Joachim Löw (German pronunciation: [ˈjoːaxɪm ˈløːf]; 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).
Joachim Löw was born on 3 February 1960 in Schönau im Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany.
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.
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.
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.