His presence helped popularize soccer in the United States during the late 1970s. The partnership with Pelé drew massive crowds to stadiums across the country.

• 6. The Double Champion

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  On his return to Germany, Beckenbauer was appointed manager of the West Germany national team to replace Jupp Derwall on the 12th of September 1984. He took the team all the way to the final of the 1986 World Cup where they lost to the Diego Maradona inspired Argentina. In 1990 before the German reunification, Beckenbauer managed the last Germany national football team without East German players. They won the final 1, 0 against Argentina in a rematch of the previous World Cup final. Beckenbauer was one of three men to have won the Cup as a player and as a manager. He is the first man and one of only two to have won the title as team captain as well as a manager. He then moved into club management and accepted a job with Marseille in 1990 but left midway through his first season. From the 28th of December 1993 until the 30th of June 1994 he managed Bayern Munich. His brief spells in charge saw him collect two further honours including the Bundesliga title in 1994 and the UEFA Cup in 1996. In 1994, Beckenbauer took on the role of club president at Bayern.

• 7. Shadows Over The Bid

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  In June 2014, Beckenbauer was banned by FIFA Ethics Committee for 90 days from any football-related activity. This followed allegations that he refused to cooperate with an inquiry into corruption dealing with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar. He protested the ban as he had requested questions be put to him in German and in writing. The ban was lifted after Beckenbauer agreed to participate in FIFA's inquiry. In February 2016, Beckenbauer was fined CHF 7,000 and warned by FIFA Ethics Committee for failing to cooperate with the inquiry in 2014. In March 2016, the Ethics Committee opened formal proceedings against Beckenbauer regarding the awarding of the 2006 FIFA World Cup to Germany. Swiss officials found evidence of a payment of at least 1.7 million euro allegedly from the South African Football Association to Beckenbauer via Gibraltar. It was claimed this was a consultancy fee for helping secure the hosting of the 2010 World Cup for South Africa. In October 2019, Black Mirror Leaks published email correspondence of Russian member of Parliament Sergey Kapkov. 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.

• 8. The Final Whistle

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  Beckenbauer died on the 7th of January 2024 at the age of 78 due to natural causes as announced by his family in a note sent to Deutsche Presse-Agentur. A memorial service was held at Allianz Arena on the 19th of January. He had established the foundation Franz-Beckenbauer-Stiftung in Hamburg on the 15th of May 1982 to support the disabled, the sick and people in need. He gave the foundation the gate money of 800,000 DM from his farewell match on the 1st of June 1982. The national team won that match 4, 2 against Hamburger SV. Later he added another 200,000 DM. In total, Beckenbauer raised more than 20 million euros for the foundation. His wife Heidrun is chairman of the foundation. After appearing in an advertisement for a mobile phone company, Beckenbauer specifically requested the number 0176 / 666666 for his mobile phone. He became an honorary consul of Kosovo in 2011 to help promote Kosovo's campaign for membership of UEFA and FIFA. On the 19th of September 2024 it was announced that Allianz Arena's address was changed to Franz Beckenbauer Platz 5 on the 1st of May 2025.