East Germany national under-21 football team

The East Germany national football team was the national football team of the German Democratic Republic. Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, East Germany's Under-21 team was formed. The team played until 1990, until East Germany ceased to be a separate country after the reunification of Germany.

East Germany

Nickname(s)	—
Association	German Football Association of the GDR
Head coach	Walter Fritzsch
Most caps	Udo Schmuck (42)
Top scorer	?
First colours Second colours
First international
U-23: Bulgaria 3–2 East Germany (Stara Zagora, Bulgaria; June 7, 1967) U-21: Turkey 1–1 East Germany (Bursa, Turkey; November 16, 1976) Last International U-23: France 1–2 East Germany (Poitiers, France; October 11, 1975) U-21: Austria 0–1 East Germany (Stockerau, Austria; November 14, 1989)
Biggest win
U-23: East Germany 6–0 Albania (Potsdam, East Germany; November 3, 1973) U-21: Austria 1–6 East Germany (Wien, Austria; September 24, 1977)
Biggest defeat
U-23: Hungary 4–0 East Germany (Budapest, Hungary; May 28, 1974) U-21: East Germany 0–4 Norway (Rostock, East Germany; October 29, 1980)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	2 (first in 1978)
Best result	Runners-up (1978 & 1980)

The team competed in the UEFA U-21 Championship. Since the under-21 competition rules state that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. East Germany's record for the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown.

Before the 1990 merge, the East-German U-21 team was a little more successful than its Western counterpart, finishing second on three occasions. The West German under-21s were runners-up once and quarter-finalists twice. 'East' failed to qualify seven times, whilst 'West' failed four times and didn't enter on three occasions. The trainer of the under team was Walter Fritzsch, from 1978 until 1991.