The Germany national football team, overseen by the German Football Association (DFB), represents Germany in international A-level football competitions, with Julian Nagelsmann as its current head coach.
Team History
In 1900, the German Football Association (DFB) was officially founded. The Germany national team played its first official match in 1908. After World War II, Germany was divided into West Germany, East Germany, and Saarland, all of which were banned from international competitions. In 1954, West Germany defeated Hungary in the World Cup final to win the championship. In 1972, West Germany participated in the European Championship for the first time and claimed the title. The 1974 World Cup was held in West Germany, where West Germany defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the final to win their second World Cup title. After Germany’s reunification in 1990, the football teams of East and West Germany merged. At the 1996 European Championship, Germany defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 to win their first international title after reunification.
Nowadays
In 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann took charge of the Germany national team. At the 2006 World Cup, Germany defeated Portugal to finish third. After the World Cup, Klinsmann stepped down, and Joachim Löw took over. At the 2014 World Cup, Germany remained unbeaten with 6 wins and 1 draw, claiming their fourth World Cup title. In the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Germany failed to advance from the group stage in consecutive tournaments. On June 15, 2024, in the opening match of the European Championship (Group A, first round), Germany thrashed Scotland 5-1. On June 30, in the Euro 2024 round of 16, Germany defeated Denmark 2-0 to advance to the quarter-finals. On July 6, in the quarter-finals, Germany lost 1-2 to Spain after extra time, exiting the tournament at the quarter-finals.
The Germany national team (including West Germany) has qualified for the World Cup finals 20 times in total and won the World Cup 4 times, ranking 2nd in the world in terms of championship wins. Germany has also won the European Championship 3 times (ranking 2nd in titles) and claimed the Confederations Cup title in 2017.
