 | |||
| Nickname(s) | Nationalelf (national eleven) DFB-Elf (DFB Eleven) (Die) Mannschaft (The Team)[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund – DFB) | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Mostcaps | Christian Schreier (22) | ||
| Top scorer | Gottfried Fuchs Frank Mill (10 goals each) | ||
| FIFA code | GER | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Austria 5–1Germany  (Stockholm, Sweden; 29 June 1912) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Germany 16–0Russian Empire  (Stockholm, Sweden; 1 July 1912)[2] | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
| Austria 5–1Germany (Stockholm, Sweden; 29 June 1912) | |||
| Summer Olympic Games | |||
| Appearances | 10[a] (first in1912) | ||
| Best result |  Silver Medal (2016) | ||
TheGermany Olympic football team representsGermany in internationalfootball competitions inOlympic Games. It has been active since 1908, and first competed in1912.
Olympic football was originally an amateur sport, and as the pre-World War II German national team was also amateur, it was able to send a full national team to the games. After the war, Germany was divided, but until1964East andWest competed under the name of "United Team of Germany", although without a combined squad. From1968 West Germany began to compete on its own, but were still forced to send an amateur team, who were not able to match the success of their professional counterparts in theWorld Cup andEuropean Championship. East Germany won gold in1976 and silver in1980.
The rules on amateurism were relaxed in the 1980s, which allowed West Germany some success, notably a bronze medal finish in1988. Since1992 the tournament has been competed by under-23 teams, making Germany's Olympic qualification dependent on the results of theunder-21 team. Only in2016 the Germans returned to the Olympic stage, with a silver medal after losing on a penalty shoot-out to hostsBrazil.
Germany first sent a football team to the Olympics in1912, where they were defeated in the first round, losing 5–1 against neighboursAustria. They entered aconsolation tournament, however, where they recorded a 16–0 win overRussia, with 10 goals from forwardGottfried Fuchs – this is still the national team's highest margin of victory. They were eliminated in the next round, though, with a 3–1 defeat againstHungary. AfterWorld War I, Germany was banned from the1920 Olympics, and didn't compete in1924, returning to action in1928, when they were eliminated in the quarter finals by eventual winnersUruguay. Uruguay would go on to win theinaugural World Cup two years later.
Football wasn't included in the1932 Olympics, but returned for the1936 games, inBerlin. As hosts, and having finished third atthe previous World Cup, hopes of a German success were high. It wasn't to be, though: after a 9–0 win againstLuxembourg, Germany were eliminated in the quarter finals, losing 2–0 toNorway. The result costcoachOtto Nerz his job, being replaced by his assistantSepp Herberger.
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FollowingWorld War II, Germany were banned from the1948 Olympics, but were back in1952. By this point Germany was divided into three states –East Germany andthe Saar protectorate having broken away, with what was left of the country commonly referred to asWest Germany. Saar competed independently in 1952, but East Germany were unable to, and refused to represent a united German team. Consequently, the German Olympic team in 1952 was made up entirely of athletes from the west. The growth of professionalism inGerman football meant that the team they sent was no longer a senior national team squad, instead an amateur team. Despite this, Germany achieved their best result so far, reaching the semi-finals, where they were beaten byYugoslavia. They lost 2–0 againstSweden in thebronze medal match.
Political tension between East and West Germany increased over time and this had an effect on sports as well. For the1956 Summer Olympics, thewest's football association delayed the negotiations for the process of forming a combined team for such a long time that the east's representatives gave up and let West Germany nominate the complete team for theUnited Team of Germany.[3] At thequalifying tournament, West Germany had awild card and thus qualified.[4] The team lost its initial game against the eventual championsUSSR and came 9th equal alongside the other two losers of the initial round.[5][6]
Qualification games were held in 1960 and they are amongst the most bizarre games of football ever played by German teams, known as the "Geisterspiele" ("ghost games"). It was the first time that East and West German football teams competed, and the games were held inEast Berlin (West Germany won 2–0) and, one week later, inDüsseldorf (West Germany won 2–1). This thus qualified the West German team. The stadiums were all but empty, with access available to journalists and officials only; no spectators were given access.[3] In the subsequentEuropean qualifying tournament, the West German team was in group two with Poland and Finland. The top team would qualify and Poland was successful.[7]
The pre-qualification process repeated itself in 1964 but this time, spectators were allowed. East Germany won the first game in Karl-Marx-Stadt (nowChemnitz) with 3–0, and West Germany won 2–1 inHanover.[3] Thus, East Germany won the right to go to theEuropean qualifying championships. In round one, East Germany beat the Netherlands. In round two, East Germany and the Soviet Union drew twice and needed a play-off inWarsaw that was won 4–1 by East Germany, thus qualifying the East German team for the Olympics for the first time.[8] At the1964 Olympic Games, the East German team won the bronze medal.[9] As theEast German league was technically amateur, even though the athletes were state-sponsored and trained full-time, the same as all otherEastern Bloc countries, it was able to send an "A" national team.
From1968, East and West Germany competed separately, but West Germany failed to qualify for the 1968 games, losing against theUnited Arab Emirates in qualification. The1972 Olympics were held inMunich, and West Germany qualified automatically as hosts – the amateur team, which contained futureWorld CupwinnerUli Hoeneß andChampions League-winning coachOttmar Hitzfeld, reached the second round, where they were eliminated in a group containing East Germany, who went on to win the bronze medals. West Germany did not qualify for either the1976 or1980 Olympics, losing againstSpain andNorway respectively. However, East Germany managed to win the first gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics after beatingPoland 3–1 in the final. At the next Olympiad, East Germans failed to win their second gold medal and received only silver, losing 1–0 toCzechoslovakia in the final of the 1980 Summer Olympics.
The strict rules on amateurism had favouredCommunist countries, who were able to send their senior national teams to the Olympics, as their leagues technically had amateur status. These rules were relaxed for the1984 games: countries could select professional players, but only those who hadn't played in the finals of theWorld Cup. As such, West Germany selected a team known locally as theOlympiaauswahl (Olympic selection), similar in make-up to theB international team. Initially West Germany failed to qualify for the 1984 games, but were granted a reprieve following theboycott byEastern Bloc countries. A team including future World Cup winnersAndreas Brehme andGuido Buchwald reached the quarter-finals, losing 5–2 againstYugoslavia.
West Germany qualified for the1988 Olympics, where they achieved their best ever result: third place. Having emerged from a group includingChina,Sweden andTunisia, they beatZambia 4–0 in the quarter finals. After losing on penalties toBrazil in the semi-finals, they beatItaly 3–0 to take the bronze medals: to date, this is the team's only tournament victory against Italy. Threestrikers from the Olympic squad –Jürgen Klinsmann,Frank Mill andKarlheinz Riedle – would go on to win the World Cuptwo years later, along withmidfielderThomas Häßler.
Germany wasreunified in 1990, and the1992 Olympics saw another rule change: football squads would be made up of players under the age of 23, with three overage players allowed. On 23 June 2015 Germany was qualified for the first time after reunification for the2016 Olympic games. The last time an Olympic team was specifically selected was in 1998 (a 1–0 defeat againstPortugal). Olympic qualification is now decided by theunder-21 team in theUEFA Under-21 Championship.
In the2016 games held inRio de Janeiro, Germany won the silver medal after losing toBrazil by 5–4 onpenalty shoot-out; this was the first football game played between the two countries since the2014 FIFA World Cup semifinal in which Germany beat Brazil 7–1. The German team also achieved the largest victory of the tournament, thrashingFiji by a score of 10–0 in the group stage.
Win Draw Lose Voided or Postponed Fixture
v
Honduras| 17 July 2021Friendly | Germany | 1–1 | Honduras | Wakaya,Japan |
| 17:00 UTC+9 |
| Report (DFB) |
| Stadium:Kimiidera Athletic Stadium Attendance: 0 |
v Germany| 22 July 20212020 Summer OlympicsGS Group D | Brazil | 4–2 | Germany | Yokohama,Japan |
| 17:30 UTC+9 |
| Report | Stadium:International Stadium Yokohama Attendance: 0 Referee: Iván Barton (El Salvador) |
v Germany| 25 July 20212020 Summer OlympicsGS Group D | Saudi Arabia | 2–3 | Germany | Yokohama,Japan |
| 20:30 UTC+9 |
| Report | Stadium:International Stadium Yokohama Attendance: 0 Referee:Victor Gomes (South Africa) |
v
Ivory Coast| 28 July 20212020 Summer OlympicsGS Group D | Germany | 1–1 | Ivory Coast | Rifu,Japan |
| 17:00 UTC+9 | Löwen 73' | Report | Henrichs 69' (o.g.) | Stadium:Miyagi Stadium Referee: Leodán González (Uruguay) |
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1GK | Florian Müller | (1997-11-13)13 November 1997 (age 28) | 3 | 0 | VfB Stuttgart |
| 2 | 2DF | Benjamin Henrichs | (1997-02-23)23 February 1997 (age 28) | 3 | 0 | RB Leipzig |
| 3 | 2DF | David Raum | (1998-04-22)22 April 1998 (age 27) | 3 | 0 | RB Leipzig |
| 4 | 2DF | Felix Uduokhai | (1997-09-09)9 September 1997 (age 28) | 3 | 1 | FC Augsburg |
| 5 | 2DF | Amos Pieper | (1998-01-17)17 January 1998 (age 27) | 2 | 0 | Arminia Bielefeld |
| 6 | 3MF | Ragnar Ache | (1998-07-28)28 July 1998 (age 27) | 3 | 2 | Eintracht Frankfurt |
| 7 | 4FW | Marco Richter | (1997-11-24)24 November 1997 (age 28) | 3 | 0 | FC Augsburg |
| 8 | 3MF | Maximilian Arnold*(captain) | (1994-05-27)27 May 1994 (age 31) | 2 | 0 | VfL Wolfsburg |
| 9 | 4FW | Cedric Teuchert | (1997-01-14)14 January 1997 (age 28) | 3 | 0 | Union Berlin |
| 10 | 4FW | Max Kruse* | (1988-03-19)19 March 1988 (age 37) | 3 | 0 | Union Berlin |
| 11 | 3MF | Nadiem Amiri* | (1996-10-27)27 October 1996 (age 29) | 3 | 2 | Bayer Leverkusen |
| 12 | 1GK | Svend Brodersen | (1997-03-22)22 March 1997 (age 28) | 0 | 0 |  Yokohama FC |
| 13 | 3MF | Arne Maier | (1999-01-08)8 January 1999 (age 26) | 3 | 0 | Arminia Bielefeld |
| 14 | 3MF | Ismail Jakobs | (1999-08-17)17 August 1999 (age 26) | 0 | 0 | 1. FC Köln |
| 15 | 2DF | Jordan Torunarigha | (1997-08-07)7 August 1997 (age 28) | 3 | 0 | Hertha BSC |
| 16 | 2DF | Keven Schlotterbeck | (1997-04-28)28 April 1997 (age 28) | 3 | 0 | SC Freiburg |
| 17 | 3MF | Anton Stach | (1998-11-15)15 November 1998 (age 27) | 2 | 0 | Greuther Fürth |
| 18 | 3MF | Eduard Löwen | (1997-01-28)28 January 1997 (age 28) | 3 | 1 | FC Augsburg |
| 22 | 1GK | Luca Plogmann | (2000-03-10)10 March 2000 (age 25) | 0 | 0 | Werder Bremen |
| Tournament | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sven Bender (MF) | Lars Bender (MF) | Nils Petersen (FW) | |
| Maximilian Arnold (MF) | Nadiem Amiri (MF) | Max Kruse (FW) |
East Germany team record, seeEast Germany Olympic football team § Summer Olympics record.
→ → →
Germany West Germany
United Team of Germany West Germany GermanyGold medalists Silver medalists Bronze medalists
| Summer Olympics | Qualification | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Host | Round | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Squad | Pos. | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | |
| 1900 to1948 | SeeGermany national football team | SeeGermany national football team | |||||||||||||||
| as West Germany | as West Germany | ||||||||||||||||
| 1952 |  Finland | Fourth place | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | Squad | Invited | |||||||
| 1956 |  Australia | First round | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Squad | Qualified via walkover | |||||||
| 1960 |  Italy | Did not qualify | 2nd | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 11 | ||||||||
| 1964[b] | Japan | PR | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
| 1968 |  Mexico | R2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| 1972 | West Germany | Group stage | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 8 | Squad | Qualified as hosts | |||||||
| 1976 |  Canada | Did not qualify | QR | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||
| 1980 |  Soviet Union | 2nd | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||
| 1984 |  United States | Quarter-finals | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 6 | Squad | 1st | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | |
| 1988 |  South Korea | Bronze medal | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 4 | Squad | 1st | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 4 | |
| as Germany | as Germany | ||||||||||||||||
| 1992 |  Spain | Did not qualify | SeeGermany national under-21 football team | ||||||||||||||
| 1996 | United States | ||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| 2004 |  Greece | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008 |  China | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012 |  United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Brazil | Silver medal | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 6 | Squad | ||||||||
| 2020 | Japan | Group stage | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | Squad | ||||||||
| 2024 |  France | Did not qualify | |||||||||||||||
| 2028 | United States | To be determined | |||||||||||||||
| Total | Silver medal | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 80 | 41 | — | 7/10 | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 40 | 32 | ||
| Overview | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | 4th place |
| Summer Olympic Games | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
DFB Committee:1912 – StockholmOtto Nerz:1928 – Amsterdam &1936 – BerlinSepp Herberger:1952 – Helsinki &1956 – MelbourneJupp Derwall:1972 – MunichErich Ribbeck:1984 – Los AngelesHannes Löhr:1988 – SeoulHorst Hrubesch:2016 – Rio de JaneiroStefan Kuntz:2020 – Tokyo| League competitions | |
|---|---|
| Cup competitions | |
| National teams | |
| By city | |
| Awards | |
| Defunct | |
| |
