Didier Deschamps in the context of "1998 FIFA World Cup"

Franz Anton Beckenbauer (German pronunciation: [fʁants ˈbɛkn̩ˌbaʊɐ] ; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed der Kaiser ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential players of all time. Beckenbauer was a versatile player who started out as a midfielder, but made his name as a centre-back. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper (libero).

Twice named European Footballer of the Year, Beckenbauer appeared 103 times for West Germany, playing in three FIFA World Cups and two European Championships. He is one of ten players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the European Cup, and the Ballon d'Or. He is one of three men, along with Brazil's Mário Zagallo and France's Didier Deschamps, to have won the World Cup as a player and as a manager; he lifted the World Cup trophy as captain in 1974, and repeated the feat as a manager in 1990. He was the first captain to lift the World Cup and European Championship at the international level and the European Cup at the club level. He was named in the World Team of the 20th Century in 1998, the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002, the Ballon d'Or Dream Team in 2020, the IFFHS All-time Men's Dream Team in 2021, and in 2004, was listed in the FIFA 100 of the world's greatest living players. In August 2024, the International Sports Press Association [fr] (AIPS) voted him as the third best footballer of the past 100 years after Pelé and Diego Maradona.

Olympique de Marseille (French: [ɔlɛ̃pik də maʁsɛj], locally [olɛ̃ˈpikə də maχˈsɛjə]; Occitan: Olimpic de Marselha, pronounced [ulimˈpi de maʀˈsejɔ]), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (IPA: [o.ɛm], locally [oˈɛmə]), is a French professional football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Founded in 1899, OM has won 26 domestic trophies: ten league titles, ten Coupe de France, three Coupe de la Ligue, and three Trophée des Champions. Continentally, the club holds a joint national record of one UEFA Champions League and a joint national record of one UEFA Intertoto Cup. Additionally, Marseille has played in three UEFA Europa League finals. In 1993, coach Raymond Goethals led the team to become the first French club to win the UEFA Champions League, defeating Milan 1–0 in the final, the first under the UEFA Champions League branding of the tournament. In 2010, Marseille won its first Ligue 1 title in 18 years under the management of former club captain Didier Deschamps.

Marseille's home ground is the 67,394-capacity Stade Vélodrome in the southern part of the city, where they have played since 1937. The stadium underwent renovations between 2011 and 2014, increasing its capacity to 67,000 in preparation for France's hosting of UEFA Euro 2016. The club has a large fan-base, having regularly averaged the highest attendance in French football. Marseille's average home gate for the 2018–19 season was 50,361, the highest in Ligue 1. The club have a long-standing rivalry with Paris Saint-Germain, against whom they contest Le Classique.

Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈmaɾju zaˈɡalu]; 9 August 1931 – 5 January 2024) was a Brazilian professional football player, coordinator and manager, who played as a forward.

Zagallo holds the record for FIFA World Cup titles in general with four titles in total. He also holds the record for World Cup finals with six participations. He was the first person to win the World Cup as both a manager and as a player, winning the competition in 1958 and 1962 as a player and in 1970 as manager. In addition, he won the 1994 FIFA World Cup as assistant manager. Zagallo also coached Brazil in 1974 (finishing fourth) and in 1998 (finishing as runners-up) and was a technical assistant in 2006. He was the first of three men, along with Germany's Franz Beckenbauer (who coincidentally died two days after Zagallo) and France's Didier Deschamps to have won the World Cup as a player and as a manager, and the only one who had done each more than once.