German Football Icon Franz Beckenbauer Dies Aged 78

Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer, one of football’s greatest players who captained his country to World Cup glory in 1974 and won the tournament again as manager in 1990, has died at the age of 78, his family said in a statement on Monday.

Beckenbauer dazzled the sport as player, coach, pundit and administrator for more than half a century and was widely admired globally, with messages of sympathy pouring in from across the world on Monday.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce that my husband and our father, Franz Beckenbauer, passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday, Sunday, surrounded by his family,” read a statement from his family.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on X: “World Cup winner as player and coach: Franz Beckenbauer was one of the greatest footballers in Germany and for many ‘der Kaiser’ also because of the excitement for German Football he created for generations.”

“We will miss him. My thoughts are with his family and friends. The German record champions are grieving the loss of Franz Beckenbauer, the unique ‘Kaiser’ without whom FC Bayern would not have become the club it is today.”

Weltmeister als Spieler und Trainer: Franz Beckenbauer war einer der größten Fußballer in Deutschland und für viele „der Kaiser“ – auch, weil er über Generationen für den deutschen Fußball begeistert hat. Er wird uns fehlen. Meine Gedanken sind bei seiner Familie und Freunden. pic.twitter.com/hSEWFfYk7R

— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) January 8, 2024

He earned 103 caps for West Germany, winning the 1972 European Championship and then the World Cup on home soil two years’ later, having lost in the final to England in 1966.

In 1970 he famously played for much of the classic World Cup semi-final against Italy with his arm in a sling, having dislocated his shoulder and broken his collar bone.

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His Bayern Munich team were the best club side in the world during the mid-1970s, winning three successive European Cups and three straight Bundesliga titles. Beckenbauer was twice named European footballer of the year.

Beckenbauer then made a controversial move to the United States, joining the “all-star” New York Cosmos team, who he helped to three domestic titles, before returning to Germany and helping Hamburg to the Bundesliga crown.