German football icon and Euros winner dies as tributes paid to 'true legend'

Doris Fitschen, a German icon many consider to be one of their most successful footballers, has sadly passed away at the age of 56, following a battle with cancer

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Will Schofield Senior Sports Reporter and Simon Hamalienko Senior Content Editor (Live)

11:51, 16 Mar 2025Updated 12:43, 16 Mar 2025

Former German footballer Doris Fitschen was called a 'true legend'(Image: Getty Images)

German football legend Doris Fitschen, who won the Euros five times, has tragically passed away aged 56.

Fitschen, who has been dubbed a 'true legend' in tributes, sadly lost her battle with cancer.

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Tennis legend Boris Becker took to X to pay tribute. He wrote: "A true legend in German sports has sadly passed away. Rest in peace, Doris Fitschen."

Across her glistening career she won seven Bundesliga titles and six German Cups during her stints with TSV Siegen and Eintracht Frankfurt. However, she would truly shine on the international stage.

As part of the German side - Fitschen would win four consecutive UEFA Women's Championships with Germany; taking home a winners medal in 1989, 1991, 1995 and 2001.

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COLOGNE, GERMANY - APRIL 20: DFB NATIONALMANNSCHAFT DEUTSCHLAND 1999, Koeln; Doris FITSCHEN/GER (Photo by Lutz Bongarts/Bongarts/Getty Images)

She would hang up her boots shortly after her final continental triumph, aged just 32.

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Her former club Frankfurt posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: "We mourn the loss of a former FFC player and a key figure in German women’s football.

"Doris Fitschen died yesterday after a long and serious illness at the age of 56. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones."

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Bernd Neuendorf - the President of the German FA - also paid tribute to Fitschen: "I am shocked and very sad about Doris's death. Our thoughts are with her family, all relatives, and her close friends.

"Doris was one of the defining figures in football in. As a player, she was a leader, a strategist, and had a presence, dominance, and aura that others could look up to."

While the director of women's football at Bayern Munich, Bianca Rech, added: "It is with great sorrow that I bid farewell to a valued teammate and an outstanding role model.

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"Her dedication, professionalism, and tireless commitment on and off the field were always a source of inspiration to all of us."

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