Lothar Matthäus (born March 21, 1961 in Erlangen, Germany) is a former football (soccer) player and now manager. He was named European Footballer of the Year and German Footballer of the Year in 1990 after captaining Germany to victory in the World Cup. One year later, he was also named FIFA World Player of the Year. Early in his career, Matthäus played in the midfield, before switching to the libero position in his 30s. He has played in five World Cups, more than any other field player to date.

Matthäus started his professional career in 1979 with Borussia Mönchengladbach of the Bundesliga, for whom he played until 1984. He also played for Bayern Munich (1984-1988 and 1992-2000), Internazionale of Serie A (1988-1992, winning the Scudetto in 1989) and the MetroStars of Major League Soccer (2000). He retired with 150 caps and 23 goals for the German national team.

Lothar Matthäus is a member of the FIFA 100 - a list of 125 of the greatest living football players chosen by Pelé.

Matthäus is now the manager of the Hungary national team.

Honours won:

• Bundesliga Championship: 7 (1985, 1986, 1987, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000)
• German Cup: 3 (1986, 1998, 2000)
• Serie A Championship: 1 (1989)
• UEFA Cup: 2 (1991, 1996)
• European Championship: 1 (1980)
• World Cup: 1 (1990)

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
none | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |FIFA World Player of the Year
1991 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Marco van Basten