Stefan Kuntz


Stefan Kuntz is a German professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was most recently sporting director of Bundesliga side Hamburger SV.
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. 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.
In 1995, Kuntz joined Turkish side Beşiktaş following request of his compatriot coach Christoph Daum. Kuntz made his 1.Lig debut on 13 August 1995 in an away game against Kayserispor that ended 1–1. On 24 September 1995, he scored his first goal at week 5 home encounter against Istanbulspor which ended 5–2.

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. 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. None of these caps ended in a defeat for Germany, which is the German record for most caps without defeat. In 1998, his shirt was prominently featured in the Three Lions 98 music video due to the way his name was pronounced in English.

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.
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.
On 19 September 2021, he was appointed the new head coach of the Turkey national team. 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.

Personal life

Stefan's father Günter, played for Borussia Neunkirchen throughout the 1960s and early 1970s with Günter himself attending Stefan's inaugural game with Neunkirchen.

Sexual harassment allegations

In early January 2026, HSV publicly confirmed that an internal investigation had been opened after multiple employees reported alleged inappropriate conduct by Kuntz. The club’s supervisory board stated that the allegations were examined with external legal counsel and deemed credible, and that this assessment was a factor in the termination of his contract effective 31 December 2025.
Kuntz issued a statement on social media rejecting the claims and describing them as false, and his legal representatives indicated they would pursue action against what he referred to as defamatory reporting. Additionally, several media outlets reported that at least one employee described instances of inappropriate physical contact, while the HSV board maintained that the protection of those involved remained a priority in handling the matter.

Honours

Player

Kaiserslautern
Germany
Individual

Manager

Germany U21