Wolfgang Overath (; born 29 September 1943) is a former

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. A true one-club man, Overath spent his entire professional career at 1. FC Köln. He represented his country three times in

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

finals, culminating in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

with the 2–1 victory over the Netherlands on home soil. Primarily an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, Overath was known for his passing ability, technique and outstanding left foot.

Career

Overath at the left, upright An

, Overath started playing football at SSV Siegburg, but spent the majority of his career at 1. FC Köln, appearing 765 times between 1962 and 1977 and scoring 287 goals. He won the inaugural

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

with 1. FC Köln in 1964, overall he appeared in the first 14 seasons of the newly formed top-flight, and the

German Cup The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundes ...

in 1968. At European club level he played 71 matches (11 goals) for 1. FC Köln. He currently holds the all-time appearances record of the club (549 official matches played). In total, Overath won 81 caps for the national side between 1963 and 1974, scoring 17 goals. As well as the World Cup victory in 1974, he was at the heart of the West German midfield when they reached the final in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and achieved third place in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. Overath scored the only goal in the latter match, with many foreign journalists voting him Germany's best player in Mexico. Overath is one of only seven players (alongside his teammates

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, Horst-Dieter Höttges, Sepp Maier, later compatriot

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, and Italian Franco Baresi) with World Cup medals for first, second and third place. A main rival in the national team for leading the midfield was the flamboyant Günter Netzer from Borussia Mönchengladbach, German Player of the year in 1972 and 73. However, German coach Helmut Schön preferred the more staid Overath. An injury forced Overath out of the side before the quarterfinals of the European Championships 1972 where Netzer became alongside Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller one of the outstanding protagonists leading the side, considered still Germany's best of all time, to victory in the final over the USSR. Overath soon regained his place ahead of Netzer, due to the latter's now being injured. Netzer himself said that Overath "was born to play for Germany". In 2004, he was elected President of 1. FC Köln. He resigned on 13 November 2011.

Style of play

A technically gifted

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

in the same vein as his friend and rival Günter Netzer, the left-footed Overath is considered by many as one of Germany's finest players and one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Although known as an

with excellent technique, passing skills and a powerful shot, Overath also had good defensive workrate.

Personal life

Overath has been married to his wife Karin for 57 years. They have three children: two sons and one adopted daughter. Also, he was named an honorary citizen of Siegburg in 2003. Overath was awarded the Egidius-Braun-Preis for his charity work. Overath is a devout

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

who prays daily.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Overath goal.''

Honours

Köln *

: 1963–64 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

Germany *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

; second place:

; third place:

Individual *'' kicker'' Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1965–66, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1973–74 * FIFA XI: 1968 *''FUWO European Team of the Season'': 1970 * DFB-Pokal top scorer: 1971–72 * FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1974

References

Literature

* Wolfgang Overath, ''Ja, mein Temperament! Fußball vor und hinter den Kulissen''. Ed. Karlheinz Mrazek. Cologne: DuMont Schauberg, 1970, ISBN 3-7701-0580-X. * Hermann Schmidt, ''Wolfgang Overath: Der Spielmacher''. Cologne: J.P. Bachem 2016, ISBN 978-3-7616-3042-6. * Wolfgang Overath and Sven Pistor, ''Alleine kannst du nicht gewinnen''. Paderborn: Bonifatius, 2023, ISBN 978-3-9879-0029-7.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Overath, Wolfgang 1943 births Living people People from Siegburg Footballers from Cologne (region) German men's footballers Germany men's international footballers German Roman Catholics Men's association football midfielders 1. FC Köln players German football chairmen and investors 1966 FIFA World Cup players 1970 FIFA World Cup players 1974 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players Bundesliga players Sportspeople from the Rhine Province Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany West German men's footballers