Germany’s record in international competition over the years has been outstanding: they have reached an unmatched eight FIFA World Cup finals – winning four of them – and have reached the last four on thirteen occasions, also a record. They have qualified for every single edition of the World Cup they have entered, and have reached the last eight at the very least on every occasion – with the exception of the 1938 tournament, which witnessed their one and only first phase exit.
The Nationalmannschaft are also the most successful team in the history of the UEFA European Championship, with six final appearances and three victories; with the exception of their first attempt in 1968, they have qualified for the final stages of every tournament they have entered.
This section contains stories and statistics from all of Germany’s games in these two major international competitions, as well as the two FIFA Confederations Cup tournaments in 1999 and 2005. For every competition up to and including the European Championship of 1984, you will find a tournament review; for every tournament after that, you will find individual reports for every single match – written just how I saw it at the time.
Accompanying these reports will be full statistics and team lineups, including details from all tournament qualifying matches played between 1934 and the present day.
Tournament Performance Chart
The graph below plots Germany’s performance in each major tournament they have entered since their World Cup debut in 1934. The grey shaded area illustrates the handful of instances where the team failed to make at least the quarter-finals or last eight (WC 1938, EC 1968, EC 1984, EC 2000, EC 2000) while the pointers A to G mark the Mannschaft’s six major tournament victories (WC 1954, EC 1972, WC 1974, EC 1980, WC 1990, EC 1996, WC 2014).
Key: 0 = DNQ; 2 = Eliminated in Group/2nd Phase; 4 = Quarter-Finalist/Last 8; 6 = Semi-Finalist/Fourth Place; 7 = Third Place; 8 = Runner-Up; 10 = Winner.
Tournament Overviews and Detail
The FIFA World Cup, 1934-2014
The UEFA European Football Championship, 1968-2016
The FIFA Confederations Cup, 1999, 2005 and 2017
As well as these major international tournaments the German team also competed in a number of smaller competitions, details of which can be found in the Mini-Tournaments section.