50 Fun Facts About Franz Beckenbauer

What was Franz Beckenbauer's famous nickname?

It means 'the Emperor'; Gerd Müller was Der Bomber.

Beckenbauer is credited with inventing which modern playing role?

He combined defensive duties with starting attacks, effectively acting as a playmaker from the back.

For which club did Beckenbauer play the bulk of his career?

He later managed the club and served as its president from 1994 to 2009.

Which local club did the young Beckenbauer support and dream of playing for?

A punch-up with an 1860 centre-half at an Under-14 tournament sent him and his teammates to Bayern instead.

Why was the 18-year-old Beckenbauer banned from West Germany's youth team in 1963?

Coach Dettmar Cramer intervened to have him readmitted.

Against which club did Beckenbauer make his Bayern debut in June 1964?

It was a promotion play-off, and he played on the left wing; Bayern reached the Bundesliga a year later.

Which trophy did Bayern win in 1967, Beckenbauer's first continental honour?

The German Cup win of 1966-67 had qualified them; the club's first league title came in 1968-69.

In which years did Bayern win three consecutive European Cups with Beckenbauer as captain?

The hat-trick let the club keep the trophy permanently and made him the first captain to lift three.

The popular story says his imperial nickname came from posing beside a bust of whom?

The photo was taken on a friendly trip to Vienna; a rival account credits a taunt during the 1969 cup final.

In the rival nickname story, which Schalke player, the 'King of Westphalia', did he taunt?

After fouling him in the 1969 cup final, Beckenbauer juggled the ball in front of the hooting fans for half a minute, so the press outranked a king with an emperor.

Which American club did Beckenbauer join in 1977?

He played alongside Pelé in his debut season and won three Soccer Bowls with the club.

How many Soccer Bowls did the Cosmos win during Beckenbauer's first spell?

The titles came in 1977, 1978 and 1980; he was the NASL's most valuable player in 1977.

With which club did Beckenbauer win his final Bundesliga title as a player, in 1982?

He then played one last season with the Cosmos in 1983.

How many caps did Beckenbauer win for West Germany?

He scored 14 goals and was the country's most-capped player from 1973 until Lothar Matthäus passed him in 1993.

Whose record of 72 caps did Beckenbauer break in 1973?

Seeler was the Hamburg striker who had played in four World Cups.

Against which country did Beckenbauer make his international debut in September 1965?

West Germany won the World Cup qualifier 2-1 in Stockholm; his first goals came against the Dutch the following March.

In his first World Cup match, in 1966, Beckenbauer scored twice against which team?

West Germany won 5-0; he finished the tournament with four goals and the Best Young Player award.

Which England player was Beckenbauer told to man-mark in the 1966 World Cup final?

The two were instructed to mark each other, cancelling both out; England won in extra time.

Which award did Beckenbauer share with Geoff Hurst and Ferenc Bene at the 1966 World Cup?

He was also named the tournament's Best Young Player.

What injury did Beckenbauer play through in the 1970 'Game of the Century' against Italy?

West Germany had used both substitutions, so he stayed on with his arm in a sling in a 4-3 extra-time defeat.

Whom did West Germany beat 3-0 in the final of the 1972 European Championship?

Beckenbauer had become national captain the year before.

Whom did West Germany beat 2-1 in the 1974 World Cup final?

Beckenbauer's defenders man-marked Johan Cruyff so well that the Dutch never got their Total Football going.

What distinction did Beckenbauer earn as winning captain in 1974?

Brazil had kept the Jules Rimet Trophy for good after their third win in 1970.

West Germany lost the 1976 European Championship final on penalties to which team?

Beckenbauer still made the Team of the Tournament, and retired from international football in 1977.

In which two years did Beckenbauer win the Ballon d'Or?

He is the only defender ever to win it twice, and was runner-up in 1974 and 1975.

Who partnered Beckenbauer in West Germany's midfield at the 1966 and 1970 World Cups?

The Cologne playmaker was his partner before Beckenbauer moved permanently to the back.

How many red cards did Beckenbauer receive during his time at Bayern?

He was noted throughout his career for leadership and fair play.

Whom did Beckenbauer replace as West Germany manager in September 1984?

He took the team to the 1986 World Cup final in his first tournament.

Which team beat Beckenbauer's West Germany in the 1986 World Cup final?

Diego Maradona inspired the win; the two sides met again in the 1990 final with the opposite result.

What was the score of the 1990 World Cup final that Beckenbauer won as manager?

It was the last German World Cup team without East German players, months before reunification.

Along with Beckenbauer, which two men have won the World Cup as both player and manager?

Only Beckenbauer and Deschamps did it as captain and then as coach.

Which French club did Beckenbauer briefly manage from 1990?

He left midway through the season; his successor Raymond Goethals won the title and reached the European Cup final.

Which two trophies did Beckenbauer win in his brief spells managing Bayern in the 1990s?

His first spell ran from December 1993 to June 1994, the second for two months in 1996.

Who succeeded Beckenbauer as president of his old club in 2009?

The long-time general manager took over; Beckenbauer had been president since 1994.

Beckenbauer led Germany's successful bid to host which World Cup?

He chaired the organising committee; investigations into the bid later clouded his reputation.

For how long was Beckenbauer banned by FIFA's ethics committee in June 2014?

He was accused of refusing to cooperate with the inquiry into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup awards; the ban was lifted when he agreed to take part.

Why was the German fraud investigation into Beckenbauer closed in 2020?

The probe, begun in 2016, concerned fraud and money laundering linked to the 2006 World Cup.

Beckenbauer wrote a column for which German tabloid for 34 years?

He also worked as a pundit for Sky Germany; both roles ended in 2016.

Beckenbauer is the one real footballer in which troupe's philosophers' football sketch?

In the sketch the German and Greek philosophers walk in circles thinking, to his evident confusion.

Beckenbauer requested a mobile number ending in six sixes. Why did it backfire?

In German 'sechs' sounds like 'sex', so several men rang expecting something else.

Beckenbauer became honorary consul of which country in 2011?

The role was meant to help Kosovo's campaign for UEFA and FIFA membership.

In which country did Beckenbauer become tax resident after moving in 1982?

He had earlier been fined by Swiss authorities for tax evasion while living there between 1977 and 1980.

Beckenbauer's farewell match in June 1982 pitted his club against whom?

The gate money of 800,000 marks went to his new foundation for the disabled, sick and needy.

How old was Beckenbauer when he died in January 2024?

A memorial service was held at the Allianz Arena on 19 January.

What happened to the Allianz Arena's address in May 2025?

The change was announced in September 2024, months after his death.

Which two players did the AIPS rank above Beckenbauer in its 2024 poll of the century?

The International Sports Press Association voted him third best footballer of the past 100 years.

Which Munich district, working-class in his youth, did Beckenbauer grow up in?

He was born in Maxvorstadt in 1945, the son of a postal worker, and served as an altar boy.

Which 1954 World Cup winner did the young Beckenbauer idolise?

He began as a centre-forward with SC Munich '06 at the age of nine.

Beckenbauer's son Stephan, a professional footballer, died in 2015 of what?

Stephan's son Luca also became a professional, playing for Wacker Burghausen.

What did Jürgen Klopp say it felt like when Beckenbauer praised him in 2019?

After his death La Gazzetta dello Sport called him the greatest defender ever.