Kuntz's playing career lasted from 1983 until 1999. He made 449 appearances and scored 179 goals in the Bundesliga.[2] 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.[3]
In 1995, Kuntz joined Turkish side Beşiktaş following request of his compatriot coach Christoph Daum.[4] Kuntz made his 1.Lig debut on 13 August 1995 in an away game against Kayserispor that ended 1–1.[5] On 24 September 1995, he scored his first goal at week 5 home encounter against Istanbulspor which ended 5–2.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8] None of these caps ended in a defeat for Germany (20 wins, one win after penalty shootout and four draws), which is the German record for most caps without defeat.[9] In 1998, his shirt was prominently featured in the Three Lions 98 music video due to the way his name was pronounced in English.[10]
On 19 September 2021, he was appointed the new head coach of the Turkey national team.[12] 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.[13][14]
^Arnhold, Matthias (4 June 2015). "(West) Germany – Top Scorers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
^"Amatör Ruhla Oynayan Bir Alman: Stefan Kuntz" (in Turkish). Beşiktaş J.K. 20 January 2016. Archived from the original on 7 September 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019. 1995-96 sezonunda vatandaşı Christoph Daum'un isteği üzerine Beşiktaşımız'a transfer oldu. Siyah-beyaz formayla, ligdeki ilk golünü 24 Eylül 1995'de Beşiktaşımız'ın 5-2 kazandığı maçta İstanbulspor filelerine gönderdi.
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