Highlights

• German coaches have won four World Cups and 10 Champions League titles over the years.
• The likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Jupp Heynckes have enjoyed successful managerial careers after starring on the pitch as players.
• Liverpool's departing manager Jurgen Klopp has repeatedly overcome economic inequality to be considered one of the greatest coaches of all time.

Germany has been one of the dominant footballing forces for seven decades. Since shocking the globe to win the 1954 World Cup, the European nation has rarely strayed from the apex of the sport.

At both international and club level, Germany has produced some of the finest teams, players and, crucially, managers. Even though the national team may have endured a bad patch in recent years, Germany can still lay claim to some of the best managers in modern football.

While Thomas Tuchel and Julian Nagelsmann lead the way for a younger generation, Jurgen Klopp is undoubtedly one of the game's greatest coaches. Here's how the departing Liverpool icon ranks among the best German managers of all time.

Ranking factors

• Longevity - The best coaches have been able to dominate different eras.
• Success - The size of a manager's trophy cabinet is influenced by the teams they have represented, so titles won at traditionally smaller clubs will be looked upon favourably.
• Influence - Pots and prizes are important, but a great manager can also look back at a defining legacy.

10 Joachim Low

1994 - 2021

Joachim Low fell into the trap that has captured countless professionals across every discipline; outstaying your welcome. Hardly the most accomplished player - Low supplemented his income while playing for Swiss side FC Winterthur by selling novelty ties out of his car boot - the former striker established himself as a keen coaching mind while assistant to Germany's Jurgen Klinsmann at the 2006 World Cup.

After finishing third at the home tournament, Low took over. Germany reached and lost the semi-finals of the new manager's first three competitions before winning the 2014 World Cup with a modern blend of pressing and counter-attacking football. Had Low sailed off into the sunset after the triumph in Brazil, he would have avoided the reputational damage inflicted by Germany's subsequent decline.

9 Franz Beckbenbauer

1984 - 1996

Unquestionably one of the greatest German players the nation has ever produced, Franz Beckenbauer achieved the rare feat of translating his glittering career on the pitch to the touchline. 'Der Kaiser' had no previous coaching experience before he was appointed as West Germany's national team manager in 1984, but could rely upon his legendary reputation to convince the country's elite players to listen to him. As Lothar Matthaus explained:

He used his personality. Football is not only about physicality - it's about psychology, too.

Matthaus was the figurehead of the Germany side which Beckenbauer led to consecutive World Cup finals. Diego Maradona's Argentina got the better of Die Mannschaft in 1986 before Beckenbauer led Germany to the global crown four years later. The last time the nation had won the World Cup, Beckenbauer was the triumphant captain.

8 Hennes Weisweiler

1952 - 1983

Hennes Weisweiler thrived in adversity. The beating heart of Borussia Monchengladbach's domination of German football in the 1970s routinely - and deliberately - fell out with his star player Gunter Netzer.

The gliding playmaker described Weisweiler's desired approach as "no-holds-barred attacking football for 90 minutes". Yet when Gladbach won their first Bundesliga title in 1970, they boasted the best defence in the division.

The revolutionary thinker who inspired a generation of future great coaches is also considered a legend an hour south down the Rhine at FC Koln. The carnival club immortalised Weisweiler by naming their mascot, a real-life goat, Hennes.

7 Otto Rehhagel

1972 - 2012

Otto Rehhagel's best teams always played in his inimitable image. A rugged, no-nonsense stopper for FC Kaiserslautern, the Essen-born defender carved out a brilliant managerial career forging hard-working sides that exploited every edge. To offer an extreme snapshot of Rehhagel's approach, the coach was once suspended by the German FA after bellowing at his Offenbach defenders to hack down an opponent.

The three-time Bundesliga winner with Werder Bremen and Kaiserslautern etched his name into footballing folklore by leading Greece to unthinkable glory at Euro 2004. Ranked as 150/1 outsiders at the start of the tournament in Portugal, Rehhagel's efficient outfit defeated their hosts in the final to claim the most unlikely triumph in the history of any major international tournament. No wonder he was christened 'King Otto'.

6 Udo Lattek

1970 - 2000

Udo Lattek's long list of achievements at Bayern Munich's helm is often crassly written off as a byproduct of the talent at his disposal. While the former forward could call upon some of the greatest players in football history - such as the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller and Sepp Maier - finding a way to harness all that talent is a supreme skill in itself.

Despite claiming two Bundesliga titles at Borussia Monchengladbach in between two trophy-laden spells at Bayern, Lattek was also criticised for failing to extend the club's dynasty with youthful talent. The former midfielder Horst Wohlers leapt to his manager's defence, claiming: "It's a miracle that we dominated for as long as we did in the first place."

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Udo Lattek's eight Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich (six) and Borussia Monchengladbach (two) are the most of any manager in the competition's history.

5 Helmut Schon

1952 - 1984

Had Helmut Schon gotten his way, Germany would have missed out on one of their sharpest tactical minds. "I wanted to be everything apart from a football manager," the legendary coach once recalled.

Schooled by the influential Englishman Jimmy Hogan, Schon ditched a brief dalliance with banking and journalism to cultivate a version of 'Total Football' which was espoused by Johan Cruyff's Netherlands in the West German national team. This cutting-edge approach, defined by high pressing and dizzying positional interchange, underpinned Germany's triumph at Euro 1972 and in the World Cup two years later, when Schon's side defeated none other than the Netherlands in the final.

4 Sepp Herberger

1930 - 1964

It's hard to overstate the influence Sepp Herberger had on German football. During a career spanning three decades which was punctuated by the Second World War, Herberger pieced the national football team back together after the horrific conflict, guiding West Germany to the 1954 World Cup crown against the odds to provide a broken country with a glimmer of pride.

The former assistant to Otto Nerz under the Nazi regime - who always remained detached from politics - was dealing with hyperinflation and huge casualties after the war when he instilled the pillars of Germany's footballing identity which remain to this day. Herberger defined success as "one-third skill, one-third togetherness, one-third luck". The luminary coach certainly had all three facets in abundance.

3 Jurgen Klopp

2001 - Present

Jurgen Klopp is a sucker for a Hollywood sports movie. But the huge fan of the Rocky series has enjoyed a career laced with underdog triumphs that would even be beyond Sylvester Stallone. After hauling Mainz to the German top flight for the first time in the club's history, Klopp defied the Bundesliga's established hierarchy by leading Borussia Dortmund to a pair of consecutive titles at the expense of international behemoths Bayern Munich.

In an era when the Premier League has been dominated by Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, Klopp has somehow managed to keep Liverpool within reach of the economic giants. Between 2016 and 2024, eight English clubs had a larger net spend than the Merseyside miracle workers, including the likes of Aston Villa and West Ham. "The world is not full of winners, the world is full of triers," Klopp, who has never been employed by serial winners, once said. "I prefer to try to win."

2 Jupp Heynckes

1978 - 2018

Jupp Heynckes once irritably hissed as a reporter that "Monchengladbach is my club", but few have ever been as unflinchingly loyal to Bayern Munich in the rich history of Germany's most successful team. The prolific forward for Gladbach had no fewer than four spells as Bayern's manager, stacking up a hulking collection of silverware which never earned him the credit he deserved.

Former Bayer Leverkusen coach Christoph Daum once labelled Heynckes as "suited for sleeping pill ads". This uncharismatic image haunted the genial German and played a role in his sacking at Real Madrid despite leading the Spanish giants to their first European Cup in three decades. Heynckes steered Bayern to a European treble in 2013 but was still replaced by the far more fashionable Pep Guardiola. Only with the benefit of hindsight, can Heynckes' stellar career be fully appreciated.

1 Ottmar Hitzfeld

1983 - 2014

Ottmar Hitzfeld had very clear criteria for success. "In football, you are judged only by results," the legendary coach once said, "there are no style points." Based on the blunt metric of silverware, few can top Hitzfeld. Establishing himself as a serial champion in Switzerland, Hitzfeld conquered his homeland with Borussia Dortmund before leading BVB to European glory in 1997.

Beyond a razor-sharp tactical mind, Hitzfeld had a human touch. Matthias Sammer was converted into a sweeper by the German genius, winning the 1996 Ballon d'Or from that position, and hailed his coach's ability to "master leadership outside of the sporting realm". It was that unique blend of empathy and analysis that allowed Hitzfeld to overcome the heartbreak of losing to Manchester United in the 1999 Champions League final and lead Bayern Munich to the continental crown two years later.

Data via TransferMarkt.