Under the title "The First Elf", the German Football Museum has had the vote for the ultimate team. Nine World Champions have made it to the eleven, only Uwe Seeler and Matthias Sammer was not granted this triumph in their careers. Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer, Andreas Brehme, Paul Breitner, Günter Netzer, Lothar Matthaus, Helmut Rahn, Fritz Walter and Gerd Müller complete the team. Most of the votes in the coaches received Sepp Herberger.
In a first step, users had to submit their suggestions on the website of the German Football Museum until 30 September, from which a pre-selection of 23 players and three coaches was determined. Then an expert jury selected the "first elf" from this list.
Gala in April 2019
"We struggled in the jury for each individual name," said museum director Manuel Neukirchner. "In the end, we have managed to bring together the outstanding generations of players in this founding team."
In the Hall of Fame only German footballers and coaches could be chosen, whose career end is at least five years ago. The Hall of Fame will be part of the permanent exhibition at the Football Museum. With a gala in April 2019, the admission of the founding members to be celebrated.
In the coming year, a top team of women will be elected. The occasion is the 30th anniversary of the European Championship title at the European home championship.
The SPON-Sportressort had already thought about the best team of the past decades. Here you will find our subjective selection of the best team, which also included the 2014 World Champions.
This is the SPON selection:
photo gallery
11 pictures
Photo gallery: Germany's best team