Stefan Kuntz Bio

Born on 13 October, 1962 in Neunkirchen, Germany, Stefan Kuntz joined local football club Borussia Neunkirchen at the age of seven.

He played through all the age groups at Neunkirchen before signing for VfL Bochum in 1983 when he made his debut as a forward in the German Bundesliga.

After three prolific seasons at Bochum, Kuntz left the Ruhr area club to join Bayer 05 Uerdingen (1986-1989) before embarking on a career that took him to 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1989-1995), Besiktas Istanbul (1995-1996), and Arminia Bielefeld (1996-1998).

Having returned to VfL Bochum for one more season, he hung up his boots in 1999, with a record of 449 matches and 179 goals in the Bundesliga.

Stefan Kuntz's greatest successes in the professional club game saw him win the German Cup (DFB-Pokal) in 1990 and the German Championship in 1991, both with 1. FC Kaiserslautern. 

It was not before he was 31 that he was called up to play for Germany, making 25 appearances and scoring a total of six goals. The crowning moment of his German national team career was winning the 1996 European Championships in England.

Having finished his coaching pro license in 1999, Stefan Kuntz returned to his home club Borussia Neunkirchen, and later coaching positions took him to Karlsruher SC, Waldhof Mannheim and LR Ahlen.

In 2005 he joined TuS Koblenz as their sporting director and commercial manager, leaving the club after one season to become Director of Sports at VfL Bochum. Between 2008 and 2016, he was Chairman of the Board of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

When Stefan was approached by the DFB to succeed Horst Hrubesch as head coach of the German Under-21s national team, he agreed to return to the technical area – a decision that was rewarded with leading his side to win the UEFA 2017 U21 European Championships in Poland.