Germany at the FIFA World Cup
This is a record of Germany and West Germany's results at the FIFA World Cup. The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of FIFA, the sport's global governing body.
The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase. The qualification phase, which currently takes place over the three years going to the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final, when Germany were the host country.
For Germany's World Cup history, FIFA considers only the teams managed by the Deutscher Fußball-Bund, comprising three periods: Germany, West Germany and reunified Germany. The Germany national football team is one of the most successful national teams at the FIFA World Cup, winning four titles, earning second-place and third-place finishes four times each and one fourth-place finish. If you consider 3rd place or better for a winning campaign, Germany's 12 victories in 19 tournaments add up to at least three more than any other nation. In addition, Germany are the only team which has stood on the podium every decade there was a tournament held—1930s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Along with Argentina, Brazil and Spain, they are one of the four national teams to win outside their continental confederation, with the title of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in South America. The team was present in 19 out of the 21 tournaments, the second most frequent, and only did not reach the quarterfinals twice, in 1938 and 2018. With this, Germany's 8th place or better in 17 out of 19 tournaments ranks highest in FIFA World Cup Finals history. It makes Germany the better team in the history of the tournament in terms of final positions, if points were awarded proportionally for a title, runner-up finish, third-place finish, semi-final and quarter-final appearances.
Records
Winning World Cups
FIFA World Cup finals
1954 World Cup Final v Hungary">Hungary national football team">Hungary
Only 14 days before the final, West Germany played the favoured Hungarian Golden Team in the first round of the tournament and suffered a 3-8 loss, their highest World Cup defeat to this day. In the final, Hungary was up by two goals after only eight minutes, so it came as a surprise that the West German team not only quickly equalized but turned the game around in the 84th minute with a goal scored by Helmut Rahn.1966 World Cup Final v England">England national football team">England
The strongly contested game between host nation England and West Germany went into extra time after a score of 2-2 after 90 minutes. Geoff Hurst's goal in the 101st minute is one of the most controversial in football history: His shot bounced off the cross-bar onto the ground and back away from the goal. After a brief discussion with the Soviet linesman Tofiq Bahramov, referee Gottfried Dienst awarded the goal. With the West Germans forced to press for the equalizer, Hurst converted a counterattack in the 120th minute and decided the match for England.1974 World Cup Final v the Netherlands">Netherlands national football team">the Netherlands
West Germany reached the final as host nation in 1974 and were facing their neighbours and rivals from the Netherlands. After an early penalty scored by Johan Neeskens, West Germany turned the game around to win their second World Cup trophy.1982 World Cup Final v Italy">Italy national football team">Italy
became only the third player in World Cup history to have scored in two separate finals, but only after the Italians had already taken a 3-0 lead after 81 minutes.1986 World Cup Final v Argentina">Argentina national football team">Argentina
With the highest attendance ever at a FIFA World Cup final, West Germany faced Argentina in Mexico City. Although the South Americans' star player Diego Maradona was closely guarded by the West German team, he assisted the decisive 3-2 scored by Jorge Burruchaga, ensuring his country's second World Cup win. Late during the match, three yellow cards were given to Argentinians for time wasting.1990 World Cup Final v Argentina">Argentina national football team">Argentina
For this re-match of the 1986 Final, Argentina played extremely defensively. Defender Pedro Monzón became the first player ever to receive a red card in a World Cup final, only to be joined by teammate Gustavo Dezotti 22 minutes later. Although West Germany was the dominating side with 23:1 shots, it is fitting that the rough match was decided by a penalty kick taken by Andreas Brehme.Franz Beckenbauer achieved the feat to lose and then win a World Cup final each as player and manager.
2002 World Cup Final v Brazil">Brazil national football team">Brazil
With only one goal against during the six matches leading up to the final, hopes were on the German defence to withstand Brazil's star quality strikers. Germany's playmaker Michael Ballack was suspended for the final after picking his second yellow card of the tournament in the semi-final against South Korea. Two goals from Ronaldo in the middle of the second half decided the match in favour of the South Americans and ensured their record fifth title.2014 World Cup Final v Argentina">Argentina national football team">Argentina
Despite defeating host country Brazil 7–1, Germany was supported by the home fans due to Brazil's rivalry with Argentina. This record third match-up of two teams in World Cup finals saw good chances for both sides in regular time, but stayed goalless until substitute striker Mario Götze scored during the second half of extra time, in the 113th minute. The fourth title was the first since Germany's reunification in October 1990.Record players
is the FIFA World Cup's all-time record player. In addition, along with Antonio Carbajal and Rafael Márquez from Mexico, he is one of the few players to have been fielded in five FIFA World Cups.Miroslav Klose, who is only one match behind, also holds the record for most victories at FIFA World Cups.
| No. | Name | Matches | World Cups |
| 1 | Lothar Matthäus | 25 | 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998 |
| 2 | Miroslav Klose | 24 | 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 |
| 3 | Uwe Seeler | 21 | 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970 |
| 4 | Philipp Lahm | 20 | 2006, 2010 and 2014 |
| 4 | Bastian Schweinsteiger | 20 | 2006, 2010 and 2014 |
| 6 | Wolfgang Overath | 19 | 1966, 1970 and 1974 |
| 6 | Berti Vogts | 19 | 1970, 1974 and 1978 |
| 6 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | 19 | 1978, 1982 and 1986 |
| 6 | Per Mertesacker | 19 | 2006, 2010 and 2014 |
| 10 | Franz Beckenbauer | 18 | 1966, 1970 and 1974 |
| 10 | Sepp Maier | 18 | 1970, 1974 and 1978 |
| 10 | Thomas Berthold | 18 | 1986, 1990 and 1994 |
Top goalscorers
Since 2014, Miroslav Klose is the all-time top goalscorer at FIFA World Cup final tournaments. Gerd Müller used to be the holder of that record from 1974 until it was broken by Ronaldo in 2006.| No. | Name | Goals | World Cups |
| 1 | Miroslav Klose | 16 | 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 |
| 2 | Gerd Müller | 14 | 1970 and 1974 |
| 3 | Jürgen Klinsmann | 11 | 1990, 1994 and 1998 |
| 4 | Thomas Müller | 10 | 2010 and 2014 |
| 4 | Helmut Rahn | 10 | 1954 and 1958 |
| 6 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | 9 | 1978, 1982 and 1986 |
| 6 | Uwe Seeler | 9 | 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970 |
| 8 | Rudi Völler | 8 | 1986, 1990 and 1994 |
| 9 | Hans Schäfer | 7 | 1954 and 1958 |
| 10 | Helmut Haller | 6 | 1966 |
| 10 | Lothar Matthäus | 6 | 1986, 1990 and 1994 |
| 10 | Max Morlock | 6 | 1954 |
By match
By opponent
| Opponent | Win % | |||||||
| 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 57.14% | |
| 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 66.67% | |
| 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 80.00% | |
| 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 40.00% | |
| 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 0.00% | |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 75.00% | |
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 75.00% | |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 50.00% | |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 50.00% | |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 50.00% | |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 50.00% | |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 100.00% | |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 100.00% | |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 66.67% | |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 66.67% | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 66.67% | |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 33.33% | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 100.00% | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 100.00% | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 100.00% | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 100.00% | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00% | |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 50.00% | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 50.00% | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 50.00% | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 50.00% | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 50.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00% | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00% | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00% | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0.00% | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0.00% | |
| Total | 109 | 67 | 20 | 22 | 226 | 125 | +101 | 61.47% |