Centre Back: Franz Beckenbauer(West Germany)
Arguably the greatest defender to have played the game, Beckenbauer was known as “Der Kaiser” or “The Emperor” because of his regal qualities as a footballer. His tackling was clean, positioning was perfect and distribution was exceptional. He played 18 matches across 3 World Cups and scored 5 goals. He also lifted the World Cup as the West German captain in 1974.
He became famous during the 1966 World cup because of his exceptional performances in the German defence. In 1970, he played with a broken arm in the semi-final against Italy which was termed as the “Match of the Century.” West Germany lost that match, but Beckenbauer was 3rd time lucky in 1974 when his West German team beat the brilliant Dutch side of Johan Cruyff to win the World Cup as the host country. Later in 1990, Beckenbauer won the World Cup as the West German coach as well.