Stefan Kuntz

Stefan Kuntz (born 30 October 1962) is a German professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was most recently the head coach of the Turkish national team.

Stefan Kuntz

Kuntz in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Stefan Kuntz[1]
Date of birth	(1962-10-30) 30 October 1962 (age 62)
Place of birth	Neunkirchen, West Germany
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1970–1981	Borussia Neunkirchen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1980–1983	Borussia Neunkirchen	89	(28)
1983–1986	VfL Bochum	100	(41)
1986–1989	Bayer 05 Uerdingen	94	(32)
1989–1995	1. FC Kaiserslautern	170	(75)
1995–1996	Beşiktaş	30	(9)
1996–1998	Arminia Bielefeld	65	(25)
1998–1999	VfL Bochum	20	(6)
2002–2003	SV Furpach	22	(22)
2004–2005	FC Palatia Limbach	10	(1)
Total		600	(239)
International career
1983–1985	West Germany U-21	4	(3)
1986	West Germany B	1	(2)
1993–1997	Germany	25	(6)
Managerial career
1999–2000	Borussia Neunkirchen
2000–2002	Karlsruher SC
2003	Waldhof Mannheim
2003	LR Ahlen
2016–2021	Germany U21
2021	Germany U23
2021–2023	Turkey
2024–	Hamburger SV (Sporting Director)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Germany (as player) UEFA European Championship Winner 1996 Representing  Germany (as manager) UEFA European Under-21 Championship Winner 2017 Winner 2021
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kuntz represented the Germany national team between 1993 and 1997, reaching the 1994 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals and winning UEFA Euro 1996. He scored six goals from 25 full caps, including in the Euro 1996 semi-final elimination of England.

Club career

Kuntz's playing career lasted from 1983 until 1999. He made 449 appearances and scored 179 goals in the Bundesliga.^[2] Kuntz played for VfL Bochum, Bayer 05 Uerdingen, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Arminia Bielefeld and also played in Turkey for Beşiktaş J.K. In 1986 and 1994, Kuntz was the top scorer in the Bundesliga.^[3]

In 1995, Kuntz joined Turkish side Beşiktaş following request of his compatriot coach Christoph Daum.^[4] Kuntz made his 1.Lig debut on 13 August 1995 in an away game against Kayserispor that ended 1–1.^[5] On 24 September 1995, he scored his first goal at week 5 home encounter against Istanbulspor which ended 5–2.^[6]

International career

Germany manager Berti Vogts selected Kuntz for inclusion in the squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, but the only match he played in was the round of sixteen fixture against Belgium. Germany were subsequently knocked out at the quarter-finals by Bulgaria.

At UEFA Euro 1996, Kuntz made regular appearances for the team and replaced the injured Jürgen Klinsmann for the semi-final against England.^[7] He played a key role in the game, scoring the equalizer soon after England took the lead, as well as scoring the fifth German penalty in the shootout which took it into sudden death. During his international career, Kuntz obtained 25 caps, scoring six goals.^[8] None of these caps ended in a defeat for Germany (20 wins, one win after penalty shootout and four draws), which is the German record for most caps without defeat.^[9] In 1998, his shirt was prominently featured in the Three Lions 98 music video due to the way his name was pronounced in English.^[10]

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	18 December 1993	Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, United States	United States	2–0	3–0	Friendly
2.	7 September 1994	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Russia	1–0	1–0
3.	4 June 1996	Carl-Benz-Stadion, Mannheim, Germany	Liechtenstein	2–0	9–1
4.				9–1
5.	26 June 1996	Wembley Stadium, London, England	England	1–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 1996
6.	9 October 1996	Hrazdan Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia	Armenia	5–0	5–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Post-playing career

From 2006 to 2008, Kuntz was the athletic director of VfL Bochum. Between 2008 and 2016, he was the board chairman of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.^{[citation needed]}

As coach of Germany U21 he gained an impressive record by reaching the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final thrice: in 2017, 2019 and 2021; his side won two out of three finals, first beat Spain 1–0 in the final, and in 2021, Germany defeated Portugal by the same scoreline.^[11]

On 19 September 2021, he was appointed the new head coach of the Turkey national team.^[12] He was then fired from the position on 20 September 2023, after two poor games against Armenia and Japan and a rather underwhelming performance at the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying, despite at the time, Turkey were in second place with three wins, one draw and one loss; it was largely believed that Kuntz's increasing unpopularity with many Turkish football fans led to his dismissal.^[13][14]

Managerial statistics

As of 12 September 2023^[update]

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Borussia Neunkirchen	18 November 1999	30 June 2000	22	15	2	5	068.18
Karlsruher SC	1 July 2000	25 September 2002	79	30	20	29	037.97
Waldhof Mannheim	3 April 2003	30 June 2003	8	1	1	6	012.50
LR Ahlen	1 July 2003	13 November 2003	13	4	1	8	030.77
Germany U21	1 September 2016	19 September 2021	53	38	7	8	071.70
Germany Olympic	1 June 2021	7 August 2021	3	1	1	1	033.33
Turkey	19 September 2021	20 September 2023	20	12	3	5	060.00
Total			198	101	35	62	051.01

Honours

Player

Kaiserslautern

• DFB-Pokal: 1989–90^{[citation needed]}
• Bundesliga: 1990–91^{[citation needed]}
• DFL-Supercup: 1991^[15]

Germany

• UEFA European Championship: 1996^{[citation needed]}

Individual

• German Footballer of the Year: 1991^{[citation needed]}

Manager

Germany U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2017, 2021; runner-up: 2019^{[citation needed]}