Carsten Jancker

Carsten Jancker (born 28 August 1974) is a German football coach and former player. He played as a forward for various teams between 1993 and 2009, including 1. FC Köln, Rapid Wien, Bayern Munich, Udinese Calcio, FC Kaiserslautern, Shanghai Shenhua, and SV Mattersburg, as well as the Germany national team.

Club career

Born in Grevesmühlen, Jancker started his career as a trainee at Hansa Rostock before making his Bundesliga debut in 1993 with 1. FC Köln. At the age of 21, he was transferred to Rapid Wien, scoring fourteen goals including seven in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup to finish as the tournament's top scorer. Thanks to this impressive performance, Jancker spent only one season with the Austrian club before being brought back to Germany to play for Bayern Munich. over two seasons and 35 games, the forward registered only two goals. Jancker was said to be "too slow and predictable for Serie A" by one football website. In 2004, he also scored six goals in Kaiserslautern's 15–0 first round DFB-Pokal win against FC Schönberg 95, still a record for any player in the competition. This was an improvement over his own previous joint record of five, which he had scored for Bayern Munich against DJK Waldberg in the latter's 16–1 first round cup defeat in 1997. Following the relegation of Kaiserslautern in May 2006, Jancker signed for Chinese team Shanghai Shenhua.

After poor performances, he was dropped in October, and agreed to join SV Mattersburg in the winter transfer window. In June 2009 it was announced that Mattersburg did not want to work with Jancker any further because of his physical condition. In February 2010, he announced his retirement at the end of the current season.

International career

His performances alongside Elber caught the eye of Germany national coach Erich Ribbeck, who included Jancker in his international squad for Euro 2000.

Instantly recognisable to European football fans, the invariably shaven-headed forward has generally failed to replicate his club form when playing for the national side. A possible explanation for his poorly-regarded international performances might be that the Germany national team lacked a skilful strike partner in the Élber mould. Whatever the reason, Jancker never impressed for Germany; although he was included in Rudi Völler's squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup – scoring a goal in the team's opening 8–0 win over Saudi Arabia,

Style of play A powerful and slow striker, Jancker was tall for a footballer, standing at . His height and strength proved to be an advantage when playing as a target man, as displayed during his most successful days at Bayern Munich. Jancker was known for being an unusual center forward, being weak in the air despite his huge frame, but showing a surprising control of the ball, especially featuring a polished back-to-the-goal game, good link-up play, On 27 April 2010, Jancker announced that he will work as the new coach of the Under 15 of his former club SK Rapid Wien, starting 1 July 2010. In April 2013, he became assistant coach of the club's Austrian Bundesliga team.

Jancker became the head coach of SV Horn in June 2017. He was fired on 28 November 2018. In April 2019, he was appointed manager of FC Marchfeld Donauauen, starting from 1 May 2019.

On 23 February 2021, Jancker signed with DSV Leoben. He was later dismissed in August 2023. In April 2024, he returned to DSV Leoben. He stepped down in January 2025, just half a season after the club's relegation to the Regionalliga.

In April 2025, he was appointed head coach of top-division side Austria Klagenfurt, with the club fighting to avoid relegation. However, after four matches, they finished bottom of the table and were relegated.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jancker goal.

Honours

Rapid Wien Austrian Bundesliga: 1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1995–96

Bayern Munich Bundesliga: 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01 DFB-Pokal: 1997–98, 1999–2000 DFB-Ligapokal: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 UEFA Champions League: 2000–01 Intercontinental Cup: 2001

Orders