The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 19, as a Korea University freshman, he was selected for the national team and made his A-match debut against Iraq at the Asian Cup in May. In July he won the Merdeka Cup as the youngest national team player.
In 1976, he scored three goals in the last seven minutes against Malaysia to draw the match. In 1977, he reached 100 A-matches and became the youngest member of the Century Club. In December 1978, after sharing the Asian Games title in Bangkok, he went to Germany and made his Bundesliga debut for Darmstadt.
The year he turned 26, after finishing military service, he joined Eintracht Frankfurt. In 1980, he scored 12 league goals in his first season and won the UEFA Cup. In 1981, he came back from a back injury, scored in the DFB-Pokal final and won the title. In 1983, he moved to Leverkusen.
In 1986, he played at the Mexico World Cup, his first and last as a player. In 1988, he scored the equalizer in the second leg of the UEFA Cup final, helping Leverkusen to its first title, and the Cha Bum-kun Football Award was created at the end of the year. In 1989, he retired with 98 goals in 308 Bundesliga matches.
In 1990, he opened a children’s football school and in November became manager of the pro club Hyundai. In 1997, he was named national team manager and in September won 2-1 away in Japan. In 1998, he was dismissed during the World Cup in France, moved to Shenzhen Ping’an in China, and was suspended from coaching in Korea for five years over his match-fixing remark.
In 2001, he became an MBC football commentator. In 2003, he was named Suwon Samsung manager. In 2004, he won the K League in his first year. In 2008, he won the K League and the cup in the same year. In 2010, he left Suwon and called the South Africa World Cup for SBS.
In 2017, he became a Bundesliga Legends Network ambassador and was inducted as a Korean Sports Hero. In 2019, he received the German Cross of Merit. In 2022, he closed the football school at Ichon Hangang Park, which it had used for 25 years. In 2026, he was appointed an ambassador of the Korea Professional Footballers’ Association and returned to the World Cup stadiums in Mexico after 40 years.
Cha Bum-kun (born May 22, 1953) made his A-match debut against Iraq at the Asian Cup on May 7, 1972, the year he turned 19, and became known the same year when he won the Merdeka Cup as the youngest national team player. He joined Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga in 1979, the year he turned 26.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.