When Germany fell two goals behind in Sweden last month during their final World Cup qualifying match, it was not just their unbeaten group record that at stake. In addition to maintaining their record in the ten-match group campaign, the Nationalmannschaft were also protecting a far more significant unbeaten record – a run in World Cup qualifiers away from home that goes back almost eighty years.
Forty-two matches, eight decades
A record that spans an astonishing forty-two matches, this is an enviable statistic that started back in March 1934, with Professor Dr. Otto Nerz’s German team beating Luxembourg 9-1 in Luxembourg-Ville in qualifying for that year’s tournament in Italy. It continued into the post-war period when the team was known as West Germany, and then carry on with the post-1990 team following the unification of East and West.
The forty-second match was of course be the one in Stockholm, where Joachim Löw’s side would come back from that two-goal deficit to win 5-3 – the victory being crowned by André Schürrle’s spectacular second-half hat-trick.
| Opponent | Date | Venue | Tmt. | Res. | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Luxembourg | 11.03.1934 | Luxembourg-Ville | 1934 | W | 9-1 |
 | Finland | 29.06.1937 | Helsinki | 1938 | W | 2-0 |
 | Norway | 19.08.1953 | Oslo | 1954 | D | 1-1 |
 | Saarland | 28.03.1954 | Saarbrücken | 1954 | W | 3-1 |
 | Northern Ireland | 26.10.1960 | Belfast | 1962 | W | 4-3 |
 | Greece | 20.11.1960 | Athens | 1962 | W | 3-0 |
 | Sweden | 26.09.1965 | Stockholm | 1966 | W | 2-1 |
 | Cyprus | 14.11.1965 | Nicosia | 1966 | W | 6-0 |
 | Austria | 13.10.1968 | Wien | 1970 | W | 2-0 |
| Cyprus | 23.11.1968 | Nicosia | 1970 | W | 1-0 |
 | Scotland | 16.05.1969 | Glasgow | 1970 | D | 1-1 |
 | Bulgaria | 03.12.1980 | Sofia | 1982 | W | 3-1 |
 | Albania | 01.04.1981 | Tiranë | 1982 | W | 2-0 |
| Finland | 24.05.1981 | Lahti | 1982 | W | 4-0 |
| Austria | 14.10.1981 | Wien | 1982 | W | 3-1 |
 | Malta | 16.12.1984 | La Valletta | 1986 | W | 3-2 |
 | Portugal | 24.02.1985 | Lisboa | 1986 | W | 2-1 |
 | Czechoslovakia | 30.04.1985 | Praha | 1986 | W | 5-1 |
| Sweden | 25.09.1985 | Stockholm | 1986 | D | 2-2 |
| Finland | 31.08.1988 | Helsinki | 1990 | W | 4-0 |
 | Netherlands | 26.04.1989 | Rotterdam | 1990 | D | 1-1 |
 | Wales | 31.05.1989 | Cardiff | 1990 | D | 0-0 |
 | Armenia | 09.10.1996 | Yerevan | 1998 | W | 5-1 |
| Portugal | 14.12.1996 | Lisboa | 1998 | D | 0-0 |
| Albania | 02.04.1997 | Granada (ESP) | 1998 | W | 3-2 |
 | Ukraine | 07.06.1997 | Kyiv | 1998 | D | 0-0 |
| Northern Ireland | 20.08.1997 | Belfast | 1998 | W | 3-1 |
 | England | 07.10.2000 | Wembley | 2002 | W | 1-0 |
 | Greece | 28.03.2001 | Athens | 2002 | W | 4-2 |
| Finland | 02.06.2001 | Helsinki | 2002 | D | 2-2 |
| Albania | 06.06.2001 | Tiranë | 2002 | W | 2-0 |
| Ukraine | 10.11.2001 | Kyiv | 2002 | D | 1-1 |
 | Liechtenstein | 06.09.2008 | Vaduz | 2010 | W | 6-0 |
| Finland | 10.09.2008 | Helsinki | 2010 | D | 3-3 |
| Wales | 01.04.2009 | Cardiff | 2010 | W | 2-0 |
 | Azerbaijan | 12.08.2009 | Baku | 2010 | W | 2-0 |
 | Russian Federation | 10.10.2009 | Moskva | 2010 | W | 1-0 |
| Austria | 11.09.2012 | Wien | 2014 | W | 2-1 |
 | Republic of Ireland | 12.10.2012 | Dublin | 2014 | W | 6-1 |
 | Kazakhstan | 22.03.2013 | Astana | 2014 | W | 3-0 |
 | Faroe Islands | 10.09.2013 | Tórshavn | 2014 | W | 3-0 |
| Sweden | 15.10.2013 | Stockholm | 2014 | W | 5-3 |
These forty-two matches are spread over a dozen qualifying campaigns: Italy 1934, France 1938, Switzerland 1954, Chile 1962, England 1966, Mexico 1970, Spain 1982, Mexico 1986, USA 1994, France 1998, Japan/South Korea 2002 and South Africa 2010.
There have been some near misses on the way: in 1953 Sepp Herberger’s side would come back from a goal down to grab a draw in Norway and would come from behind to win on more than a few occasions, but the first genuine close shave came in Helsinki in 2001 against unheralded Finland – with Rudi Völler’s side coming back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw with goals in the 69th and 72nd minute. The Finns would cause even more consternation for Joachim Löw’s side in 2008, with the Mannschaft coming from behind three times – all scored by Miroslav Klose – to salvage a point.
What makes things even more surprising was that prior to running Germany close on these two occasions Finland had shipped a total of ten goals in the three games played before then – while failing to find the back of the German net once.
Most popular opponents
Finland have been Germany’s most popular opponent in World Cup qualifiers with five matches on the road, followed by Albania, Austria and Cyprus with three. In all, the Nationalmannschaft have visited a total of twenty-six countries in their World Cup qualifying travels, from the Republic of Ireland in the west through to Kazakhstan in the far reaches of Central Asia.
| Opponent | P | W | D | L | F | A | Diff. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 |
| Armenia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 |
| Austria | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 |
| Azerbaijan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 |
| Cyprus | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 |
| Czechoslovakia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 |
| England | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| Faroe Islands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 |
| Finland | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 5 | +10 |
| Greece | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 |
| Kazakhstan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 |
| Liechtenstein | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 |
| Luxembourg | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 |
| Malta | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 |
| Netherlands | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +/- |
| Norway | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +/- |
| Northern Ireland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 |
| Portugal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 |
| Republic of Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 |
| Russian Federation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| Saarland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 |
| Scotland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +/- |
| Sweden | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 6 | +3 |
| Wales | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 |
| Ukraine | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +/- |
With the next round of World Cup qualifying matches taking place in the autumn of 206 after the European Championship finals, Germany’s unbeaten record will be extended to at least eighty-two years – a truly staggering achievement.
Wow. Have not heard of this before. Just a correction. Germany did play in qualifiers for USA94.
Nope. They were given automatic qualification as holders, a practice that ended in 2002. They just had a load of friedlies in between Euro ’92 and the World Cup finals.
Great article Chef. Some great memories of those games you have listed. I vividly remember watching the (brief) highlights of Germany destroying Czechoslovakia 5:1 in Prag in 1985. One of Germany’s greatest ever performances – certainly of the 1980’s. Unfortunately the record (at home) went a few months later v Portugal. I can remember being gutted. I don’t recall Germany ever playing Denmark, Hungary or Romania in any qualifier (WM or EM). I guess it just happens to be the draw!
Cheers Mark. I remember watching highlights of the Czech game – those famous potted highlights on Sportsnight – indeed a great win. However the one game I really remember from that group was the 3-2 win over Malta on that seriously low-grade pitch in Valletta!
Indeed, until that Portugal match Germany had not lost any WC qualifying game – I too was gutted to see that one go. Of course, the second and only other WCQ defeat was that unmentionable one!
Of coursem it’s all luck of the draw – and of all the “Pot 2” teams Germany always end up with Sweden!