Early years
Between 1899 and 1901, prior to the formation of a national side, there were five unofficial international matches between different German and English selection teams, which all ended as large defeats for the German teams. Eight years after the establishment of the
German Football Association (DFB), the first official match of the Germany national football team was played on 5 April 1908, against
Switzerland at
Basel, with the Swiss winning 5-3. Coincidentally, the first match after
World War I in 1920, the first match after
World War II in 1950 when Germany was still banned from most international competitions, and the first match in 1990 with former East German players were all against Switzerland as well. Germany's first championship title was even won in Switzerland.
At that time, the players were selected by the DFB as there was no dedicated coach. The first manager of the Germany national team was
Otto Nerz, a school teacher from
Mannheim, who served in the role from 1923 to 1936. The German FA could not afford travel to Uruguay for the first World Cup staged in 1930 during
the Great Depression, but finished third in the
1934 World Cup in their first appearance in the competition. After a poor showing at the
1936 Olympic Games in Berlin,
Sepp Herberger became coach. In 1937 he put together a squad which was soon nicknamed the
Breslau Elf (the Breslau Eleven) in recognition of their 8-0 win over Denmark in the then German city of
Breslau,
Lower Silesia (now Wroclaw, Poland).
[3]After
Austria became part of Germany in the
Anschluss of March 1938, that country's
national team – one of Europe's better sides at the time due to professionalism – was disbanded despite having already qualified for the
1938 World Cup. As required by Nazi politicians, five or six ex-Austrian players, from the clubs
Rapid Wien,
Austria Wien,
Vienna Wien, were ordered to join the all-German team on short notice in a staged show of unity orchestrated for political reasons. In the 1938 World Cup that began on 4 June, this "united" German team managed only a 1-1 draw against Switzerland, and then lost the replay 2-4 in front of a hostile crowd in Paris, France. That early exit stands as Germany's worst ever World Cup result.
During World War II, the team played over 30 international games between September 1939 and November 1942, when national team games was suspended as most players had to join the armed forces. Many of the national team players were gathered together under coach Herberger as
Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg through the efforts of a sympathetic air force officer trying to protect the footballers from the most dangerous wartime service.
[edit]Three German teams
[edit]West Germany
After only 18 post war games in total, West Germany had qualified for the
1954 World Cup, having prevailed against Norway and the "third German state", the Saarland.
[edit]Saarland
The
Saar protectorate, otherwise known as
Saarland, had been split from Germany and put under French control between 1947 and 1956. Saarland did not want to join French organisations and was barred from participating in pan-German ones. Thus, they sent separate teams to the
1952 Summer Olympics and also to the
1954 World Cup qualifiers, when
Saarland finished below West Germany but above
Norway in their qualification group, having won in Oslo. Legendary coach
Helmut Schön was the manager of the Saarland team from 1952 until 1957, when the territory acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany. He went on to coach the championship-winning team of the 1970s.
[edit]East Germany
In 1949, the socialist
German Democratic Republic was founded in the Soviet-occupied central part of Germany (most of the eastern part was put under Polish administration). From 1952 onwards they were represented by a separate FA and its
East Germany national football team. East Germany were also the only team able to beat the West German team that won the
1974 World Cup, a highly symbolic event for both sides of the nation, which remained the only meeting of both teams. East Germany went on to win the gold medal at the
1976 Olympics. After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the GDR dissolved itself, its
new federal states joined the Federal Republic of Germany in the
German reunification in 1990, and the football clubs and players joined the DFB.
[edit]Das Wunder von Bern
West Germany, captained by
Fritz Walter, met in the
1954 World Cup some of the teams they had played in friendly matches, namely
Turkey,
Yugoslavia and
Austria. When playing favorites
Hungary in the group stage, with good chances to qualify for the next round even in case of defeat, coach
Sepp Herberger did not field his best players, saving them from the experience of a 3-8 loss. West Germany would go on to meet Hungary again in the final, facing the legendary team of
Mighty Magyars again, which had gone unbeaten for 32 consecutive matches. In a shocking upset, West Germany came back from an early two goal deficit to win 3-2, with
Helmut Rahn scoring the winning goal with only six minutes remaining. The success is called "
The Miracle of Bern" (
Das Wunder von Bern). The unexpected victory created a sense of euphoria throughout a divided postwar Germany. The triumph is credited with playing a significant role in securing the postwar ideological foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany.
[edit]Memorable losses: Wembley goal and Game of the Century
After finishing fourth in the
1958 World Cup and reaching only the quarter-finals in the
1962 World Cup, the DFB had to make changes. Following examples set abroad, professionalism was introduced, and the best clubs from the various Regionalligas were assembled into the new
Bundesliga. In 1964,
Helmut Schön took over as coach, replacing Herberger who had been in office for 28 years.
In the
1966 World Cup, West Germany reached the final after beating the
USSR in the semifinal, facing hosts
England at
Wembley Stadium.
Wolfgang Weber's last minute goal took the game into
extra time, a goal claimed to be controversial by the English, with the ball appearing to hit the hand of a German player as it travelled through the England
penalty area before he prodded it in. The first extra time goal by
Geoff Hurst, nicknamed
Wembley-Tor (Wembley goal) in Germany, is still controversial after all this time. Later video evidence indicates that the ball never crossed the line after hitting the crossbar.
[5] As the Swiss referee did not see the situation properly, the opinion of the Soviet linesman
Tofik Bakhramov who believed that the ball bounced back from the net rather than the crossbar led to one of the most contentious goals in the history of football. While the Germans pushed hard to tie the game, spectators entered the field in the final seconds, and Hurst scored another controversial goal giving England a 4-2 win.
West Germany gained a measure of revenge in the
1970 World Cup by knocking England out in the quarter-finals 3-2, having been 2-0 down, before they suffered another memorable extra time loss, this time in the semi-final against
Italy at
Estadio Azteca.
Karl-Heinz Schnellingerscored during injury time to level the match at 1-1, and during extra time, both teams held the lead at one time. Memorably,
Franz Beckenbauer remained on the field even with a dislocated shoulder, his arm in a sling strapped to his body, as West Germany had used up their two allowed substitutions. Eventually won 4-3 by Italy, this match with five goals in extra time is one of the most dramatic in World Cup history, and is called "
Game of the Century" in both Italy (
Partita del secolo) and Germany (
Jahrhundertspiel). While the exhausted Italians lost to Brazil, West Germany went on to claim third place by beating
Uruguay 1-0, and
Gerd Müller finished as the
tournament top scorerwith 10 goals.
[edit]World Cup title on home soil
In 1971,
Franz Beckenbauer became captain of the national side, and he led West Germany to great success as they became both the European and World Champions. They won the European Championship at their first attempt in
Euro 72, after beating the Soviet Union 3-0 in the final. Then as hosts of the
1974 World Cup, they won their second World Cup, after beating the
Netherlands 2-1 in the final at the
Olympiastadion.
Two matches in the 1974 World Cup stood out for West Germany. The first group stage saw a politically charged match as West Germany played a game against
East Germany. Both teams already were qualified for advance to the next round, and the East Germans won 1-0. The West Germans adjusted their line up after the loss and advanced to the final which was the other outstanding match, against the
Johan Cruijff-led Dutch team and their brand of "
Total Football". Cruijff was brought down early in the German
penalty area following a solo run before any of the German players had even touched the ball, and the Dutch took the lead from the ensuing
penalty with just a minute gone on the clock. However, West Germany managed to come back, tying the match on a penalty scored by
Paul Breitner, and winning it with
Gerd Müller's goal just before half-time. A second goal by Müller was ruled offside.
[edit]Late 1970s and early 1980s
West Germany failed to defend their titles in the next two major international tournaments. First they lost to
Czechoslovakia in the final of
Euro 76 in a
penalty shootout by a score of 5-3, after the match finished 2-2, with
Uli Hoeneß famously kicking the ball sky high. Since that loss, Germany has not lost a penalty shootout in major international tournaments. In fact, the last penalty missed by a German player dates back to the semi-finals of the 1982 World Cup when French goalkeeper
Jean-Luc Ettori saved
Uli Stielike's shot.
Then in the
1978 World Cup, they were eliminated in the second group stage after losing 3-2 to
Austria which was already eliminated at that time, but surprised the Germans with their zeal to beat them anyway. Schön retired as coach afterwards, and the post was taken over by his assistant
Jupp Derwall.
West Germany's first tournament under Derwall was successful, as they won
Euro 80 after beating
Belgium 2-1 in the final, their second European title. West Germany then reached the final of the
1982 World Cup, but not without difficulties. They were upset 2-1 by
Algeria in their first match, but managed to sneak into the second round with a
controversial 1-0 win over
Austria as the result advanced both teams at the expense of the Algerians. Then in their semi-final against
France, they came back from 3-1 down during extra time to tie the match 3-3, and won the following penalty shootout 5-4. In the final, they were defeated by Italy by a score of 3-1.
During the period of the 1970s and 80s, West Germany also achieved small success at the
Olympic Games, most notably in the
1988 Olympics, when they won the bronze medal, while also reaching the Second Round in both
1972 and
1984. In the 1972 Olympics, West Germany played against
East Germany in the second group stage, losing 3-2, one of only two major matches between the two German teams (the other one being the 1974 World Cup Group match, which also was won – 1-0 – by
East Germany).
Toni Schumacher, along with
Sergio Goycochea, holds the record for the most World Cup penalty shootout saves, with four. He saved two against France in 1982 and another two against Mexico in 1986.
West Germany also has one of the world's most productive goal scorers in
Gerd Müller, who racked up fourteen goals in just two World Cups. His ten goals in 1970 are the third most in a tournament, just behind France's
Just Fontaine and Hungarian
Sándor Kocsis. Though Müller's all time Finals score was broken by
Ronaldo in 2006, it took the latter three tournaments to do so (1998, 2002, 2006). France's
Just Fontaine is in third place all-time, with thirteen goals, all scored at the
1958 World Cup.
[edit]Beckenbauer's triumph as coach
After being eliminated in the first round of
Euro 84,
Franz Beckenbauer returned to the national team as coach to replace Derwall. In the
1986 World Cup, West Germany finished as runners-up for the second consecutive tournament, after again beating France 2-0 in the semi-finals, but losing to the
Diego Maradona-led
Argentina 3-2 in the final. In
Euro 88, West Germany's hopes of winning the tournament on home soil were spoiled by the
Netherlands, as the Dutch gained revenge of their loss in 1974 by beating them 2-1 in the semi-final.
In the
1990 World Cup, West Germany finally won their third World Cup title in the unprecedented third consecutive final appearance. Captained by
Lothar Matthäus, they defeated
Yugoslavia (4-1),
UAE (5-1), the
Netherlands (2-1),
Czechoslovakia (1-0), and
England (1-1, 4-3 on penalty kicks) on the way to a final rematch against
Argentina. In a dull match, West Germany won 1-0 with the only goal being a penalty scored in the 85th minute by
Andreas Brehme. Beckenbauer, who won the title as captain in 1974, thus became the second person (after
Mário Zagallo) to have won the World Cup as both a player and a coach, and the first as both a captain and a coach.
Prior to 1988, Olympic football was an amateur event, meaning that only non-professional players could participate. Due to this, West Germany was never able to achieve the same degree of success at the Olympics as at the World Cup, with the only medal coming in the
1988 Olympics, when they won the bronze. Since then, however, no German team ever managed to qualify for the Olympics again. West Germany also reached the Second Round in both
1972, and
1984. This is in contrast to the success of East Germany which won a gold, a silver and two bronze medals (one representing the
United Team of Germany).
[edit]After Reunification: Berti Vogts
In February 1990, months after the fall of the Berlin wall, the draw for the
1992 European Championship qualifying tournament had seen
East Germany and West Germany drawn together in
Group 5, scheduled to start in September. After the World Cup win, with assistant
Berti Vogts taking over as the national team coach, the retiring Beckenbauer infamously predicted that the German team, with additional former East Germans to choose from, would be invincible for years to come. The
reunification of Germany was confirmed in August to take effect on 3 October 1990, with the access of the former GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany. The members of the East German association
Deutscher Fußball-Verband acceded to the DFB in November, while the 1990/91 seasons would continue, with the leagues being restructured for 1991/92. The first game which saw a unified German team including former East German internationals such as
Matthias Sammer and
Ulf Kirsten was against
Switzerland on 19 December.
In
Euro 92, Germany reached the final, but lost 2-0 to surprise winners
Denmark. As defending champions in the
1994 World Cup, they were upset 2-1 in the quarter-finals by
Bulgaria after taking the lead.
Germany won their first major international title after the reunification at
Euro 96, becoming European champions for the third time. They defeated
England, who were the hosts, again on penalty kicks (6-5, after a 1-1 draw) in the semi-finals, and the
Czech Republic 2-1 in the final, a match decided by a
golden goal scored by
Oliver Bierhoff.
However, in the
1998 World Cup, Germany were again eliminated by a less heralded opponent in the quarter-finals, this time in a 3-0 rout by
Croatia. Vogts stepped down afterwards and was replaced by
Erich Ribbeck.
[edit]Oliver Kahn/Michael Ballack Era
Entering the 21st century, Germany's standing as one of the best national sides in the world, and as of a team that almost always reaches the later rounds of major tournaments, was starting to be discouraged by disappointing results.
In
Euro 2000, the aging team went out in the first round after failing to win any of their three matches, including a 1-0 defeat to rivals
Englandand an embarrassing 3-0 loss to a second-string
Portugal side (the Portuguese having already advanced).
Rudi Völler replaced Ribbeck as coach, initially on a temporary basis, and later permanently after planned successor
Christoph Daum was involved in a drug scandal.
Coming into the
2002 World Cup, expectations of the German team were low, due to poor results in the
qualifiers, including a
5-1 home defeat against England. However, they started out strong by thrashing
Saudi Arabia 8-0 in their first match. At the knockout stages, they produced three consecutive 1-0 wins, against
Paraguay, the
United States, and co-hosts
South Korea, setting up a final against
Brazil, the first World Cup meeting between the two. However, with the pivotal
Michael Ballack suspended due to accumulated
yellow cards, Germany's chances had declined. In a hard-fought match, Germany lost 2-0. German captain and goalkeeper
Oliver Kahn won the
Golden Ball, the first time in the World Cup's history a goalkeeper was named best player of the tournament. Simultaneously, he won the
Yashin-Award as the best goalkeeper.
Germany failed to build on their success in 2002, and again exited in the first round of
Euro 2004 without winning a match. As was the case in 2000, the Germans bowed out after losing to the second-string side of a team that had already advanced, in this case that of the
Czech Republic, in a match where Germany dominated but couldn't get the ball into the net, losing to a Czech goal scored on the break. Völler resigned afterwards, denouncing the constant media criticism in a famous TV interview, and the national team had to find their third new coach in six years, after having had only six coaches in the previous 75 years. As prospective candidates including
Ottmar Hitzfeld and
Otto Rehhagel turned down the job, former national team player
Jürgen Klinsmann, who had never held any coaching jobs before, was appointed. In similar style to Beckenbauer's former role as team manager without a coaching license, the experienced
Joachim Löw from Stuttgart would assist him. Klinsmann made
Michael Ballack the captain following
Euro 2004. Klinsmann's main task was to lead the national team to a good showing at the
2006 World Cup, which Germany were going to host. Although the host nation, hopes prior to the start of the tournament proper were not as high for Germany as in previous tournaments, even in Germany itself. Critics had pointed out the apparent lack of quality players in the squad and coach Klinsmann's decision to live in America rather than Germany.
Germany, however, won the opening game of the World Cup against
Costa Rica 4-2. They continued to develop both confidence and support across the group stage, conceding no further goals as they beat Poland 1-0 and Ecuador 3-0, with
Miroslav Klose scoring twice and
Lukas Podolski adding another in the last match. Germany finished on top of the group with three wins.
People watching the Germany vs. Argentina match at the Donau Arena in
RegensburgGermany faced favourites Argentina in the quarter-finals, a team that Germany had not defeated since the 1990 World Cup. Germany's shutout streak was broken shortly after half time as Argentina scored first to grab a 1-0 lead. However,
Michael Ballack's cross, flicked on by
Tim Borowski, allowed Klose to head in the equalizer with 10 minutes to spare. During penalties,
Jens Lehmann stopped two spot kicks while his teammates made all of the necessary goals to win the decisive shootout 4 - 2. Afterwards, the Argentinians started a brawl, which later, after Italian TV showed video footage of
Torsten Frings participating in the brawl, resulted in a ban for him.
These results produced much expectation in Germany, many thinking that a record eighth appearance at the final was possible even though a vital player was missing, and the team was tired after going the full distance against one of the best teams. Taking the semi-final against Italy to extra time again, hopes grew high that yet another penalty shoot-out would take the team to the final in Berlin. Despite Klinsmann's focus on fitness, speed and concentration of German players faded, conceding two goals in the dying ninety seconds of the
extra time.
Despite having their dreams of playing in the final dashed, Klinsmann's squad quickly recovered their composure, and journalists noted the team's upbeat mood in the practices after the semi-final. Three starters, including captain Michael Ballack, would not be available for the third place match. They faced the Portuguese team, with goalkeeper
Ricardo having only conceded one goal in regular play. Nonetheless, Germany thoroughly routed Portugal 3-1, at one point being up three goals to nil from
Bastian Schweinsteiger's two goals and an own goal, also off his shot, by Portugal's
Petit.
Germany managed to end the World Cup on a high, not only with a 3-1 win over Portugal in the battle for third place, but also with several awards:
Miroslav Klose was awarded the
Golden Boot for his tournament-leading five goals, becoming the first player from the united Germany to earn it, and fellow striker
Lukas Podolski won the 'Best Young Player' award. Furthermore, four of Germany's players (
Jens Lehmann,
Philipp Lahm,
Michael Ballack and
Miroslav Klose) were selected for the '
Mastercard All-Star Team'. In addition, at 14 goals scored, the German side put away more goals than any other team. At the end of the tournament, more than 500,000 people celebrated the team's closing ceremony by giving them a heroes welcome at the
Brandenburg Gate in
Berlin. Germany had a much better World Cup than many – at home and abroad ever believed possible.
[citation needed]For the final tournament, Germany were placed into Group B alongside
Poland,
Croatia and longtime rivals
Austria. Germany won 2-0 to
Poland, but suffered an ignominious 2-1 defeat at the hands of Croatia, compounded by a red card for
Bastian Schweinsteiger for an aggressive off-the-ball incident. Germany finally entered the knockout round with the victory over Austria in the last match of group play. The only scorer of the game was
Michael Ballack, who scored in the 49th minute with a powerful long-distance free-kick, later chosen
German Goal of the Year. Their quarterfinal opponent was
Portugal who won their group comfortably. Germany started very well and took an early lead after a great team move led to Schweinsteiger finishing a cross from
Lukas Podolski. Germany then took a 2-0 lead when Schweinsteiger curled in a free kick from the left side and
Miroslav Klose headed the ball in. Portugal responded with a goal just prior to halftime, but after the second half began Germany reclaimed their two goal lead. Schweinsteiger delievered another free kick into the Portuguese penalty box and Michael Ballack headed the ball into the net to make the score 3-1, and Germany saw out the rest of the match comfortably, conceding a late consolation goal leaving the final score at 3-2.
Germany went into their semi-final clash against
Turkey as overwhelming favorites. However, the team put up a nervous and shaky performance, getting behind by an
Uğur Boral goal in the 22nd minute.
Bastian Schweinsteiger equalised, and
Miroslav Klose put Germany ahead with less than twleve minutes left only for
Semih Şentürk to level the score in the last minutes of the match. Just as the game was heading for extra time,
Philipp Lahm cut inside past
Colin Kazim-Kazim, exchanged passes with
Thomas Hitzlsperger and stole in at the near post to score in the final minute, sending Germany into the
final against
Spain.
Spain were heavy favourites but many believed that Germany would be one of the few sides able to challenge them. After an opening 15 minutes in which Germany had the upper hand and nearly scored, Spain slowly came back into the game and then took the lead when
Fernando Torres capitalised on a mistake made by the German defence. Although a Spanish defender appeared to handle the ball inside the box in the second half, Spain had the better of play for the remainder of the match and Germany finished runners-up.
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