In 1978, Löw started his playing career with 2. Bundesliga club SC Freiburg. He returned to the club twice (1982, 1985) and holds the club’s overall goal scoring record. In 1980, Löw joined VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, but he had difficulties establishing himself in the starting lineup and played only four matches.

He has been married to Daniela since 1986; they have no children. The couple met in 1978 and dated for eight years before they got married.

In 1995–96, he became an assistant coach to VfB Stuttgart head coach Rolf Fringer. As Fringer had the opportunity to become coach of the Switzerland national team, Löw was promoted caretaker manager on 14 August 1996. He eventually became the permanent manager and was at the club until 21 May 1998. His first match as head coach was a 4–0 win against Schalke 04 on 17 August 1996. They finished the 1996–97 Bundesliga season in fourth place. The 1997–98 season started with a 3–0 against Karlsruher SC on 22 July 1997 in the semi–final of the DFB-Ligapokal. They went on to lose in the final against Bayern Munich on 26 July 1997. In the Bundesliga, Stuttgart finished in fourth place.

During the season, in the DFB-Pokal, Stuttgart reached the competition’s semi-finals, defeating reserve team of Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hertha BSC, SSV Ulm 1846 and KFC Uerdingen 05 en route. In the semi-final on 17 February 1998, however, Bayern Munich defeated Stuttgart 3–0. Stuttgart also got to the final of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. Stuttgart eliminated IP Vestmannaeyja, Beerschot, Slavia Prague and Lokomotiv Moscow. In the final on 13 May 1998, Stuttgart lost 1–0 to Chelsea. This proved to be his final match as he left the club seven days later. He finished with a record of 46 wins, 20 draws and 23 losses.

Löw joined Turkish club Fenerbahçe on 1 July 1998. His first match was a 0–0 draw against Dardanelspor. During the 1998–99 season, Fenerbahçe finished third in the Süper Lig and were eliminated in the first round of the UEFA Cup. They were serving a one-year ban in the Turkish Cup.

Löw became manager of Karlsruher SC on 25 October 1999. His first match was a 1–1 draw against Hannover 96 on 31 October 1999. He was manager until 19 April 2000, finishing with a record of one win, seven draws and ten losses. His final match was a 3–1 loss to Hannover on 16 April 2000, while his only win came in a 2–1 win against Fortuna Köln on 19 March 2000. He was sacked, with the club in last place (18th). Marco Pezzaiuoli replaced Löw for the remainder of the season and only had two wins in the remaining seven matches, finished the season in last place (18th), and were relegated.

Löw became the manager of Austrian club Tirol Innsbruck on 10 October 2001 and led them to the 2001–02 Austrian Bundesliga title. He finished with a record of 11 wins, five draws and nine losses. The same year, the club had to declare bankruptcy and was liquidated. Löw was once again unemployed. He was with Austria Wien from 1 July 2003 to 24 March 2004. During the 2003–04 season, Wien were eliminated from the Champions League by Marseille in the third qualifying round and eliminated from the UEFA Cup by Borussia Dortmund in the first round. They lost the 2003 Austrian Supercup to FC Kärnten. He left the club on 24 March 2004; Austria Wien were in first place at the time of his departure.

On 12 July 2006, following Klinsmann’s decision not to renew his contract, Löw was named as the new manager of Germany. Löw obtained a contract for two years and announced that he wanted to continue in the philosophy developed with Klinsmann to play with an offensive style. Löw was particularly concerned with the amount of time his players hold on to the ball before passing. During his tenure, he reduced this time significantly, increasing the pace of the German game. He declared that his aim was to win Euro 2008. His first game in charge, a friendly against Sweden in Gelsenkirchen on 16 August 2006, was a 3–0 success in which Miroslav Klose scored twice and Bernd Schneider scored the other.

Löw had a successful start in qualifying for Euro 2008 with wins over the Republic of Ireland and San Marino. On 7 October 2006, Germany won 2–0 against Georgia in the Ostseestadion in Rostock, which was the fourth consecutive success for Löw and his team, the best start of a new head coach of the German national team ever. The team extended this record to five wins in the next match, the Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovakia in Bratislava on 11 October, with a 4–1 victory. The Slovaks’ strike was the first goal conceded by Germany under Löw’s reign.

Löw lost his driver’s licence twice, once in 2006 (for one month) and once in 2014 (for six months) because of his reckless behaviour behind the wheel (excessive speed and phoning).

The next match saw the end of Löw’s perfect record, with the qualifying match on 15 November in Nicosia against Cyprus ending in a disappointing 1–1 draw. 2007 started with a 3–1 win against Switzerland on 7 February and a 2–1 win against the Czech Republic on 24 March. Löw’s first loss as manager came in his eighth game on 28 March 2007, an experimental squad lost 0–1 against Denmark. He had given Robert Enke and Patrick Helmes their debuts. When qualification for Euro 2008 was ensured, Löw’s record stood at 11 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw from 13 matches and a 41:6 goal difference. This includes the first win over England in London’s new Wembley Stadium. Germany lost to the Czech Republic in qualifying on 17 October 2007. This was the second loss for Löw. Germany finished qualifying in second place. In the final match of 2007, Germany and Wales finished in a 0–0 draw.

Germany started 2008 with 3–0 win against Austria on 6 February and a 4–0 win against Switzerland on 26 March. Then Germany and Belarus finished in a 2–2 draw. Germany had a 2–0 lead at half–time. In their final match before Euro 2008, Germany defeated Serbia 2–1. At Euro 2008, Germany defeated Poland 2–0 in their first game, with two goals from Lukas Podolski. In their second game, Germany were beaten 2–1 by Croatia, while in their final group game, against Austria, Löw was sent to the stands by the referee Manuel Mejuto González – along with his Austrian counterpart Josef Hickersberger – for arguing with the fourth official. Following his dismissal, he was seen talking to Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel about the incident. Nonetheless, Germany won the match 1–0 with a goal from Michael Ballack to progress to the quarter-finals as runners up because of their earlier loss to Croatia.

Löw changed the 4–4–2 system after the group stages to a 4–2–3–1 system, and left striker Mario Gómez out of the starting lineup. Though he was forced to watch from the sidelines, his team defeated Portugal 3–2. In the quarter-final, Löw was banned from giving any directions to his team even through telephone calls. Later Löw declared that he had put seven different scenarios with his assistant Hansi Flick in order to contain Portugal. In an exciting match against Turkey in the semi-finals, Germany won 3–2. Germany then lost 1–0 to Spain in the final on 29 June 2008.

Further progress was evident in qualifying for South Africa as Germany booked their place at the 2010 World Cup undefeated. In their penultimate match on 10 October 2009, Germany secured first place in their qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup by beating second placed Russia in Moscow 1–0, sending Guus Hiddink’s side into playoffs.

In the 2010 World Cup, Löw introduced new young players and fielded the second youngest team of the tournament, Germany’s youngest since 1934. Germany topped Group D and met England in the first round of the knockout stage, beating them 4–1 before defeating Argentina 4–0 in the quarter-finals. Germany then lost the semi-final to Spain 1–0. On 10 July 2010, they went on to win the third place play-off against Uruguay by 3–2 to collect the bronze medals and third place at the 2010 World Cup.

Germany started Euro 2016 qualifying with a 2–1 win against Scotland. Then Germany lost to Poland, 2–0. Germany had 28 shots in the match and the result put them in fourth place. Germany tied the Republic of Ireland 1–1 on 14 October 2014; John O’Shea had scored the equalizer for Ireland in the fourth minute of stoppage time. In the following month, meanwhile, Germany defeated Gibraltar 4–0. On 13 March 2015, Löw signed a contract extension until 2018. On 29 March 2015, Germany defeated Georgia 2–0, Germany remained in second place. and on 10 June, in a friendly match, Germany lost 2–1 to the United States. This was the first victory for the U.S. in Germany. Germany defeated Gibraltar 7–0 on 13 June 2015 and Poland 3–1 on 4 September 2015. Three days later, Germany again defeated Scotland, but on 8 October 2015, Ireland would defeat Germany 1–0. Germany finished off qualifying with a 2–1 win against Georgia.

In the lead up to the final tournament, Germany faced France, England, Italy Slovakia, and Hungary. France defeated Germany 2–0 on 13 November 2015, England defeated Germany 3–2 on 26 March 2016 and three days later, Germany would defeat Italy 4–1, marking the first time since 1995 that Germany had defeated Italy. Slovakia defeated Germany 3–1 on 31 May 2016. In their final match before the start of the tournament, Germany defeated Hungary 2–0.

In the tournament proper, Germany were grouped into Group C alongside Ukraine, Poland and Northern Ireland. Germany defeated Ukraine (2–0) and Northern Ireland (1–0), while it tied Poland (0–0). Finishing level on seven points with Poland but with a superior goal differential, Germany qualified for the round of 16 as Group C winners. At this stage they would defeat Slovakia 3–0 on 26 June 2016, setting up a quarter-final match against Italy on 2 July. After the match finished in a 1–1 draw, Germany advanced to the semi-finals after winning the shootout, matching up with tournament hosts France. France would defeat Germany 2–0, inflicting its first loss on Germany in a major tournament for the first time since 1958. Despite losing, Löw thought that Germany were the “better team” in the match.

After Euro 2016, Löw opted to stay on as Germany manager. Germany were drawn into Group C alongside the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Norway, Azerbaijan and San Marino for 2018 World Cup qualifying. On 15 May 2018, he extended his contract with Germany until 2022.

Germany faced Mexico in the semi-final and defeated them with a 4–1 victory to make it to the final for the first time in the tournament. On 2 July 2017, Löw led Germany to their FIFA Confederations Cup title win for the first time after a 1–0 victory against Chile in the final at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg.

Löw decided to stay on as national team coach despite the Group Stage exit from the World Cup. The nation’s poor form in 2018 continued; Germany were set to be relegated from the top tier of the inaugural UEFA Nations League, but stayed in League A after UEFA elected to change the number of teams in each tier.