German and World Cup football legend Franz Beckenbauer has died, aged 78.
The German defender – nicknamed “Der Kaiser” because of his sublime talent – was regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, winning a World Cup with West Germany as both a player and a manager.
He was also famed for carving out his own role as a sweeper – now often known as a “Libero” – sitting slightly behind his team’s defensive line and sweeping up any man or ball that broke through.
Former England striker Gary Lineker, paying tribute to Beckenbauer, described him as “one of the absolute greats of our game”.
“Very sorry to hear that Franz Beckenbauer has died. Der Kaiser was the most beautiful of footballers who won it all with grace and charm. RIP,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Image: Franz Beckenbauer holds up the World Cup trophy in 1974. Pic: AP
Former England goalkeeper also paid tribute, writing: “Very sad to hear that the great Beckenbauer has sadly passed away.
“He was a fantastic player reaching world-class status. RIP legend”
Clash of the titans with Charlton
Across a nearly two-decade-long career – much of it spent at his boyhood club Bayern Munich – Beckenbauer won an array of trophies, including four Bundesliga titles and three European Cups.
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But it was performances on the international stage that many football fans will remember, including lifting the European Championship in 1972 and the World Cup with West Germany in 1974.
He narrowly missed out on the Jules Rimet Cup eight years earlier at Wembley, with England clinching an extra-time victory in the 1966 World Cup final.
It was during that final that Beckenbauer, not yet at the peak of his powers, was told to man-mark England star Bobby Charlton, pitting two of the world’s greatest footballers together.
Image: Clash of the titans: Franz Beckenbauer faces off against Bobby Charlton in the 1966 World Cup final. Pic: AP
In the end, such were both their talents, they cancelled each other out, and it was Geoff Hurst who starred, scoring a hat-trick to help England to a famous victory.
“The message he [Beckenbauer] sent out was: ‘Don’t even try it. Coming out to face me is a waste of your time,” Charlton later said of their match-up.
Image: The pair reunited ahead of the 1986 World Cup. Pic: AP
As well as trophies, Beckenbauer won an array of personal honours, including two European Footballer of the Year awards as a defender – a rarity at the time and still to this day.
He also finished runner-up twice and third placed in 1966 – won that year by his World Cup final nemesis, Charlton.
From pitch to the boardroom
After hanging up his boots for the final time – following a short second stint in the US at the New York Cosmos – Beckenbauer turned to management, guiding West Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup.
Image: Beckenbauer later took up management, guiding West Germany to World Cup success in 1990. Pic: AP
He was one of three men, along with Brazil’sMario Zagallo, who passed away this month, and France’s Didier Deschamps, to have won the World Cup as both a player and as a manager.
After stepping back from the dugout, Beckenbauer entered into punditry, including for Sky Germany, as well as taking up executive roles at Bayern Munich and with the Germany Football Association.
Image: Pele with fellow football legends Sir Bobby Charlton and Franz Beckenbauer in 1999
It was during his spearheading of Germany’s successful 2006 World Cup bid that Beckenbauer became embroiled in controversy, with authorities launching an investigation into allegations of fraud and money laundering in connection with the bid.
He was accused by the Swiss Attorney General’s office of paying Qatari former FIFA executive Mohamed bin Hammam £8.4m before the 2006 World Cup.
Beckenbauer and three other men accused in the investigation denied any wrongdoing, and it was later closed without a verdict in 2020 as the statute of limitations expired.
Image: After stepping back as a player and then a manager, Beckenbauer spearheaded Germany’s sucessful 2006 World Cup bid. Pic: AP
Beckenbauer was later immortalised in a film – titled Der Kaiser – made about his life in 2022.
In a statement announcing his death, his family said: “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,” the family said.
“We ask that you be able to grieve in silence and refrain from asking any questions.”
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.
While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.
All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.
Image: The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP
By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.
Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.
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Worst one-day losses since COVID
As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.
It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.
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5:07
The latest numbers on tariffs
‘Trust in President Trump’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”
Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”
He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
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3:27
How is the world reacting to Trump’s tariffs?
Economist warns of ‘spiral of doom’
The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.
He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.
Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.
He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”
It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.
Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.
It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”