Franz Beckenbauer a member of exclusive World Cup-winning club

By Sports Desk January 08, 2024

Franz Beckenbauer is one of only three men to have won the World Cup as both player and manager.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the members of football’s most exclusive club.

Mario Zagallo

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Seleção Brasileira de Futebol (@cbf_futebol)

No one man can boast more success at the World Cup than Brazilian Mario Zagallo, who died at the weekend at the age of 92. Zagallo played alongside a 17-year-old Pele in the 1958 final as Brazil won the title for the first of three times in 12 years in 1958 with a 5-2 victory over hosts Sweden, and repeated the feat four years later in Chile, when they beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final. He was in the dugout by the time arguably the greatest side to have graced the competition completed a treble in 1970 with a 4-1 demolition of Italy in Mexico City, and served as assistant to Carlos Alberta Parreira when they got the better of the Italians on penalties at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl in 1994.

Franz Beckenbauer

West Germany’s Beckenbauer – or ‘Der Kaiser’ as he was known to his adoring fans – suffered the disappointment of losing to England in the 1966 final at Wembley, a game in which he and the late Sir Bobby Charlton famously cancelled each other out only for Geoff Hurst to plunder a hat-trick which later helped to earn him a knighthood too. The Germans, who ended England’s title defence at the quarter-final stage in Mexico four years later, had to wait until 1974 for captain Beckenbauer to get his hands on the trophy on home soil, bouncing back from Johan Neeskens’ early penalty to beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the final. He repeated the feat as a coach in 1990 when, with his side having edged out Sir Bobby Robson’s England on penalties in the semi-finals, Andreas Brehme’s spot-kick saw off Argentina at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.

Didier Deschamps

Disparagingly dismissed by former team-mate Eric Cantona as a “water carrier”, defensive midfielder Deschamps captained host nation France to World Cup glory for the first time in 1998 when they trounced Brazil 3-0 in the final. Twenty years later, he picked up a second winners’ medal, this time as manager when he guided his team to a 4-2 final victory over Croatia in Moscow. Deschamps might have gone one better than both Zagallo and Beckenbauer in 2022 but for the resilience of Lionel Messi’s Argentina, who came out on top in a penalty shoot-out in Qatar after Kylian Mbappe had scored a hat-trick in a thrilling 3-3 draw.

Related items

  • Doncic backs Mbappe to turn fortunes around at Real Madrid Doncic backs Mbappe to turn fortunes around at Real Madrid

    NBA superstar Luka Doncic has backed Kylian Mbappe to "figure it out" after his underwhelming start to life at Real Madrid.

    Mbappe has scored eight goals in 16 games for Madrid in all competitions since joining as a free agent following the expiration of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.

    He has gone four matches without a goal – a run that includes losses to Barcelona and Milan – and has been left out of France's latest squad.

    However, Dallas Mavericks guard Doncic – a Real Madrid supporter due to his previous ties with the sports club – can see Mbappe turning things around.

    "Obviously [their season] could be better," Doncic told Managing Madrid after the Mavericks' win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. 

    "But when you get a guy like Mbappe, it takes some time to get used to it. We'll figure it out."

    Mbappe has scored six goals in 11 LaLiga appearances for Madrid but has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04.

    The forward is averaging a goal every 166 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 88 minutes for PSG in his last of seven seasons in Paris.

    Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 last time out in the league to return to winning ways but still trail leaders Barcelona by six points.

    Asked about his connections with Madrid, former Los Blancos basketball player Doncic said: "I follow Real Madrid every time.

    "I grew up there. They taught me everything, so it's a part of my life. You can call it a secondary home. 

    "I learned a lot of stuff there and, especially, they gave me a way to be here right now [in Dallas]. I always appreciate that 100%."

    Madrid return to action after the international break with a trip to Leganes on Sunday.

  • Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory

    Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.

    Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.

    The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.

    Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.

    Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.

    Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.

    Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign. 

    Data Debrief: Total dominance

    Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.

    Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.

    Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10. 

  • Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout

    Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.

    Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.

    Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.

    Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.

    While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.

    Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.

    Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.

    Data Debrief: Clinically done

    For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.

    Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).

    Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.