It was Seeler's misfortune that his international career spanned the gap between West Germany's first World Cup success in 1954 and its victory on home soil in 1974.
He played in all four tournaments between with distinction but never tasted success, despite playing in three semifinals and captaining his country to the final at Wembley in 1966.
Seeler lacked natural ability, but hard work and an eye for a chance made him West Germany's leading striker for 18 years. He was never a golden-boot winner, yet he is the only man other than Pele to have scored in four tournaments.
Seeler scored twice as West Germany reached the semifinals in 1958 before losing to host Sweden. Four years later he was on target twice again, but West Germany's campaign stalled against Yugoslavia in the quarterfinals.
By 1966 Seeler was West Germany's key player, and supporters simply chanted "Uwe, Uwe" as the popular captain led his team to the final with goals against Spain and in a 4-0 quarterfinal win over Uruguay. The Soviet Union was beaten in the semifinals, but in the final host England ran out a 4-2 winner.
By 1970, the goalscorer's burden had passed to Muller, while Seeler adopted a deeper, more creative role. But he still scored three times, most famously when his speculative back header looped embarrassingly over England goalkeeper Peter Bonetti to pull the West Germans' level from two goals down en route to a 3-2 win in the quarterfinals.
But Seeler had become accustomed to World Cup disappointment, and he was to be a loser again as West Germany lost a classic semifinal with Italy 4-3.
