Germany Olympic football team

The Germany Olympic football team represents Germany in international football competitions in Olympic Games. It has been active since 1908, and first competed in 1912.

Germany
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Nationalelf (national eleven)
DFB-Elf (DFB Eleven)
(Die) Mannschaft (The Team)[1]
AssociationGerman Football Association
(Deutscher Fußball-Bund – DFB)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Most capsChristian Schreier (22)
Top scorerGottfried Fuchs
Frank Mill (10 goals each)
FIFA codeGER
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Austria 5–1 Germany 
(Stockholm, Sweden; 29 June 1912)
Biggest win
 Germany 16–0 Russian Empire 
(Stockholm, Sweden; 1 July 1912)[2]
Biggest defeat
 Austria 5–1 Germany 
(Stockholm, Sweden; 29 June 1912)
Summer Olympic Games
Appearances13[lower-alpha 1] (first in 1912)
Best result Gold Medal (1976)

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 until 1964 East and West competed under the name of "United Team of Germany", although without a combined squad. From 1968 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 the World Cup and European Championship. East Germany won gold in 1976 and silver in 1980.

The rules on amateurism were relaxed in the 1980s, which allowed West Germany some success, notably a bronze medal finish in 1988. Since 1992 the tournament has been competed by under-23 teams, making Germany's Olympic qualification dependent on the results of the under-21 team. Only in 2016 the Germans returned to the Olympic stage, with a silver medal after losing on a penalty shoot-out to hosts Brazil.

History

Pre-World War II (1912–1938)

Germany first sent a football team to the Olympics in 1912, where they were defeated in the first round, losing 5–1 against neighbours Austria. They entered a consolation tournament, however, where they recorded a 16–0 win over Russia, with 10 goals from forward Gottfried 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 against Hungary. After World War I, Germany was banned from the 1920 Olympics, and didn't compete in 1924, returning to action in 1928, when they were eliminated in the quarter finals by eventual winners Uruguay. Uruguay would go on to win the inaugural World Cup two years later.

Football wasn't included in the 1932 Olympics, but returned for the 1936 games, in Berlin. As hosts, and having finished third at the previous World Cup, hopes of a German success were high. It wasn't to be, though: after a 9–0 win against Luxembourg, Germany were eliminated in the quarter finals, losing 2–0 to Norway. The result cost coach Otto Nerz his job, being replaced by his assistant Sepp Herberger.

Division and unity (1948–1980)

Flag of the United Team of Germany 1956–1964

Following World War II, Germany were banned from the 1948 Olympics, but were back in 1952. By this point Germany was divided into three states – East Germany and the Saar protectorate having broken away, with what was left of the country commonly referred to as West 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 in German 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 by Yugoslavia. They lost 2–0 against Sweden in the bronze medal match.

Political tension between East and West Germany increased over time and this had an effect on sports as well. For the 1956 Summer Olympics, the west'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 the United Team of Germany.[3] At the qualifying tournament, West Germany had a wild card and thus qualified.[4] The team lost its initial game against the eventual champions USSR 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 in East Berlin (West Germany won 2–0) and, one week later, in Düsseldorf (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 subsequent European 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 (now Chemnitz) with 3–0, and West Germany won 2–1 in Hanover.[3] Thus, East Germany won the right to go to the European 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 in Warsaw that was won 4–1 by East Germany, thus qualifying the East German team for the Olympics for the first time.[8] At the 1964 Olympic Games, the East German team won the bronze medal.[9] As the East German league was technically amateur, even though the athletes were state-sponsored and trained full-time, the same as all other Eastern Bloc countries, it was able to send an "A" national team.

From 1968, East and West Germany competed separately, but West Germany failed to qualify for the 1968 games, losing against the United Arab Emirates in qualification. The 1972 Olympics were held in Munich, and West Germany qualified automatically as hosts – the amateur team, which contained future World Cup winner Uli Hoeneß and Champions League-winning coach Ottmar 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 the 1976 or 1980 Olympics, losing against Spain and Norway respectively. However, East Germany managed to win the first gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics after beating Poland 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 to Czechoslovakia in the final of the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Olympiaauswahl (1984–1988)

The strict rules on amateurism had favoured Communist 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 the 1984 games: countries could select professional players, but only those who hadn't played in the finals of the World Cup. As such, West Germany selected a team known locally as the Olympiaauswahl (Olympic selection), similar in make-up to the B international team. Initially West Germany failed to qualify for the 1984 games, but were granted a reprieve following the boycott by Eastern Bloc countries. A team including future World Cup winners Andreas Brehme and Guido Buchwald reached the quarter-finals, losing 5–2 against Yugoslavia.

West Germany qualified for the 1988 Olympics, where they achieved their best ever result: third place. Having emerged from a group including China, Sweden and Tunisia, they beat Zambia 4–0 in the quarter finals. After losing on penalties to Brazil in the semi-finals, they beat Italy 3–0 to take the bronze medals: to date, this is the team's only tournament victory against Italy. Three strikers from the Olympic squad – Jürgen Klinsmann, Frank Mill and Karlheinz Riedle – would go on to win the World Cup two years later, along with midfielder Thomas Häßler.

Reunification (1992–present)

A Germany squad at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Germany was reunified in 1990, and the 1992 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 the 2016 Olympic games. The last time an Olympic team was specifically selected was in 1998 (a 1–0 defeat against Portugal). Olympic qualification is now decided by the under-21 team in the UEFA Under-21 Championship.

In the 2016 games held in Rio de Janeiro, Germany won the silver medal after losing to Brazil by 5–4 on penalty shoot-out; this was the first football game played between the two countries since the 2014 FIFA World Cup semifinal in which Germany beat Brazil 7–1. The German team also achieved the largest victory of the tournament, thrashing Fiji by a score of 10–0 in the group stage.

Results and fixtures

Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose   Voided or Postponed   Fixture

2021

17 July 2021 Friendly Germany  1–1  Honduras Wakaya, Japan
17:00 UTC+9
  • Uduokhai 84'
Report (DFB) Stadium: Kimiidera Athletic Stadium
Attendance: 0
22 July 2021 2020 Summer Olympics GS Group D Brazil  4–2  Germany Yokohama, Japan
17:30 UTC+9
Report
Stadium: International Stadium Yokohama
Attendance: 0
Referee: Iván Barton (El Salvador)
28 July 2021 2020 Summer Olympics GS 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)

Players

Current squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Florian Müller (1997-11-13) 13 November 1997 3 0 Germany VfB Stuttgart
2 2DF Benjamin Henrichs (1997-02-23) 23 February 1997 3 0 Germany RB Leipzig
3 2DF David Raum (1998-04-22) 22 April 1998 3 0 Germany Greuther Fürth
4 2DF Felix Uduokhai (1997-09-09) 9 September 1997 3 1 Germany FC Augsburg
5 2DF Amos Pieper (1998-01-17) 17 January 1998 2 0 Germany Arminia Bielefeld
6 3MF Ragnar Ache (1998-07-28) 28 July 1998 3 2 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt
7 4FW Marco Richter (1997-11-24) 24 November 1997 3 0 Germany FC Augsburg
8 3MF Maximilian Arnold* (captain) (1994-05-27) 27 May 1994 2 0 Germany VfL Wolfsburg
9 4FW Cedric Teuchert (1997-01-14) 14 January 1997 3 0 Germany Union Berlin
10 4FW Max Kruse* (1988-03-19) 19 March 1988 3 0 Germany Union Berlin
11 3MF Nadiem Amiri* (1996-10-27) 27 October 1996 3 2 Germany Bayer Leverkusen
12 1GK Svend Brodersen (1997-03-22) 22 March 1997 0 0 Japan Yokohama FC
13 3MF Arne Maier (1999-01-08) 8 January 1999 3 0 Germany Arminia Bielefeld
14 3MF Ismail Jakobs (1999-08-17) 17 August 1999 0 0 Germany 1. FC Köln
15 2DF Jordan Torunarigha (1997-08-07) 7 August 1997 3 0 Germany Hertha BSC
16 2DF Keven Schlotterbeck (1997-04-28) 28 April 1997 3 0 Germany SC Freiburg
17 3MF Anton Stach (1998-11-15) 15 November 1998 2 0 Germany Greuther Fürth
18 3MF Eduard Löwen (1997-01-28) 28 January 1997 3 1 Germany FC Augsburg
22 1GK Luca Plogmann (2000-03-10) 10 March 2000 0 0 Germany Werder Bremen

Overage players in Olympic Games

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)

Competitive record

For East Germany team record, look here.

  Gold medal    Silver medal    Bronze medal    Fourth place  

Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games record Qualifications record
Year Round Position GP W D* L GF GA Squad GP W D L GF GA
France 1900 did not enter did not enter
United States 1904
United Kingdom 1908
Sweden 1912 First round7th3102188 Squad Invited
Belgium 1920 Banned Banned
France 1924
Netherlands 1928 Quarter-final5th210154 Squad Invited
Germany 1936 Quarter-final6th210192 Squad Qualified as hosts
United Kingdom 1948 Banned Banned
Finland 1952 Fourth place4th420288 Squad Invited
Australia 1956[lower-alpha 2] First round9th100112 Squad Automatic qualification 1956
Italy 1960 did not qualify 63039111960
Japan 1964[lower-alpha 3] 2101241964
Mexico 1968 2101121968
West Germany 1972 Second round5th6312178 Squad Qualified as hosts1972
Canada 1976 did not qualify 2011231976
Soviet Union 1980 did not enter did not enter1980
United States 1984 Quarter-final5th4202106 Squad 6312851984
South Korea 1988 Bronze medal3rd6411164 Squad 85211641988
Spain 1992 did not qualify UEFA European Under-21 Championship1992
United States 1996 1996
Australia 2000 2000
Greece 2004 2004
China 2008 2008
United Kingdom 2012 2012
Brazil 2016 Silver medal2nd6330226 Squad 2016
Japan 2020 Group stage9th311167 Squad 2020
France 2024 did not qualify 2024
United States 2028 to be determined to be determined
Australia 2032
Total2 medals10/2737186*1311255 2613493829Total
*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
**Red border indicates tournament was held on home soil.
  1. by Germany national team, East Germany national team, United Team of Germany and Germany national under-23 team
  2. A team from West Germany made up the United Team of Germany
  3. East Germany won the play-off and represented the United Team of Germany

Honours

Major competitions

Summer Olympic Games[lower-alpha 1]

Overview
Event 1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place
Summer Olympic Games 1 2 3 1
Total 1 2 3 1

Coaching history

See also

Notes

    References

    1. In Germany, the team is typically referred to as Die Nationalmannschaft (the national team), DFB-Elf (DFB eleven), DFB-Auswahl (DFB selection) or Nationalelf (national eleven). Whereas in foreign media, they are regularly described as (Die) Mannschaft (literally meaning the team).
    2. "All matches of The National Team in 1912". DFB. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
    3. Braun, Jutta; Wiese, René (18 September 2009). "Deutsch-deutsche Geisterspiele" [All-German ghost games]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 4 November 2018.
    4. Gerrard, Russell (16 April 2015). "Football Qualifying Tournament". Recreational Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
    5. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Football at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Football". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
    6. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Football at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Football Round One". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
    7. Gerrard, Russell (5 April 2018). "Football Qualifying Tournament". Recreational Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
    8. Gerrard, Russell (5 April 2018). "Football Qualifying Tournament". Recreational Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
    9. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Football at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
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