On September 26, 1965, Franz was appointed to the men's national team for the World Cup qualifier for the first time. The game was decisive: An away win was needed to qualify for the World Cup in England.
In fact, the DFB board had already decided against nominating Franz, but Cramer did not relent. He was so convinced of Franz that he brought in national coach Sepp Herberger. Herberger succeeded in convincing the members of the DFB's “educational circle” to give Franz a chance. But there was one condition: Cramer should watch over Franz as a virtue guard and share a room with him. The two became close friends and Cramer later even became best man at Franz's first wedding.
The decision to add Franz to the team proved to be absolutely right. He made his debut as a right runner in the Haagener Straße stadium, showed an outstanding performance and scored both goals to a 2-1 victory.
His time with the national youth team was soon over: On September 26, 1965, Franz was appointed to the men's national team for the World Cup qualifying game for the first time. The game was decisive: An away win was needed to qualify for the World Cup in England. The new national coach Helmut Schön initially had doubts as to whether he could trust the 19-year-old exceptional talent to do the “hell of Sweden.”
Captain Uwe Seeler assured Schön in a phone call that Franz was ready: “With someone like him, you didn't have to look long. You could see the extraordinary talent in every movement. ”
Overall, the game was moderate and not very attractive, but Franz stood out: always one step ahead of the other players in mind, constantly keeping an eye on the room and the other players. The German team won 2-1 thanks to goals from Werner Krämer and Uwe Seeler and was therefore qualified for the World Cup in England.
