Football is the most popularsport in Germany^[1] with 57% of the population declaring interest in watching it.^[2] TheGerman Football Association (German:Deutscher Fußball-Bund orDFB) is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members (roughly eight percent of the population) organized in over 31,000 football clubs. There is aleague system, with theBundesliga,2. Bundesliga and3. Liga on top. The winner of the Bundesliga is crowned theGerman football champion. Additionally, there aredomestic cup competitions, most notably theDFB-Pokal (German Cup) andDFL-Supercup (German Supercup).^[3]

Football in Germany
Olympiastadion inBerlin, used by Hertha BSC, thenational football team of Germany and for the final of theDFB-Pokal
Country	Germany
Governing body	DFB
National team(s)	Germany
First played	1874; 151 years ago (1874)
Clubs	31,000F
National competitions
FIFA World Cup UEFA European Championship UEFA Nations League
Club competitions
List League: Bundesliga Frauen-Bundesliga 2. Bundesliga 3. Liga Regionalliga: Regionalliga Nord Regionalliga Nordost Regionalliga West Regionalliga Südwest Regionalliga Bayern Oberliga Landesliga Verbandsliga Cups: DFB-Pokal DFB-Pokal Frauen DFL-Supercup DFB-Supercup Frauen
International competitions
FIFA Club World Cup UEFA Champions League UEFA Women's Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League UEFA Super Cup

TheGermany national football team has won fourFIFA World Cups (1954,1974,1990,2014), being the joint-second most successful nation in the tournament only surpassed byBrazil. It also holds threeUEFA European Championships (1972,1980,1996), behind onlySpain, and won theFIFA Confederations Cup in2017.

TheGermany women's national football team has won twoFIFA Women's World Cups (2003,2007) and a record eightUEFA European Women's Championships (1989,1991,1995,1997,2001,2005,2009,2013), as well as a gold medal in theSummer Olympics in2016. Germany was the first nation to win both the men's and women's World Cup. No country has more combined men's and women's World Cup championships, and only the United States has won more combined men's and women's regional/continental championships (United States 17 inCONCACAF,Germany 11 inUEFA). Germany was the host of the FIFA World Cup in 1974 (which was during the period they were known asWest Germany), of which they were victorious, and2006, the UEFA European Championship in1988 and2024, and the now-discontinuedFIFA Confederations Cupp in2005. They also hosted the1989,1995 and2001 editions of the UEFA European Women's Championship, as well as the2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The women's league system has theFrauen-Bundesliga,2. Frauen-Bundesliga, andFrauen-Regionalliga. TheDFB-Pokal Frauen is the main national cup competition.

The first football match arguably took place inBraunschweig in 1874. Two schoolteachers,August Hermann andKonrad Koch, initiated the first match after Hermann had obtained a round football from England.^[4] In 1875, Koch published the first German version of therules of football, although Koch's version of the game still closely resembledRugby football.^[5]

TheDresden English Football Club is considered the first modern football club in Germany and probably the first in continental Europe.^[6][7] It was founded in 1874 by Englishmen living and working aroundDresden. In the following 20 years the game achieved a growing popularity. Football clubs were founded inBerlin,Hamburg andStuttgart.^[8]

On 28 January 1900, representatives from 86 football clubs fromGerman-speaking areas in and outside theGerman Empire met in the restaurantMariengarten inLeipzig, founding the DFB. The founding meeting was led by E. J. Kirmse, chairman of theLeipziger Fussball Verband (Leipzig Football Association). Ferdinand Hueppe, representing theDFC Prag, was elected the first president of the DFB.

Already some years before 1900, associations like theBund Deutscher Fussballspieler orDeutscher Fussball und Cricket-Bund were founded, but they were limited to smaller areas of the German Empire, in those cases to areas aroundBerlin. The first championship beyond municipal areas was held in 1898 by theVerband Sueddeutscher Fussball-Vereine (Association of South German football clubs), later affiliated with the DFB.

TheGermany national football team has represented Germany in international football competitions since 1908. It is controlled by theGerman Football Association (DFB), the domestic governing body of Germany's football in Germany.

Germany national football team played its first post-WWI match on 27 June 1920 inZürich against Switzerland, which the Swiss team won 1:4.

Club football was centered in the region ofFranconia during the 1920s as1. FC Nürnberg andSpVgg Fürth dominated the competition.

In 1919, the proletarian Arbeiter-Turnbund was renamedArbeiter-Turn- und Sportbund (ATSB). The name change especially reflected the incorporation of football into the federation, which promoted leftist political views and attempted to break the monopolisation of football under the umbrella of the DFB.

With the rise of Nazism, left-leaning sporting associations such as the ATSB andRotsport were banned. Communist sporting officials such as Ernst Grube, Reichstag deputy and head of Rotsport, were murdered in concentration camps. The DFB integrated asFachamt Reichsfußball into theNational Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise. From 1933 to 1945 the highest level of play in German football was organised in 16Gauligen, whose winners qualified for the finals in the German championship, held at the end of season.

After the war, Germany was occupied in three states. The DFB and its team continued in what was calledWest Germany, while theSaarland andEast Germany fielded separate teams for some years.

TheFIFA World Cup 1974 was staged in West Germany, and both German teams were drawn in the same group in the first round. Meeting on 22 June 1974 in a politically charged match in Hamburg, East Germany beat West Germany 1–0, on a goal byJürgen Sparwasser. Both German teams advanced to the second round anyway. The GDR team was eliminated there, while the DFB team eventually went on to win the tournament.

In the year ofGerman reunification (1990), West Germany secured its third World Cup as West and East Germans celebrated together. The present-day Germany national team is identical to the team representing what was informally called West Germany from 1949 to 1990, as theGerman Football Association was again recognized by FIFA after WW2. Nothing changed in 1990 except enlarged membership due to the access of East German states and players, thus the continuity in the German logo and uniform style as well as references to Germany's four World Cup and three European Cup titles. Thus, all references to a "former West German team" are considered by many as false - according to the DFB, this team still exists, called Germany.

Germany's greatest triumphs since 1990 have been winning the 2014 World Championship in Brazil, and the 1996 European Championship secured in England with players from both the former West, including (Jürgen Klinsmann as captain) and East (Matthias Sammer) as anchor of the defence.

The greatest success for German team in the new millennium has been their winning the2014 FIFA World Cup. They had also finished in second place to Brazil at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan and second place at the 2008 European Championship. There was also a third place at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and in addition another third place at World Cup 2010. Germany's women have achieved even greater success, winning both the2003 FIFA Women's World Cup in the US and the2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China.

The national association is theGerman Football Association (or Deutscher Fußball-Bund) headquartered inFrankfurt.

The DFB was founded in 1900 inLeipzig, by the representatives of 86 clubs. Today, the association has some 31,000 member clubs which field 170,000 teams with over 2 million players: these numbers include 870,000 female members and 8,600 women's teams. With over six million active and passive members, the DFB is the world's largest sports federation.

The Germany national football team has represented Germany in international football competitions since 1908. It is controlled by theGerman Football Association (DFB), the governing body of football in Germany.^[9][10] They have won four FIFA World Cups and have been runners up on four occasions.

Since the1954 World Cup, the Germany national team has been outfitted by the German firmadidas. For home games, the German team wears white jerseys, black shorts and white socks in honour of thePrussian colours. Along with black both red and gold, the other two colours of the German flag, have been included in the strip over the years.^[11][12]

Traditionally, the Germans have worn green jerseys, white shorts and green socks as their alternate uniform. In recent years, however, the Germans have changed their away uniform to grey in 2002–2003, black in 2004 and recently to red. The Germans wore red as their alternate colour in the2006 World Cup.

The Germany national team during the 2006 World Cup was coached by former captain Jürgen Klinsmann. Since 12 July 2006, former Assistant CoachJoachim Löw has coached the national team. Its current captain isBayern Munich goalkeeperManuel Neuer.^[13]

The German women's national football team, also organised by the DFB, are two-time world champions, having won theFIFA Women's World Cup in2003 under past coachTina Theune-Meyer and2007 FIFA Women's World Cup under current coachSilvia Neid. They are the first women's team to have successfully defended a World Cup. They have also won eightUEFA Women's Championships (1989,1991,1995,1997,2001,2005,2009,2013), which includes six consecutive titles. Germany is the only nation to have won both the men's and women's World Cup and European Championship.

The Germany women's team are also the first to have won a World Cup at senior level, either for men or women, without conceding a single goal, having done so in 2007.Nadine Angerer was the goalkeeper who managed this feat.

The national teams play in variousstadiums throughout Germany. The cities ofDüsseldorf,Munich,Dortmund andBerlin are some of the more popular locations.

FIFA World Cup

• Champions (4):1954,1974,1990,2014
• Runners-up (4):1966,1982,1986,2002
• Third place (4):1934,1970,2006,2010
• Fourth place (1):1958

UEFA European Championship

• Champions (3):1972,1980,1996
• Runners-up (3):1976,1992,2008
• Third place (3):1988,2012,2016

Summer Olympic Games

• Gold Medal (1):1976
• Silver Medal (2):1980,2016
• Bronze Medal (3):1964,1972,1988
• Fourth place (1):1952

FIFA Confederations Cup

• Champions (1):2017
• Third place (1):2005

FIFA Women's World Cup

• Champions (2):2003,2007
• Runners-up (1):1995
• Fourth place (2):1991,2015

UEFA Women's Championship

• Champions (8):1989,1991,1995,1997,2001,2005,2009,2013
• Runners-up (1):2022
• Fourth place (1):1993

Summer Olympic Games

• Gold Medal (1):2016
• Bronze Medal (4):2000,2004,2008,2024

UEFA Women's Nations League

• Third place (1):2024

TheGermany national football team has won fourFIFA World Cups and have been the runners up on four other occasions. The four World Cup championships are commemorated by the four stars above the Germany national team logo on the team's jerseys. Germany hosted the World Cups in 1974 and in 2006.

Thewomen's national team has won two FIFA Women's World Cups, commemorated by two stars above the crest on their jerseys. Germany hosted the 2011 Women's World Cup.

TheWankdorf Stadion inBern saw 60,000 people cram inside to watch the Final between West Germany andHungary, a rematch of a first-round game, which Hungary had won 8–3. In response to his team's earlier thrashing at the hands of the Hungarians, legendary West German coachSepp Herberger made key tactical adjustments in his team's lineup prior to the Final. Shortly before the match, it had started raining - in Germany this was dubbed "Fritz-Walter-Wetter" (Fritz Walter Weather) because the German team captainFritz Walter was said to play his best in rainy weather.

The Final saw the legendaryFerenc Puskás playing even though he was not fully fit. Despite this he put his team ahead after only 6 minutes and, withZoltán Czibor adding another two minutes later, it seemed destined that the pre-tournament favourites would take the title.

However, with a goal fromMax Morlock on the tenth minute andHelmut Rahn on the nineteenth before halftime, the tide began to turn in the Germans' favor. The second half saw misses from the Hungarian team as well as a disallowed goal from Puskás with 2 minutes left.

Rahn then scored again to make the score 3–2. As he was scoring the goal, the popular German reporterHerbert Zimmermann gave the most famous German piece of commentary of all time - "Rahn schiesst - TOR!" ("Rahn shoots - GOAL!") - while the Hungarian reporter burst into tears. The game would become known as the "Das Wunder von Bern" (the "Miracle of Bern") in German lore and would be the basis for a successful movie released in 2003.

TheFIFA World Cup 1974 competition was held in West Germany.

Led by legendary libero Franz Beckenbauer, keeperSepp Maier, playmakerPaul Breitner, and strikersUli Hoeneß and "Der Bomber"Gerd Müller (Germany's all-time leading scorer with 68 goals in 62 games), Germany won its second World Cup by defeatingthe Netherlands in the final, 2–1, behind goals by Breitner and Müller. The Final was famous for the battle between Kaiser Franz (Beckenbauer) and King Johann (Cruyff).

The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, theFIFA World Cup, was awarded. The previous trophy, theJules Rimet Trophy, was won for the third time byBrazil in 1970 and awarded permanently to the Brazilians.

In a tournament which included a memorable clash with rival the Netherlands, Germany defeatedArgentina, 1–0, on an Andreas Brehme penalty kick, to win its third World Cup title. With its third title (and three second-place finishes), West Germany became the most successful World Cup nation for four years, until Brazil won their fourth championship in 1994. West German team managerFranz Beckenbauer became the second footballer, after Mario Zagallo of Brazil, to become World Champion as a player (in 1974) and as team manager. In doing so, Beckenbauer also became the first captain of a winning team to later manage a winning squad.

The2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was held in the United States (changed from China due to theSARS epidemic) and won by Germany, who defeatedSweden by 2–1 in extra time. Earlier in the semifinals they had disposed of the defending champions and hosts, theUnited States, 3–0.

Germany hosted the2006 FIFA World Cup. Thirty-two nations competed in the tournament, with matches played in a dozen cities ranging fromHamburg in the north toMunich in the south;Leipzig was the only former East city to hold matches (the matches at Berlin were held at former West Berliner territory). The opening match (Germany vsCosta Rica) was held on 9 June in theAllianz Arena inMunich, with Germany defeating Costa Rica 4–2. The final match took place inOlympiastadion Berlin one month later betweenItaly andFrance. The match was drawn 1–1 at full-time and after extra time.Zinedine Zidane was controversially sent off for headbutting Italy'sMarco Materazzi with 10 minutes to go before the match went into penalties. France lost to Italy in the shootout 5–3.

Germany defeatedPortugal 3–1 in the third place play off at theGottlieb-Daimler-Stadion inStuttgart on 8 July. Miroslav Klose won theGolden Boot for the highest goalscorer of the tournament with 5 goals.Lukas Podolski received theBest Young Player Award.

The2007 FIFA Women's World Cup was held inChina and won by Germany, who became the first women's team to successfully defend the title. In the opening match inShanghai, Germany beatArgentina by a record 11–0.Nadine Angerer, the key goalkeeper, went unbeaten the entire tournament. In the final at Shanghai, Germany beatBrazil, 2–0.

Birgit Prinz became the all-time top World Cup goalscorer with 14 goals total.

Germany finished third for the second consecutive time, behindSpain andthe Netherlands. Germany was the team that scored the most goals in theFIFA World Cup 2010, with three 4-goal hauls. They lost to only two teams,Serbia and Spain.Thomas Müller won the Golden Shoe and Best Young Player award.

The2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was held in Germany. The competition kicked off with two matches on 26 June—the first inSinsheim pittingFrance andNigeria, followed by the official opening match inBerlin featuring Germany andCanada. Germany went on to winGroup A without dropping a point, but lost in the quarterfinals to eventual championJapan.

Germany emerged champions of the 2014 World Cup competition, defeatingArgentina 1–0 thanks to a memorable goal by 22-year-oldMario Götze. In the run-up to the finals, Germany routed Brazil 7–1 in theirsemi-final match, breaking several World Cup records.Miroslav Klose also scored his 16th World Cup goal in this match to become the highest scoring player in World Cup history.

The2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was held in Canada. Germany wonGroup B on goal difference overNorway. In the knockout rounds, they defeatedSweden in the round of 16 andFrance in the quarterfinals. They would ultimately be eliminated for the second straight World Cup by the eventual champion, dropping their semifinal to the United States. In the third-place game, Germany lost toEngland 1–0 on an extra-time penalty.

Germany'sCélia Šašić won the tournament's Golden Boot. Šašić and the USA'sCarli Lloyd had 6 goals and were level on the first tiebreaker of assists, with 1 each; Šašić won on the second tiebreaker of fewer minutes played.

Germany have won three European Championship (1972,1980 and1996). The German team also placed second in the 1976, 1992 and 2008 championships.

In Euro 1972, a young West German team that would go on to win the World Cup two years later captured the first of its three European Cup titles. In the two-leg quarter-finals, Germany first crushed England, 3–1, in Wembley Stadium on 29 April 1972, then closed the door by earning a 0–0 draw in Berlin. The Germans then advanced to the finals in Belgium, where they defeated the host nation, 2–1, in the semifinal and the Soviet Union, 3–0, in the final to capture their first major championship since the Miracle of Bern.

"This is the best team we ever had," stated former coachHelmut Schön in the hour of his triumph. In admiration of the German effort, the FrenchL’Équipe wrote: "Brussels witnessed the rehabilitation of attacking football."The Times noted: "Germany has the most talented football team on the continent."

Only 8 years passed before the Germans secured their next title. After defeatingCzechoslovakia, Netherlands, and Greece in the opening round, Germany got past Belgium, 2–1, in the final through two goals byHorst Hrubesch. This tournament would be the first of many for midfielderLothar Matthäus, who would retire after Euro 2000 as Germany's most capped (experienced) player with 150 national team appearances.

In 1996, Germany won perhaps its most memorable European Championship and its first major championship since reunification. Led by captain Jürgen Klinsmann on offense and Matthias Sammer on defense, the Germans easily defeated the Czech Republic, 2–0, and Russia, 3–0, in the first round. A hard-fought 0–0 draw against Italy completed the first round and saw Germany through to the quarterfinals, where it defeated Croatia 2–1.

This victory set the stage for a classic battle against England, again in Wembley Stadium, in the tournament semifinals. After England jumped in front with a goal in the third minute, the Germans - playing without injured captain Klinsmann - fought back and equalized behind a Stefan Kuntz goal in the 16. minute. Both teams fought through the remainder of regulation and two sudden-death 15-minute overtime periods without scoring, leading to a dramatic penalty kick shootout. In the shootout, German keeperAndreas Köpke held England's sixth attempt, allowing Andreas Möller to stun the Wembley faithful and send Germany through to the final.

In the final, Germany fell behind the same Czech squad it had defeated earlier in the tournament on a controversial penalty kick decision. Nonetheless, the Germans displayed their usual fighting spirit and tied the game on substituteOliver Bierhoff's 73. minute header. Regulation ended in a 1–1 tie. Five minutes into the first sudden-death overtime, it was again Oliver Bierhoff who led the Germans to victory with his historic golden goal. Largely because of his outstanding defensive efforts in the tournament, Matthias Sammer was voted "Europe's Player of the Year" after the finals.

In 2024, Germany hosted theUEFA Euro 2024. It took place in 10 cities,Berlin,Cologne,Dortmund,Düsseldorf,Frankfurt,Gelsenkirchen,Hamburg,Leipzig,Munich andStuttgart. The opening match took place at theAllianz Arena in Munich and the final took place at theOlympiastadion in Berlin.

The country's premier football competition is the 18-teamBundesliga.Bayern Munich has won a record of 31 Bundesliga championships since the formation of the league in 1963.Hamburger SV was the only team to have played in every Bundesliga season until the 2017–18 season when they were relegated for the first time in club history. The second-tier league is known as the2. Bundesliga. A3. Liga, run directly by the DFB instead of the DFB-affiliated German Football League (DFL, from theDeutsche Fußball Liga) which operates the twoBundesligen, was introduced in 2008.

TheGerman Cup (German: "DFB-Pokal",DeutscherFußballBund-Pokal) is a national football tournament held annually since 1952. It is the second most important national title in German football after the Bundesliga championship.

Each football club which participates in the German football league system is entitled to enter the tournament. The clubs of the lower leagues play in regional qualification rounds, with the winners joining the teams of the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga in the main round of the tournament in the following year. Each elimination is determined by a single game held on the ground of one of the two participating teams. Since 1985 the final has been held each year at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Bayern Munich has won the cup a record 20 times.

The Tschammer-Pokal was the predecessor to today's cup competition. It was introduced in 1934–35 and contested until 1944.

Divided afterWorld War II, Germany had two cup competitions withEast German sides competing for theEast German Cup (German: "FDGB-Pokal",FreierDeutscherGewerkschaftsbund-Pokal or Free German Trade Union Federation Cup). Introduced in 1949, the cup was contested annually until 1991 when the tournament was ended in the wake ofGerman re-unification and the merger of the football leagues of the two Germanys.

Under current co-efficient rankings, Germany is guaranteed at least fourUEFA Champions League spots, twoUEFA Europa League spots and oneUEFA Europa Conference League spot. Clubs finishing first, second, third and fourth in the Bundesliga are put into the group stage of the Champions League. The fifth-place finisher enters the group stage of the Europa League, while the team in sixth enters the play-off round of the Europa Conference League. The winners of the DFB-Pokal also enter the group stage of the Europa League. However, if the winner of the Cup has already been granted a place in the Champions League through league standings, then the team placed seventh in the Bundesliga is granted a place in the play-off round of the Europa Conference League.

• 8 UEFA European Cups/Champions Leagues won in 18 finals (fourth)
• 5 UEFA Cup Winners' Cups won in 11 finals (fourth/West German and East German teams)
• 7 UEFA Cups/Europa Leagues won in 15 finals (fourth)
• no UEFA Europa Conference League won
• 2 UEFA Super Cups won in 10 finals (tied for second behind Spain)
• 5 Intercontinental/Club World Cups won in 7 finals (tied for sixth with England)

In total:

• Germany, 27 cups and 61 finals (fourth)

There are many foreign football players in the German professional football leagues. In November 2009, there were 249 foreign players in the1. Bundesliga, or 45% of all players. In the2. Bundesliga, there are 145 foreign players, with a ratio of 31%.^[14] In the3. Liga, the foreigner percentage is 15%.^[15]

Stadiums with a capacity of 60,000 or higher are included.

• Women's football in Germany
• East Germany national football team
• Futsal in Germany
• Football in Berlin
• Football in Munich

• German Football Association(in German)
• Fussball.de(in German)