[3][4] Breitner was capped 48 times for West Germany and was an integral part of the team that won the 1974 FIFA World Cup, scoring in the final.

He was known for his partnerships with Franz Beckenbauer, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck and Berti Vogts in defence for the national team, and his midfield combination with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge for Bayern Munich.

In the final, he, Franz Beckenbauer, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck and Berti Vogts formed a formidable unit at the back, their resolute defense preventing the Dutch from getting many scoring chances.

He moved to Real Madrid for a fee of over 1 million Deutsche Marks[7] following the World Cup and withdrew from the West German squad, remaining off the side until enticed to return by Jupp Derwall in 1981.

Breitner is one of only five footballers to have achieved the feat of scoring in two different World Cup final matches,[8] sharing that honour with Pelé, Vavá, Zinedine Zidane, and Kylian Mbappe.

He was often decried by the more traditional or conservative football fans for his radicalism and "revolutionary" attitude, as well as his tendency for voicing strong opinions on major political and social issues, especially during a time when Germany was still divided by the Berlin Wall.

About the aftershave incident, Breitner said that he was mistakenly labelled as Maoist after, talking with a journalist about communism, the Soviet Union and France, mentioning that he had Mao Zedong's Little Red Book.