Franz Beckenbauer, one of soccer’s greatest players who led his country to World Cup victory in 1974 and again as manager in 1990, died at the age of 78, according to his family in a statement released on Monday.
Beckenbauer dominated the sport as a player, coach, commentator, and administrator for more than 50 years and was universally respected, with words of condolence coming in from all around 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.”
Beckenbauer was a classy, dominant presence on the pitch for West Germany and Bayern Munich in the 1960s and 70s, using a calmness on the ball and effortless distribution that marked his midfield performances to virtually invent the central defensive sweeper role, or ‘libero’ where he found most success.
“The world of FC Bayern is no longer what it was – suddenly it is darker, more quiet, poorer,” the club said in a statement.
“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.”
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.
His Bayern team were the best club side in the world during the mid-1970s, winning three successive European Cups and three straight Bundesliga titles, and Beckenbauer was twice named European footballer of the year.
He 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.
