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50 free Franz Beckenbauer trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Franz Beckenbauer trivia quiz covers the whole of a life that reshaped football. It starts where any fan would: the nickname, the club, the number of caps, the two Ballons d'Or and the fact that he lifted the World Cup as captain in 1974 and again as manager in 1990. Then it goes deeper into the career: the Under-14 brawl that sent him to Bayern instead of 1860 Munich, the youth-team ban over a pregnant girlfriend, the invention of the attacking sweeper, the sling he wore through the 1970 Game of the Century, and the three straight European Cups that let Bayern keep the trophy. The later chapters are here too. The New York Cosmos years alongside Pelé, the Hamburg title, the two World Cup finals as coach against Argentina, the brief spell at Marseille, the Bayern presidency, Germany's 2006 World Cup bid and the financial investigations that clouded it. There is also room for the lighter side: the two competing stories behind der Kaiser, the Monty Python philosophers' match, the mobile number that turned out to be a mistake, and the address of the Allianz Arena. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's article on Beckenbauer, and each question links to the page that establishes it. Fifty questions, free, with an explanation after every answer.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What was Franz Beckenbauer's famous nickname?
Der Kaiser
It means 'the Emperor'; Gerd Müller was Der Bomber.
Q 02Beckenbauer is credited with inventing which modern playing role?
The sweeper, or libero
He combined defensive duties with starting attacks, effectively acting as a playmaker from the back.
Q 03For which club did Beckenbauer play the bulk of his career?
Bayern Munich
He later managed the club and served as its president from 1994 to 2009.
Q 04Which local club did the young Beckenbauer support and dream of playing for?
1860 Munich
A punch-up with an 1860 centre-half at an Under-14 tournament sent him and his teammates to Bayern instead.
Q 05Why was the 18-year-old Beckenbauer banned from West Germany's youth team in 1963?
His girlfriend was pregnant and he refused to marry her
Coach Dettmar Cramer intervened to have him readmitted.
Q 06Against which club did Beckenbauer make his Bayern debut in June 1964?
FC St. Pauli
It was a promotion play-off, and he played on the left wing; Bayern reached the Bundesliga a year later.
Q 07Which trophy did Bayern win in 1967, Beckenbauer's first continental honour?
Cup Winners' Cup
The German Cup win of 1966-67 had qualified them; the club's first league title came in 1968-69.
Q 08In which years did Bayern win three consecutive European Cups with Beckenbauer as captain?
1974-76
The hat-trick let the club keep the trophy permanently and made him the first captain to lift three.
Q 09The popular story says his imperial nickname came from posing beside a bust of whom?
Franz Joseph I
The photo was taken on a friendly trip to Vienna; a rival account credits a taunt during the 1969 cup final.
Q 10In the rival nickname story, which Schalke player, the 'King of Westphalia', did he taunt?
Reinhard Libuda
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.
Q 11Which American club did Beckenbauer join in 1977?
New York Cosmos
He played alongside Pelé in his debut season and won three Soccer Bowls with the club.
Q 12How many Soccer Bowls did the Cosmos win during Beckenbauer's first spell?
3
The titles came in 1977, 1978 and 1980; he was the NASL's most valuable player in 1977.
Q 13With which club did Beckenbauer win his final Bundesliga title as a player, in 1982?
Hamburger SV
He then played one last season with the Cosmos in 1983.
Q 14How many caps did Beckenbauer win for West Germany?
Q 21Whom did West Germany beat 3-0 in the final of the 1972 European Championship?
Soviet Union
Beckenbauer had become national captain the year before.
Q 22Whom did West Germany beat 2-1 in the 1974 World Cup final?
Netherlands
Beckenbauer's defenders man-marked Johan Cruyff so well that the Dutch never got their Total Football going.
Q 23What distinction did Beckenbauer earn as winning captain in 1974?
First to lift the new FIFA World Cup Trophy
Brazil had kept the Jules Rimet Trophy for good after their third win in 1970.
103
He scored 14 goals and was the country's most-capped player from 1973 until Lothar Matthäus passed him in 1993.
Q 15Whose record of 72 caps did Beckenbauer break in 1973?
Uwe Seeler
Seeler was the Hamburg striker who had played in four World Cups.
Q 16Against which country did Beckenbauer make his international debut in September 1965?
Sweden
West Germany won the World Cup qualifier 2-1 in Stockholm; his first goals came against the Dutch the following March.
Q 17In his first World Cup match, in 1966, Beckenbauer scored twice against which team?
Switzerland
West Germany won 5-0; he finished the tournament with four goals and the Best Young Player award.
Q 18Which England player was Beckenbauer told to man-mark in the 1966 World Cup final?
Bobby Charlton
The two were instructed to mark each other, cancelling both out; England won in extra time.
Q 19Which award did Beckenbauer share with Geoff Hurst and Ferenc Bene at the 1966 World Cup?
Bronze Boot
He was also named the tournament's Best Young Player.
Q 20What injury did Beckenbauer play through in the 1970 'Game of the Century' against Italy?
A dislocated shoulder
West Germany had used both substitutions, so he stayed on with his arm in a sling in a 4-3 extra-time defeat.
Q 24West Germany lost the 1976 European Championship final on penalties to which team?
Czechoslovakia
Beckenbauer still made the Team of the Tournament, and retired from international football in 1977.
Q 25In which two years did Beckenbauer win the Ballon d'Or?
1972 and 1976
He is the only defender ever to win it twice, and was runner-up in 1974 and 1975.
Q 26Who partnered Beckenbauer in West Germany's midfield at the 1966 and 1970 World Cups?
Wolfgang Overath
The Cologne playmaker was his partner before Beckenbauer moved permanently to the back.
Q 27How many red cards did Beckenbauer receive during his time at Bayern?
None
He was noted throughout his career for leadership and fair play.
Q 28Whom did Beckenbauer replace as West Germany manager in September 1984?
Jupp Derwall
He took the team to the 1986 World Cup final in his first tournament.
Q 29Which team beat Beckenbauer's West Germany in the 1986 World Cup final?
Argentina
Diego Maradona inspired the win; the two sides met again in the 1990 final with the opposite result.
Q 30What was the score of the 1990 World Cup final that Beckenbauer won as manager?
1-0
It was the last German World Cup team without East German players, months before reunification.