Andreas Brehme, World Cup winner who scored penalties for West Germany with both feet, dies aged 63

Andreas Brehme, who scored the only goal as West Germany beat Argentina to win the 1990 World Cup final, has died aged 63.

Brehme’s partner Susanne Schaefer confirmed his death in a statement to Germany’s DPA news agency on Tuesday. Schaefer said Brehme had died “suddenly and unexpectedly” in the night from a cardiac arrest. Brehme’s former clubs Bayern Munich and Kaiserslautern both issued statements of condolence.

“FCK mourns the passing of Andreas Brehme,” Kaiserslautern said. “He wore the Red Devils’ shirt for a total of 10 years and became German champion and German Cup winner with FCK.”

“In 1990 he fired the German national team to the World Cup title with his penalty and became a football legend. The FCK family is in deep mourning and our thoughts are with Andi’s family and friends.”

Brehme, who played mostly as an attacking left-back, was a star of German football in the 1980s and 1990s who was crucial to the 1990 World Cup win. After scoring in the semi-final against England at the 1990 World Cup, Brehme became a legend in his homeland when his spot-kick earned them a 1-0 victory over Diego Maradona’s Argentina in the final in Rome.

While his decisive spot-kick against Argentina is the goal that will be long-remembered in Germany, football trivia fans will point to the unique nature of Brehme’s approach to taking penalties. Unlike most of his peers, Brehme took spot-kicks with both feet. Against Mexico at the 1986 World Cup, Brehme scored in a quarter-final shoot-out with his left foot, while four years later he used his right foot to secure West Germany’s third World Cup title.

“I honestly don’t know [which is his strongest foot],” he told FourFourTwo magazine in a 2022 interview. “In 1986, I was asked why I’d taken a penalty with my left foot, as the guy knew I often used my right. I hadn’t even noticed. It makes no difference.”

At club level, Brehme won the German Bundesliga title twice, once with Bayern Munich in 1987 and once in Kaiserslautern’s improbable run to the championship in 1998, in its first season since promotion. He also won the Italian Serie A with Inter Milan in 1989 and the Uefa Cup in 1991.