"I think it does have to be in Africa. But it's a question of when? We have to ask, is Africa ready? Are they ready? I don't know," he said.
Africa has two candidates, South Africa and Morocco, who, along with England, Germany and Brazil are bidding to host the 2006 World Cup.
The sport's world governing body FIFA will make their decision at a meeting in Zurich on July 6.
Beckenbauer, in Malaysia to present Germany's bid to the Asian Federation Confederation, declined to say if he believed Germany would win any of four Asian votes.
"To give any comments about who is in favour, it's just pure speculation. There's still five or six weeks to go," he said.
Reuters
