Cha Bum-kun (; or ; born 22 May 1953), popularly known in Germany as Tscha Bum or Cha Boom, is a South Korean former professional football manager and player. Known for his explosive pace and finishing, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest Asian footballers of all time.
Born in Hwaseong, South Korea, Cha left for West Germany following the completion of his mandatory military service and first joined SV Darmstadt 98, before signing with Eintracht Frankfurt in 1979. During his tenure at the club, Cha scored 46 goals over 122 appearances, and won the 1979–80 UEFA Cup, his first European title. After leaving Frankfurt in 1983, Cha joined fellow Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, winning the UEFA Cup yet again in 1988. Cha retired in 1989, having scored 98 goals in 308 appearances during his time at Germany.
Cha made his international debut with South Korea national football team in 1972 at the age of 18. He is the youngest player to ever reach 100 international caps, doing so at 24 years and 35 days, and was South Korea's all-time top goalscorer with 58 goals until Son Heung-min surpassed him in 2026.
After his retirement, he opened a football academy to develop youth players in South Korea, and managed the national team for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Early life Cha was born in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. He originally joined Yeongdo Middle School to learn football, but the school's football club was dissolved as soon as he joined there. He started his football career by transferring to Kyungshin Middle School after playing field hockey for Yeongdo for one and a half years. In his high school days, he tried to leave school due to violence from older students, but continued to play football with the manager Chang Woon-soo's help. He became a notable player of Kyungshin High School, and was selected for the South Korean under-20 team in 1970.
Club career Career in South Korea Cha entered Korea University in 1972, and won the Korean National Championship in 1974, the predecessor of the Korean FA Cup. After his graduation, he started his senior career with Korea Trust Bank FC in 1976. He led his team to the title and was named the best player in the spring season of the Korean National Semipro League. In October 1976, he joined Air Force FC to serve his mandatory military service. Cha originally planned to enlist in the Navy, but the Republic of Korea Air Force persuaded him that it would move his discharge up by six months.
Darmstadt 98 While playing for the national team in the 1978 Korea Cup, Cha attracted the attention of Eintracht Frankfurt coach , who was serving as an scout/observer at the tournament. In November 1978, Schulte sent a letter to the KFA (Korea Football Association), suggesting Cha to tryout in West Germany after being discharged from the Air Force in January 1979. Cha had taken time off to leave for Frankfurt after the 1978 Asian Games in December and began playing for another Bundesliga club, Darmstadt 98, by signing a six-month deal. However, he spent just less than a month in Darmstadt. The ROK Air Force didn't follow their original promise to Cha, and ordered his return. After his debut match against VfL Bochum on 30 December, Cha returned to South Korea. He eventually spent the remainder of the duration of his military service until 31 May, and so could not play for Darmstadt.
Eintracht Frankfurt After being discharged from military service completely, Cha still wanted to play in the Bundesliga, and joined Eintracht Frankfurt at age 26 in July 1979. In his first season, Cha scored in three consecutive games, making an immediate impact in his new club. After the first half of his first season in Germany, he was classified as "world class" by the German football magazine kicker in their biannual ranking of players. He was also acclaimed by showing great performances during Eintracht's run to win its first-ever UEFA Cup title. He was evaluated as the "unstoppable player" by Sir Alex Ferguson (who was managing Aberdeen at the time), and "one of the best attackers in the world" by Lothar Matthäus (an opponent player in the UEFA Cup final and the Bundesliga, for Borussia Mönchengladbach). In addition to a UEFA Cup title, he was named along with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Kevin Keegan in the Bundesliga Team of the Season by kicker. On 23 August 1980, Cha suffered spinal injury during a match against Bayer Leverkusen, but came back to the stadium after a month. Afterwards, he scored six goals in six matches in the 1980–81 DFB-Pokal, leading Eintracht to the title. He became Eintracht's top goalscorer for three consecutive seasons.
Bayer Leverkusen After Frankfurt faced mounting financial difficulties, Cha transferred to Bayer Leverkusen in 1983. In the 1985–86 Bundesliga, he scored his most goals in a single Bundesliga season with 17 goals, and Leverkusen qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time as the sixth-placed team. The magazine kicker once again selected him for the Team of the Season, and the gave him the Player of the Season award. In the 1988 UEFA Cup final, he scored a dramatic equaliser against Espanyol to tie the game 3–3. Leverkusen eventually went on to win the game on penalties, capturing its first European title and the second for Cha.
Cha retired in 1989 after playing 308 Bundesliga games. During his Bundesliga career, he scored 98 goals without a penalty, and received only one yellow card. On 31 October 1987, he scored his 93rd Bundesliga goal, becoming the top foreign goalscorer by surpassing Willi Lippens. His scoring record wasn't broken for eleven years until Stéphane Chapuisat of Switzerland surpassed him. As of 2024, Cha is ranked ninth along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Bundesliga's foreign goalscorer standings.
International career
Cha generally played as a striker in the Bundesliga, but he had originally been a winger in South Korea. He became a South Korean under-20 international in 1970, and took part in the AFC Youth Championship in 1971 and 1972. In the 1972 AFC Asian Cup, he made his senior international debut against Iraq, and scored his first international goal against Khmer Republic. He was named in the Korean FA Best XI for seven consecutive years, and was selected as the Korean FA Player of the Year in 1973.
Cha usually played for the national team in the Korea Cup, Merdeka Tournament and King's Cup (Thailand), which were annually contested between Asian nations and the invited clubs at the time. He won a total of ten trophies and also left memorable games in three competitions. In the 1975 Merdeka Tournament, he scored his first international hat-trick against Japan. In the 1976 Korea Cup, he scored a hat-trick against Malaysia in five minutes, leading South Korea to a dramatic 4–4 draw.
During qualification for the 1978 FIFA World Cup, he played all of South Korea's twelve matches, and recorded five goals and two assists, although his knee got a boil during the competition. However, South Korea failed to qualify for the World Cup by finishing the qualification as runners-up despite his struggle.
In the 1978 Asian Games, he scored two goals and provided two assists, contributing to team's gold medal. However, he showed lethargic plays to prepare tryouts for Bundesliga clubs, and received criticisms. After the 1978 Asian Games, he left for the Bundesliga and didn't play for South Korea. His last international tournament was the 1986 FIFA World Cup, South Korea's first World Cup since 1954. He showed exemplary performance in intensive checks by opponents, but failed to prevent South Korea's elimination in the group stage.
Managerial career
Cha moved into management with K League side Hyundai Horang-i, coaching them from 1991–94. His next appointment in January 1997 was Korean national team coach and he led the nation to the 1998 FIFA World Cup; however, a disastrous 5–0 defeat at the hands of the Netherlands in Korea's second group game got Cha fired. He later blamed the KFA for the bad performance, citing lack of bonuses and alleging pro soccer games in Korea were fixed. The association promptly slapped a five-year ban on him and he soon left the country with his wife.
After an 18-month spell coaching Shenzhen Ping'an in China, Cha took up a commentator position with MBC in Korea. He returned to coaching in late 2003 when offered the Suwon Samsung Bluewings position. Cha achieved immediate success with Suwon by lifting the 2004 K League championship, an achievement he ranked as even better than the UEFA Cup he won as a player in 1988. He later resigned in June 2010 as Suwon manager.
Personal life
Cha is a Christian.
Cha's second child, Cha Du-ri, also played for the South Korean national team and Bundesliga clubs, among them Eintracht, following in his father's footsteps.
In November 2019, Cha received the Cross of Merit from the German government.
Career statistics Club +Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsKorea Trust Bank1976National Semipro League????—??ROK Air Force (draft)1976National Semipro League????—??1977National Semipro League????—??1978National Semipro League????—??1979National Semipro League????—??Total????—??Darmstadt 981978–79Bundesliga10——10Eintracht Frankfurt1979–80Bundesliga31124011346151980–81Bundesliga278665238161981–82Bundesliga3111106138121982–83Bundesliga331510—3415Total1224612622615658Bayer Leverkusen1983–84Bundesliga341210—35121984–85Bundesliga291034—32141985–86Bundesliga341742—38191986–87Bundesliga33621323891987–88Bundesliga254001023561988–89Bundesliga3035020373Total1855215715421563Career total3089827133710372121
International
The KFA is showing the list of Cha's 136 international appearances in its official website. The RSSSF is also claiming 136 appearances about Cha's international career, but its details have some discrepancies. FIFA registered him with 130 appearances in the FIFA Century Club by excluding six matches in the Summer Olympics qualification.
+Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSouth Korea197223619731781974132197519919761913197726151978165198630Career total13658 +Appearances and goals by competitionCompetitionAppsGoalsFriendlies102Minor competitions7644Asian Games122AFC Asian Cup qualification40AFC Asian Cup51Summer Olympics qualification62FIFA World Cup qualification207FIFA World Cup30Total13658
Scores list South Korea's goal tally first.