As Sir David Beckham celebrates receiving a knighthood for his services to sports and charity on Tuesday, ESPN takes a look back at his career.
Beckham has had many ups and downs on his way to amassing 115 caps for England (59 as captain), winning numerous major trophies and starring for some of the biggest clubs in the world.
Sir David Beckham receives his knighthood at Windsor Castle
– Beckham’s knighthood: an explanation of King Charles’ birthday honor
– Arise, Sir Bex! Beckham’s impressive career achievements
Elevations
Bend it like Beckham
After graduating from the ‘Class of 92’, Beckham slowly became a mainstay at Manchester United. On the opening day of the 1996-97 season, he rose to national stardom when he scored against Wimbledon from his own half.
The audacity of the attempt was as impressive as the skill required to pull it off, and when he completed it with an Eric Cantona-style celebration (cheeky smile, arms outstretched) everyone watching knew they were witnessing the birth of something special.
In Beckham’s own words: “It changed my life. The ball seemed to be in the air for hours and everything went quiet. Then the ball went in, and it just exploded. I was on cloud nine.”
On this day 21 years ago… #ThrowbackThursday pic.twitter.com/OQsgpF64vS
– Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 17, 2017
From a talented footballer to a global pop culture icon, this was where it all began.
Winning everything
After his return from the World Cup debacle (more on that later), Beckham was under the most intense pressure a modern English footballer has ever faced from the press and public.
But he enjoyed it, playing a starring role in United’s treble win in 1998-99. He was everywhere that year, scoring the equalizer in United’s final league game against Tottenham, covering for Roy Keane and Paul Scholes in central midfield in the Champions League final, and taking the corner kicks that gave the football world one of the most iconic finishes of that match.
He was arguably United’s most important player in that historic season. He finished second in the 1999 Ballon d’Or rankings and FIFA World Player of the Year (Rivaldo won both awards).
Redemption of the hero
Replay the entire match and you can see him wasting several chances from better range early on, but when England won a free-kick in second-half stoppage time, from 35 yards, in a World Cup qualifier that must have been at least drawn against Greece while trailing 2-1, there was only one player going to take it.
Beckham had Teddy Sheringham sent off – three years after the 98 World Cup disaster – as he stepped up, took his trademark shot home, and slotted the ball into the top left corner of the Greek goal. 2-2, and England were somehow on their way to the 2002 World Cup.
Direct free kick for David Beckham! ��#On_this_day In 2001, #threeblack Eligible for @FIFAWorldCup Thanks to this special goal against Greece pic.twitter.com/mUdnilD3Zu
– England (@England) October 6, 2025
Commentator Gary Bloom’s words became prophetic more than two decades later: “David Beckham scores the goal to take England to the World Cup finals. Give this man a knighthood!”
Lowest levels
“10 heroic lions and a stupid boy”
This was the headline on Daily Mirror After England lost with ten men on penalties to its Argentine rivals in the round of 16 of the 1998 World Cup. The supposed “stupid boy” in the question? David Beckham. He was sent off for what many saw as a violent kick to Argentine midfielder Diego Simeone after a particularly violent tackle, and that appeared to have turned the tide of the match.
The newspapers were evil, and so were the fans. The sun A photo of a dartboard was displayed with 23-year-old Beckham’s face in the middle, effigies were hung from lampposts and burned in the street, and death threats were hand-delivered through his door encased in lead envelopes.
As Sir Alex Ferguson wrote in his book Leadership, “I would not have been surprised if an immigration officer refused to let him return to Britain.”
The fact that he had his most successful domestic season while that was the case speaks volumes about his character and the inner strength that made him what he was.
Preface to the face
After all the support Ferguson gave Beckham during the post-World Cup period, their relationship has slowly begun to deteriorate as the Manchester United boss appears to not be taking kindly to his star’s pop icon status.
Matters came to a head in February 2003, when a stray boot kicked by Ferguson hit Beckham in the eye after an altercation following an FA Cup loss to Arsenal.
He was quickly relegated to the bench – where he came on to score a memorable brace in the loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League – but it would be his final season at Old Trafford.
That summer he was unveiled as Real Madrid’s newest player GalacticoThis is the deal that sealed his status as a global star.
Missed penalty kick in the Euro
For someone who can make a dead ball sing, this would be annoying.
After Portugal equalized 120 minutes in the quarter-finals of Euro 2004, England chose their captain to take the first penalty of the shootout.
Beckham stepped out and skied in the Lisbon air. For the leading free-kick expert of his generation, this was a surprisingly bad miss. This, combined with the World Cup quarter-final two years ago, would be the closest he would come to England glory.
