Mini football figure - Germany

Mannschaft

The German men's national football team is the selection team of the German Football Association (DFB) that presents the sport of football in Germany at international level in international matches against teams from other national associations. The DFB national coach nominates the squad. All football players with the citizenship of the Federal Republic of Germany who (in the case of dual citizenship or before naturalisation) have not yet played a competitive match for the senior national team of another football association are available to him for selection.

The DFB selection team is one of the most successful national teams in the world. It has been world champion four times (1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014), European champion three times (1972, 1980 and 1996) and Confederations Cup winner once (2017). In addition, there have been numerous semi-final and final appearances in World and European Championships. The national football team has been voted Germany's Team of the Year ten times and is the leader in this statistic.

Two major titles and the "disgrace of Córdoba" (1970-1978)

In 1972, what many still consider Germany's best team became European champions for the first time. At the European Championship finals, they won against the hosts Belgium (2:1) and the Soviet Union (3:0), with a particularly good game in the final. 

The 1974 World Cup in Germany was the second time the national team won the World Cup title. In the preliminary round of the tournament, the GDR national football team scored a goal by Jürgen Sparwasser to beat the future world champions 1-0, a victory that went down in football history. This match on 22 June 1974 was the only encounter between the two German senior national teams. After the 2-1 victory in the final against the Dutch, the West Germans thanked the GDR team for the defeat, as it became the trigger for an internal team revolt against Helmut Schön, the national coach, who was regarded as indecisive and hesitant. The team, led by captain Beckenbauer, was able to implement its tactical ideas. To this day, the players claim that winning the title would hardly have been possible without this defeat. In addition, the DFB team, as group runners-up, was able to move into the supposedly easier intermediate round group with Poland, Sweden and Yugoslavia - the GDR, on the other hand, as group winners, had the Netherlands, Brazil and Argentina as opponents. By winning this title, the Germans became the first team to win the World Cup after winning a continental championship.

In 1976, the European Championship finals were held for the last time with four teams, and again the German team had qualified. After the 1974 World Cup victory, World Cup record scorer Gerd Müller, among others, had retired, and yet the team reached the final at the 1976 European Championship in Yugoslavia as well. In Belgrade, the first match was against Yugoslavia in the semi-finals, in which the team was already 2-0 down after 32 minutes. Against Czechoslovakia, the national team was quickly 2-0 down, as in the semi-final, but Dieter Müller's fourth goal in the European Championship quickly brought them back into the tie, but it took until the 90th minute before Bernd Hölzenbein equalised the score at 2-2, which again led to extra time. This ended goalless, so that for the first time in the history of major tournaments a penalty shoot-out had to decide the match. After the first four Czechoslovakian and the first three German players had each converted their penalties, Uli Hoeneß, who had already missed a penalty two years earlier in the match against Poland, stepped up. He got behind and shot the ball over the goal. Antonín Panenka then scored the decisive goal with a penalty shot into the middle (reason given by the "Panenka hoist") - the fifth German shooter did not have to compete. With four goals, Dieter Müller became the tournament's top scorer.

Second European Championship title and first elimination in a group phase (1978-1984)

After the 1978 World Cup, Jupp Derwall succeeded Schön. Under his leadership, the German team did not lose a game until the 1980 European Championship. They therefore entered the tournament as joint favourites. At the European Football Championship in Italy, which was held for the first time with eight teams and a group phase, the first match was a revenge for the lost final in Belgrade with a 1-0 victory over Czechoslovakia. In the match against the Netherlands, the German team led 3-0 after 66 minutes thanks to three goals by Klaus Allofs, before Rep (80th/penalty) and Willy van de Kerkhof (86th) made it exciting again. But the German team managed to hold on for the 3:2. In the final group match, a 0-0 draw against Greece was enough to win the group and lead directly to the final. Against Belgium, who had surprisingly beaten England, Spain and host Italy, Horst Hrubesch scored the 1:0 after only ten minutes. René Vandereycken equalised on a penalty kick in the 72nd minute and it was Hrubesch again who scored the winner with a header in the 89th minute, thus giving Germany its second European Championship title. The top scorer again came from Germany - this time the three goals from the match against the Netherlands were enough for Klaus Allofs.

Germany was one of the favourites at the beginning of the 1982 World Cup. In the final in Madrid, Germany had to prove themselves against Italy, who had previously beaten world champions Argentina 2-1 and World Cup favourites Brazil 3-2 in the intermediate round and Poland 2-0 in the semi-finals. The last five goals were scored by Paolo Rossi, the eventual top scorer, who also scored the first goal of the game in the second half, after Italy had already missed a penalty. After further goals by Tardelli and Altobelli, Breitner's final goal to make it 3-1 was only a cosmetic measure. Germany had lost a World Cup final for the second time since 1966.

The 1984 European Championship in France was the first time that the German team had been eliminated from a major tournament in the group stage, having already had a difficult qualifying campaign. 

The "Kaiser" wins third World Cup title (1984-1990)

Derwall's successor was Franz Beckenbauer. As he did not have a coaching licence, the function of "team manager" was introduced and Beckenbauer was given a coach with a licence as his assistant. This was initially Horst Köppel and from 1987 Holger Osieck. The qualification for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico was already certain after six matches, of which the first five were won.

At the tournament in Mexico, the team of the Federal Republic of Germany under the leadership of team manager Franz Beckenbauer once again became runners-up and the Argentinian national football team became world champions for the second time by beating the German eleven 3:2. Uli Stein was the first player to be sent home early during the tournament after calling Beckenbauer a "soup bum". The German team was only convincing in the semi-finals, which they won against France as they had four years before. In the group stage, Germany had only finished second after a draw against Uruguay, a win against Scotland and a defeat against Denmark. The round of 16 match against Morocco, who had beaten the more strongly rated Portugal in their group, was only decided in the 88th minute by a free-kick goal from Lothar Matthäus, and the quarter-final match against Mexico was only won in a penalty shoot-out, in which Schumacher saved two penalties.

The 1988 European Championship on home soil was supposed to bring the team boss his first title after the World Cup runners-up two years earlier, but after a 1-1 draw against Italy in the preliminary round and two 2-0 victories over Denmark and Spain, the semi-final against the Netherlands was the end of the line. Germany had taken the lead through a penalty kick converted by Lothar Matthäus in the 55th minute, but the Dutch equalised in the 74th minute with another penalty. When both teams had already prepared for extra time, Marco van Basten took advantage of Jürgen Kohler's inattention to score the 2-1 winner. The Dutch won the final in Munich and became European champions.

At the 1990 World Cup in Italy, Germany started successfully with a 4:1 win against Yugoslavia and a 5:1 win against the United Arab Emirates. In the third match against Colombia, the score was 1-0 only in the 88th minute, but a carelessness in the final minute squandered the victory. In the round of 16, they met the Dutch again. The game started hectically, in the 22nd minute Frank Rijkaard and Rudi Völler were sent off for unsporting behaviour. Jürgen Klinsmann scored in the 51st minute to make it 1-0, and a goal by Andreas Brehme in the 85th minute saw the team through to the quarter-finals against Czechoslovakia, which was decided by a penalty goal from Matthäus, despite a 1-2 draw in the 89th minute. With a 4:3 penalty shoot-out win over England in the semi-finals, the German team became the first team to reach a World Cup final for the third time in a row. The final opponents were once again Argentina and Germany won the final with a penalty kick converted by Brehme. With their third World Cup title, Germany became the first European team to win a final against a South American team. This made Franz Beckenbauer the only German and second player after Mário Zagallo to win the World Cup in two capacities (as player and coach). However, Didier Deschamps also managed to do this later, winning the World Cup title with France both as a coach and as a player.

Integration of Players from the GDR and European Champions in England (1990-1998)

After the World Cup, Beckenbauer resigned as team manager. He was succeeded by Berti Vogts, who had previously been DFB youth coach and was part of Beckenbauer's coaching staff from 1986 to 1990. 

After a rather mediocre performance in the preliminary round of the European Championship, including a 1:3 against the Netherlands, the German team reached the final of a European Championship for the fourth time after its best game against host Sweden. They went into the final as favourites, but surprisingly lost 0:2 to outsiders Denmark. At least Karl-Heinz Riedle was able to share the goal-scoring crown with three other players, all four having scored three goals each.

At the 1994 World Cup in the USA, for which Germany qualified as defending champions, the German team won the opening match for the first time as reigning world champions, with a 1-0 score being enough to beat Bolivia. After a 1-1 draw with Spain, South Korea were narrowly beaten 3-2 and the team finished first in their group. Stefan Effenberg was expelled from the team during the tournament by national coach Vogts because he had acknowledged provocations from German fans with an extended middle finger during this match. In the round of 16, Germany defeated Belgium 3-2 and then lost 2-1 in the quarter-finals against Bulgaria, who had never made it past the round of 16 at a World Cup before. This was the first time since the 1978 World Cup that the German team did not finish in the top four at a World Cup finals.

At the 1996 European Championship in England, the team under Berti Vogts won a European Championship for the third time thanks to the first golden goal in European Championship history by Oliver Bierhoff and became the first team to reach the final for the fifth time. The tournament in England was held for the first time with 16 teams. Germany finished the preliminary round without conceding a goal with a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic, a 3-0 win over Russia and a goalless draw against Italy, in which Andreas Köpke held a penalty kick. In the quarter-finals, Croatia were defeated 2-1 before a penalty shoot-out against England in the semi-finals, which the German team won. In the final, the German team met the Czech Republic again. Their team took the lead in the 59th minute through a penalty kick and it took until the 73rd minute before Bierhoff, who had come on as a substitute four minutes earlier, equalised. His second goal in extra time ended the game prematurely and brought Germany their third European Championship title.

Germany entered the 1998 World Cup in France as the reigning European champions. In a politically explosive group with Yugoslavia, the USA and Iran, Germany came first. A 2-0 win against the USA was followed by a 2-2 (after trailing 0-2) against Yugoslavia and a 2-0 win against Iran. The second match was overshadowed by riots by German hooligans in Lens, in which French policeman Daniel Nivel was critically injured. Germany's exclusion from the tournament was under discussion. After a hard-fought 2-1 win against Mexico, Germany met Croatia in the quarter-finals, as they had done in the previous European Championship. After a sending-off against Christian Wörns, the German team lost 0:3. It was the highest final round defeat since the 3:6 against France at the 1958 World Cup.

Elimination twice after the European Championship group stage, World Cup final and summer fairy tale (1998-2006)

In September 1998, Berti Vogts resigned from his post. His successor was Erich Ribbeck.

After disagreements between the players and Erich Ribbeck, the team got off to a rather mediocre start in the 2000 European Championships, only managing a 1-1 draw against the group's outsiders, Romania. In the match against England, the team improved, but lost 0:1 due to a goal by Alan Shearer. The last group opponent in the preliminary round was Portugal. Advancement would only have been possible with a German victory and a simultaneous draw by the Romanians against England. But when Romania won and Germany lost 3-0 to a Portuguese team with numerous substitutes, the tournament ended for Germany after the preliminary round. The defeat sealed the end of Erich Ribbeck's tenure, who some called the gravedigger of German football. The defeat by Portugal also ended the career of Lothar Matthäus in the national team, for which he was the only one to play for more than 20 years. After Ribbeck's resignation, Rudi Völler took over as team manager of the German national team. 

At the 2002 World Cup, the team reached the final, where for the first time the two national teams with the most World Cup matches and the most finals appearances up to that point met: Brazil and Germany. In the 67th minute, Ronaldo took advantage of a mistake by Kahn to make it 1-0, and another Ronaldo goal in the 79th minute decided the game.

Before the start of the 2006 World Cup at home, the public was rather pessimistic about the DFB team's chances of success, not least because of weak test matches such as a 4-1 defeat against Italy or a hard-fought 2-2 win against Japan. Unimpressed by this, Klinsmann declared the world championship title in his own country as his goal. With a 3:1 victory over Portugal, the team secured third place. Miroslav Klose was the second German player to be top scorer at a World Cup finals after Gerd Müller at the 1970 World Cup. Another award went to Klose's strike partner Lukas Podolski, who was voted the best young player of the World Cup.

Always there, but never at the top (2006-2012)

Despite the success, Klinsmann did not renew his contract, which was due to expire, and the former co-coach Joachim Löw became his successor. Under Löw, the German team became the first team to qualify for the 2008 European Championship after only nine games.

At the European Championship, On 25 June, they defeated Turkey 3-2 to reach a European Championship final for the sixth time, losing 1-0 to Spain. 

At Euro 2000, Germany won the third and decisive match against Ghana 1-0 and advanced to the last 16 as group winners. There they beat England 4:1 and thus handed the English team its highest defeat at a World Cup. Germany beat Argentina 4-0 in the quarter-finals - their highest ever win against Argentina. In the semi-finals, the winning streak was halted by the Spanish selection (0:1). With Spain's subsequent victory in the World Cup final, the team that had eliminated Germany became world champions for the third time in a row. In the match for third place, they met Uruguay, as in 1970, who were defeated 3:2. This was Germany's fourth third-place finish. Thomas Müller was the third German player to win the Golden Shoe for top scorer, the first time in two consecutive World Cups. In addition to the five goals scored by three other players, three assists by Müller were decisive. He also received the award for the best young player, succeeding Lukas Podolski, who received this prize in 2006. Miroslav Klose also scored four goals, making him the first player to score at least four goals in three World Cups and also joining Gerd Müller in the all-time best list.

In the preliminary round of the 2012 European Championship, the German team faced Portugal, the Netherlands and Denmark in Ukraine. After the draw, the German media unanimously spoke of an end to Germany's typical luck of the draw. The German team, which had travelled to the tournament as favourites for the title, reached the quarter-finals with three victories (1:0 against Portugal, 2:1 against the Netherlands and 2:1 against Denmark) and 9 points - something they had never achieved before at a European Championship. There they met the Greek team in Gdansk, who had won the decisive match against Russia in Group A. The 4:2 victory meant that they reached the semi-finals. A 4-2 win saw them reach the semi-finals and set a new world record with their 15th consecutive competitive match win. They lost 2-1 to Italy in the semi-finals, with Mesut Özil only managing to score the equaliser after Mario Balotelli had scored twice. Mario Gómez narrowly missed out on the European Championship top scorer award as Spain's Fernando Torres had less game time with as many goals and assists.

Coronation in Rio, the "curse of the world champion" and the end of the Löw era (2012-2021)

The 2014 World Cup year began on 5 March in Stuttgart with a 1-0 victory in a friendly match against Chile, who had been deliberately chosen as an opponent to test the style of play of a possible South American opponent at the World Cup. As a number of key players were absent for the friendly against Poland due to mandatory matches with their clubs, twelve players made their international debuts in the goalless draw. Some of them were nominated for the extended World Cup squad, which still consists of 27 players. The following preparation match on 1 June 2014 in Mönchengladbach against Cameroon, coached by Volker Finke, ended 2-2. The final World Cup squad was announced the following day. The last preparatory match against Armenia was won 6:1. Miroslav Klose had scored the goal for 4:1 in this match and became the national team's sole record scorer with his 69th international goal. Marco Reus injured his ankle shortly before the half-time break and had to cancel his participation in the World Cup one day later. Shkodran Mustafi was nominated in his place.

In the group stage of the 2014 World Cup, the German team faced Portugal, third in the FIFA world rankings, as in the 2012 European Championship, Ghana, as in the 2010 World Cup, and the United States, coached by former national coach Jürgen Klinsmann. The first group match against Portugal was won 4:0. The 2-2 draw against Ghana was followed by a 1-0 win against the United States in the final group match, which meant winning the group. In the round of 16, Germany needed extra time to win 2-1 against Algeria. In the quarter-finals, a 1-0 victory over France was achieved. The DFB team reached the final of the World Cup with a 7:1 victory over hosts Brazil. This was the highest victory ever achieved in a semi-final. The half-time score of 5:0, which was achieved after only 29 minutes, was also a new record for a match in the knockout rounds of a World Cup. Miroslav Klose had scored in this match (as in the group match against Ghana); with a total of 16 goals in World Cups, he became the new record scorer in this competition and also set the still current record for the national team with now a total of 71 international goals. The national team met Argentina in the final at the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro on 13 July 2014.

In the remake of the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals, the German team won 1-0 in extra time thanks to a goal by Mario Götze. They thus became world champions for the fourth time and are the first European national team to win the title at a World Cup in South America. The documentary film Die Mannschaft shows the path to winning the title for the fourth time from the German team's point of view.

At the 2016 European Championship in France, the German national team won its preliminary round group, level on points, ahead of the Polish national team, against whom it had played 0-0 in the second group match. In the final round, they won the round of 16 against Slovakia 3-0 and the quarter-final against Italy 6-5 in a penalty shoot-out after the score had been 1-1 at the end of extra time. Without the yellow-suspended Mats Hummels and the injured Mario Gómez and Sami Khedira, Germany finally lost the semi-final 0:2 against hosts France. Both goals were scored by Antoine Griezmann.

In the preliminary round of the 2018 World Cup, Germany faced Mexico, Sweden and South Korea. After a 1-0 opening defeat to Mexico, their first loss in a World Cup opener in 36 years, Germany also fell behind 1-0 to Sweden in the first half, but a second-half equaliser and a Toni Kroos free-kick converted in the fifth minute of stoppage time gave Germany a 2-1 win. However, Germany lost 2-0 to South Korea and, as the last team in the group, were eliminated in the preliminary round for the first time in Germany's World Cup history, joining the group of their predecessors who were victims of the World Cup curse.

At Euro 2021, Germany lost the first game 1-0 to France, the team won the second game 4-2 against Portugal, after which the national team qualified for the last 16 with a 2-2 draw against Hungary. This was lost 2-0 to England at Wembley Stadium. This match was the 198th and last international match under national coach Löw.