Joachim Löw (; born 3 February 1960) is a German football coach and former player. He was the manager of the Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure as manager, he led Germany to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. In March 2021, Löw announced that he would resign from his position after the delayed Euro 2020. Of all head coaches of the Germany national football team, Löw has managed (198) and won the most matches (124).
Early life Joachim Löw was born on 3 February 1960 in Schönau im Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany.
Playing career In 1978, Löw started his playing career with 2. Bundesliga club SC Freiburg. He returned to the club twice (1982, 1985) and held the club's overall goal scoring record until 2020, when Nils Petersen surpassed him. In 1980, Löw joined VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, but he had difficulties establishing himself in the starting lineup and played only four matches.
In the 1981–82 season, Löw played for Eintracht Frankfurt (24 matches, five goals), but he returned to Freiburg the following year. In 1982–83, he scored eight goals in 34 matches, 1983–84 he scored 17 goals in 31 matches in the 2. Bundesliga. Afterwards, he returned to the Bundesliga with Karlsruher SC, but he only scored two goals in 24 matches. Later, he joined Freiburg again for four years, played 116 matches and scored 38 goals. Löw concluded his career in Switzerland, where he played for FC Schaffhausen (1989–1992) and FC Winterthur (1992–1994).
Löw played four times for the West Germany national under-21 team.
Managerial career 1992–2004: club management Early career Löw started his coaching career as a youth coach for FC Winterthur while he was still active as a player. In 1994–95, he served as player-coach of FC Frauenfeld.
In 1995–96, he became an assistant coach to VfB Stuttgart head coach Rolf Fringer. As Fringer had the opportunity to become coach of the Switzerland national team, Löw was promoted caretaker manager on 14 August 1996. He eventually became the permanent manager and was at the club until 21 May 1998. His first match as head coach was a 4–0 win against Schalke 04 on 17 August 1996. They finished the 1996–97 season in fourth place. The 1997–98 season started with a 3–0 against Karlsruher SC on 22 July 1997 in the semi–final of the DFB-Ligapokal. They went on to lose in the final against Bayern Munich on 26 July 1997. In the Bundesliga, Stuttgart finished in fourth place.
During the season, in the DFB-Pokal, Stuttgart reached the competition's semi-finals, defeating reserve teams of Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hertha BSC, SSV Ulm 1846 and KFC Uerdingen 05 en route. In the semi-final on 17 February 1998, however, Bayern Munich defeated Stuttgart 3–0. Stuttgart also got to the final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Stuttgart eliminated IP Vestmannaeyja, Beerschot, Slavia Prague and Lokomotiv Moscow. In the final on 13 May 1998, Stuttgart lost 1–0 to Chelsea. This proved to be his final match as he left the club seven days later. He finished with a record of 46 wins, 20 draws and 23 losses.
Löw joined Turkish club Fenerbahçe on 1 July 1998. His first match was a 0–0 draw against Dardanelspor. During the 1998–99 season, Fenerbahçe finished third in the Süper Lig and were eliminated in the first round of the UEFA Cup. They were serving a one-year ban in the Turkish Cup.
Return to Germany and back to Turkey Löw became manager of Karlsruher SC on 25 October 1999. His first match was a 1–1 draw against Hannover 96 on 31 October 1999. He was manager until 19 April 2000, finishing with a record of one win, seven draws and ten losses. His final match was a 3–1 loss to Hannover on 16 April 2000, while his only win came in a 2–1 win against Fortuna Köln on 19 March 2000. He was sacked, with the club in last place (18th). Marco Pezzaiuoli replaced Löw for the remainder of the season and only had two wins in the remaining seven matches, finished the season in last place (18th), and were relegated.
Löw returned to Turkey as manager of Adanaspor from 20 December 2000 to 2 March 2001. He did not win any matches during this time. When he left Adanaspor, the club was in the relegation zone at 16th place.
Coaching in Austria Löw became the manager of Austrian club Tirol Innsbruck on 10 October 2001 and led them to the 2001–02 Austrian Bundesliga title. He finished with a record of 11 wins, five draws and nine losses. The same year, the club had to declare bankruptcy and was liquidated. Löw was once again unemployed. He was with Austria Wien from 1 July 2003 to 24 March 2004. During the 2003–04 season, Wien were eliminated from the Champions League by Marseille in the third qualifying round and eliminated from the UEFA Cup by Borussia Dortmund in the first round. They won the 2003 Austrian Supercup against FC Kärnten. He left the club on 24 March 2004; Austria Wien were in first place at the time of his departure.
2004–2006: Germany assistant manager When Jürgen Klinsmann succeeded Rudi Völler as the head coach of the Germany national team following a disappointing UEFA Euro 2004, he brought Löw into the German setup as assistant manager. Klinsmann and Löw had met years earlier at a coaching school and both shared a philosophy focused on attacking football. Under their reign, Klinsmann and Löw's German team reached the semi-final stage at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Germany lost 3–2 to Brazil in the semi-final of the 2005 Confederations Cup, but subsequently defeated Mexico 4–3 in the third place encounter. Klinsmann and Löw's new attacking philosophy saw Germany score the most goals (15 in 5 matches) of any team in the tournament.
Germany opened the 2006 World Cup on 9 June in Munich with a 4–2 victory against Costa Rica. A last minute 1–0 win over Poland and a 3–0 win over Ecuador followed. Germany defeated Sweden in the round of 16 with two Lukas Podolski goals, followed by a grueling battle with Argentina. In the penalty shootout after finishing extra time at 1–1, the coaching staff gave Jens Lehmann a prepared list of possible Argentinian penalty takers and their preferred way to shoot, which was reported to have helped ensure Germany's victory. In the semi-final match with Italy, however, the hosts conceded two goals in the final two minutes of extra time. Germany, however, turned in a dominant performance against Portugal in the third place match, winning 3–1 with two Bastian Schweinsteiger goals.
Besides a focus on attacking football and youth development, Klinsmann's staff also introduced an alternative B-team: Team 2006, to experiment with new aspiring players suitable to play at the home World Cup. Also introduced were an enhanced fitness coaching staff, as well as Oliver Bierhoff as "Business Manager" – this job revolves around public relations, general management and everything not directly related to coaching – and a mental coach, Dr. Hans-Dieter Hermann, who has the job of preparing the German players for stressful situations in major tournaments.
2006–2021: Germany manager
Euro 2008
On 12 July 2006, following Klinsmann's decision not to renew his contract, Löw was named as the new manager of Germany. Löw obtained a contract for two years and announced that he wanted to continue in the philosophy developed with Klinsmann to play with an offensive style. Löw was particularly concerned with the amount of time his players hold on to the ball before passing. During his tenure, he reduced this time significantly, increasing the pace of the German game. He declared that his aim was to win Euro 2008. His first game in charge, a friendly against Sweden in Gelsenkirchen on 16 August 2006, was a 3–0 success in which Miroslav Klose scored twice and Bernd Schneider scored the other.
Löw had a successful start in qualifying for Euro 2008 with wins over the Republic of Ireland and San Marino. On 7 October 2006, Germany won 2–0 against Georgia in the Ostseestadion in Rostock, which was the fourth consecutive success for Löw and his team, the best start of a new head coach of the Germany national team ever. The team extended this record to five wins in the next match, the Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovakia in Bratislava on 11 October, with a 4–1 victory. The Slovaks' strike was the first goal conceded by Germany under Löw's reign.
The next match saw the end of Löw's perfect record, with the qualifying match on 15 November in Nicosia against Cyprus ending in a disappointing 1–1 draw. 2007 started with a 3–1 win against Switzerland on 7 February and a 2–1 win against the Czech Republic on 24 March. Löw's first loss as manager came in his eighth game on 28 March 2007, an experimental squad lost 0–1 against Denmark. He had given Robert Enke and Patrick Helmes their debuts. When qualification for Euro 2008 was ensured, Löw's record stood at 11 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw from 13 matches and a 41:6 goal difference. This includes the first win over England in London's new Wembley Stadium. Germany lost to the Czech Republic in qualifying on 17 October 2007. This was the second loss for Löw. Germany finished qualifying in second place. In the final match of 2007, Germany and Wales finished in a 0–0 draw.
Germany started 2008 with 3–0 win against Austria on 6 February and a 4–0 win against Switzerland on 26 March. Then Germany and Belarus finished in a 2–2 draw. Germany had a 2–0 lead at half–time. In their final match before Euro 2008, Germany defeated Serbia 2–1. At Euro 2008, Germany defeated Poland 2–0 in their first game, with two goals from Lukas Podolski. In their second game, Germany were beaten 2–1 by Croatia, while in their final group game, against Austria, Löw was sent to the stands by the referee Manuel Mejuto González – along with his Austrian counterpart Josef Hickersberger – for arguing with the fourth official. Following his dismissal, he was seen talking to Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel about the incident. Nonetheless, Germany won the match 1–0 with a goal from Michael Ballack to progress to the quarter-finals as runners up because of their earlier loss to Croatia.
Löw changed the 4–4–2 system after the group stages to a 4–2–3–1 system, and left striker Mario Gómez out of the starting lineup. Though he was forced to watch from the sidelines, his team defeated Portugal 3–2. In the quarter-final, Löw was banned from giving any directions to his team even through telephone calls. Later Löw declared that he had put seven different scenarios with his assistant Hansi Flick in order to contain Portugal. Germany won 3–2 against Turkey in the semi-finals. Germany then lost 1–0 to Spain in the final on 29 June 2008.
2010 World Cup
Further progress was evident in qualifying for South Africa as Germany booked their place at the 2010 World Cup undefeated. In their penultimate match on 10 October 2009, Germany secured first place in their qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup by beating second placed Russia in Moscow 1–0, sending Guus Hiddink's side into playoffs.
In the 2010 World Cup, Löw introduced new young players and fielded the second youngest team of the tournament, Germany's youngest since 1934. Germany topped Group D and met England in the first round of the knockout stage, beating them 4–1 before defeating Argentina 4–0 in the quarter-finals. Germany then lost the semi-final to Spain 1–0. On 10 July 2010, they went on to win the third place play-off against Uruguay by 3–2 to collect the bronze medals and third place at the 2010 World Cup.
Euro 2012