Which national team beat Hungary 4-2 to win the 1938 FIFA World Cup?
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The Hungary national football team () represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation.

Hungary has a respectable football history, having won three Olympic titles, finishing runners-up in the 1938 and 1954 FIFA World Cups, and third in the 1964 UEFA European Football Championship. Hungary revolutionised the sport in the 1950s, laying the tactical fundamentals of Total Football and dominating international football with the remarkable Golden Team which included legend Ferenc Puskás, top goalscorer of the 20th century,   to whom FIFA dedicated  its newest award, the Puskás Award. The side of that era has the second all-time highest Football Elo Ranking in the world, with 2166 in 1954, and one of the longest undefeated runs in football history, remaining unbeaten in 31 games, spanning over 4 years and including matches such as the Match of the Century.

Despite these achievements, the Hungarian team faced a severe drought starting from their elimination at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, failing to qualify to a major tournament for 30 years and reaching their lowest FIFA ranking (87) in 1996 as well as finishing sixth in their group of UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifiers, before qualifying to UEFA Euro 2016 where they made their best European Championship performance in over 40 years by reaching the Round of 16.

History

Although Austria and Hungary were constituent countries of the dual monarchy known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they formed separate football associations and teams around the start of the 20th century.

1910s

The national side first appeared at the Summer Olympic Games in 1912 in Stockholm, Sweden. The team had to ask for donations in order to be able to go to the games. Hungary lost 7-0 to England and thus were eliminated.
After the Olympic Games Hungary played two matches against Russia in Moscow. The first match was won 9–0 and the second 12–0, which is still a record for the national side. The top scorer of the two matches was Imre Schlosser who scored seven goals. The beginning of World War I had a deep impact on the thriving Hungarian football. Both the country and the clubs were suffering financial problems. During World War I Hungary played Austria 16 times. In 1919 England claimed the exclusion of the Central Powers (including Hungary) from FIFA. When FIFA refused England's plea, the British (English, Scottish, and Welsh) and Irish associations decided to resign from FIFA.

1920s

Budapest was denied the opportunity to host the 1920 Summer Olympics, which were held in Belgium. The countries of the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria) were excluded from the Olympics. During this period the Fogl brothers (József and Károly Fogl) played in the national team. The formation the Hungarians used was 2–3–5 which was unique at that time. The national team played at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. In the first match Hungary beat Poland but in the second round they lost to Egypt. As a consequence, both the head coach and the head of the Hungarian Football Federation resigned.

Between 1927 and 1930 Hungary participated in the Europa Cup, which is considered to be the first international tournament, with Austria, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Russia, and Yugoslavia. In the final Hungary lost to Russia.
On 12 June 1927 Hungary beat France by 13–1, which is still a record. József Takács scored six goals.

1930s

The first World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930,  but Hungary were not invited and did not take part in the tournament; there were no qualification matches. Hungary first appeared in the 1934 FIFA World Cup in Italy.  Hungary's first World Cup match was against Egypt on 27 May 1934; Hungary won 4–2. The goals were scored by Teleki, Toldi (2) and Vincze.  In the quarter-finals Hungary faced neighbouring arch-rivals Austria but lost 2–1. The only Hungarian goal was scored by Sárosi. 

Hungary entered the 1936 Olympics. In the first round they were eliminated by Poland 0–3.

The 1938 FIFA World Cup was held in France.  The first match was played against Dutch East Indies and Hungary won 6–0. Sárosi and Zsengellér each scored twice while Kohut and Toldi also scored a goal each.  In the quarter-finals Hungary beat Switzerland 2–0, with goals by Sárosi and Zsengellér.  In the semi-final at the Parc des Princes in Paris, Hungary beat Sweden 5–1, with goals by Sas and Sárosi and a hat-trick by Zsengellér.  In the final Hungary faced Italy at the Stade Olympique de Colombes in Paris, but lost 4–2. The Hungarian goals were scored by Titkos and Sárosi. 

1950s

This Hungarian team was best known as one of the most formidable and influential sides in football history, which revolutionised the play of the game. Centred around the dynamic and potent quartet of strikers Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, attacking half-back József Bozsik and withdrawn striker Nándor Hidegkuti, the Aranycsapat ("Golden Team") of the "Magnificent Magyars" captivated the football world with an exciting brand of play with innovative tactical nuances. Excluding the 1954 World Cup Final, they achieved a remarkable record of 43 victories, 6 draws, and no defeats from 14 May 1950 until they lost 3–1 to Turkey on 19 February 1956.

In the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Hungary beat Romania 2–1 with a goal each from Czibor and Kocsis in the Preliminary Round. In the first round Hungary beat Italy 3–0. In the quarter-finals Hungary beat Turkey 7–1. In the semi-finals Hungary faced Sweden, the 1948 Olympics champions and won 6–0. In the final Hungary beat Yugoslavia 2–0 with a goal each from Puskás and Czibor and thus won the Olympic title for the first time.

On 25 November 1953 England played Hungary at Wembley Stadium, London, England, which would later be dubbed "the match of the century". The English team were unbeaten for 90 years at home. In front of 105,000 spectators Nándor Hidegkuti scored the first Hungarian goal in the first minute. At half-time the score was 4–2 to Hungary. The Hungarian goals were scored by Nándor Hidegkúti (1st, 22nd) and Ferenc Puskás (25th, 29th). In the second half the Hungarians scored twice more (Hidegkúti and József Bozsik). The final score was 6–3.

On 23 May 1954 the Hungarian national team beat England 7–1 (which remains their worst defeat to date) at the Puskás Ferenc Stadium.  At that time in Hungary there was a saying about the match: Az angolok egy hétre jöttek és 7:1-re mentek, or in English: "The English came for one week (seven days) and went home with 7:1."

The 1954 FIFA World Cup was held in Switzerland.  The first match was played against South Korea and Hungary won by 9–0 at the Hardturm in Zurich.  In the second group match Hungary played against West Germany and won the match by 8–3 at the St. Jakob Stadium in Basel.  In the quarter-finals Hungary beat Brazil 4–2 at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern.  In the semi-finals Hungary played with the two-times World Cup winner Uruguay in Lausanne. Hungary won by 4–2 after extra time.  In the final Hungary faced with West Germany again. Although Hungary won the group match against the Germans, they lost 3–2 in the final in Bern at the Wankdorf Stadium.  The Golden Team, built around the legendary Ferenc Puskás, led early 2–0, but ended up 2–3 in a game the Germans subsequently christened "The Miracle of Bern".

In 2010 Journalist Erik Eggers speculates in a study that the German team may have used drugs to beat the Hungarian team, who were considered invincible at that time.   

Although Hungary qualified as the defending champions for the 1956 Olympics, they did not enter the tournament.

Hungary qualified for the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden.  Hungary played their first match against Wales at the Jarnvallen stadium in Sandviken and the final result was 1–1.  The second group match was played against the host country, Sweden. Hungary lost 2–1 in the Råsunda Stadium, Solna.  Although Hungary won their last group match against Mexico at the Jarnvallen stadium in Sandvinken,  they were eliminated from the World Cup after losing a play-off to Wales, who they had drawn level with on points. The Welsh had drawn all their group matches and then beat the once-mighty Hungarians in a play-off match to decide which nation should follow Sweden into the knock-out stage. Had goal difference been the decider, Hungary would have gone through, as the Hungarians had a goal tally of 6–3 compared to 2–2 for Wales. As it was, Wales instead met Brazil in the quarter-finals and were the recipient of young Pelé´s first World Cup goal.

1960s

In 1960 Hungary again entered the Olympics held in Italy and was drawn into Group D with France, Peru and India. Hungary finished top of the group with all wins and a goal difference of +12. In the Semi-finals they lost to Denmark 0 – 2, but beat Italy in the Bronze medal match 2 – 1 thanks to a goal each from Orosz and Dunai and thus won a Bronze medal.

Hungary qualified for the 1962 FIFA World Cup which was held in Chile.  On 31 May 1962 in the first group match Hungary beat England by 2–1 thanks to the goals of Tichy and Albert at the El Teniente stadium in Rancagua in front of 7938 spectators.  The second match on 3 June 1962 was even more convincing against the Bulgarian national side. The match was won by 6–1 in Rancagua.  The last group match was against Argentina on 6 June 1962 and the final result was a goalless draw in front of 7945 spectators in Rancagua.  Hungary qualified for the quarter-finals by gaining 5 points and winning the group. In the quarter-finals of the World Cup Hungary was eliminated by Czechoslovakia by 1–0 at the El Teniente stadium in Rancagua in front of 11690 spectators. 

In 1964 Hungary again qualified for the 1964 Olympics held in Tokyo and was drawn into Group B with defending champions Yugoslavia, Morocco and North Korea, who withdrew. In their first match against Morocco Hungary won 6 – 0 with all 6 goals scored by Ferenc Bene. In their second match Hungary won narrowly with a 6 – 5 against Yugoslavia and advanced into the next round along with runners-up Yugoslavia. In the Quarter-finals Hungary beat Romania 2 – 0 with goals from Csernai. In the Semi-finals Hungary beat United Arab Republic (Egypt) 6 – 0 with 4 goals from Bene and 2 from Komora. In the finals Hungary beat Czechoslovakia 2 – 1 thanks from an own goal by Weiss and a goal by Bene, thus won their second gold medal.

Hungary qualified for the 1964 European Nations' Cup which was organised in Spain. Hungary played against Spain in the semi-finals of the tournament. The final result was 2–1 after extra time. The only Hungarian goal was scored by Ferenc Bene. In the third place play-off Hungary beat Denmark 3–1 after extra time. Dezső Novák scored twice in the extra time. 

Hungary also managed to qualify for the 1966 FIFA World Cup which was held in the home of football, England.  On 13 July 1966 Hungary lost their first group match against Eusébio's Portugal by 3–1 at the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester.  Two days later in the second group match Hungary beat Brazil thanks to the goals of Bene, Farkas and Mészöly in the Goodison Park in Liverpool.  In the last round of the group matches on 20 July 1966 Hungary beat Bulgaria by 3–1.  The goals were scored by Mészöly and Bene. Hungary finished second in the group and qualified for the quarter finals. In the quarter-finals Hungary were eliminated by the Soviet Union on 23 July 1966 by 2–1 at the Roker Park in Sunderland in front of 26844 spectators. 

In 1968 Olympics Hungary qualified as defending champions to defend their title and was drawn into Group C with Israel, Ghana and El Salvador. Hungary finished top and advanced into the next round with Israel. In Quarter-finals Hungary beat Guatemala narrowly with 1 – 0 from a goal by Szűcs. In the Semi-finals they beat Japan 5 – 0 thanks to Szűcs with 3 goals and 2 from Novák. In the finals they beat Bulgaria 4 – 1 and won their third title, being the most successful team at the Olympics in football (Great Britain also won 3 titles but their first title is in 1904, and football became an official event in 1908).

Flórián Albert was named European Footballer of the Year in 1967. He was the most successful footballer of Ferencváros since the formation of the club, scoring 255 goals in 351 matches from 1958 to 1974.

1970s

Hungary came back again as long-time defending champions in the 1972 Olympics in Munich and was drawn into Group C with Denmark, Iran and Brazil. They finished top and advanced into the next round with Denmark. In their Second group round they were drawn into Group 1 with East Germany, West Germany and Mexico. They again finished top undefeated and advanced into the finals with East Germany. In the finals they faced Poland and lost 1 – 2. The only Hungarian goal was scored by Varady.

Hungary qualified for the finals of the UEFA Euro 1972 which was held in Belgium. In the semi-finals Hungary played with the Soviet Union and lost 1–0. In the third place play-off Hungary lost to Belgium 2–1. The only Hungarian goal was scored by Lajos Kű. Hungary finished fourth in the 1972 UEFA Euro. 

Hungary participated in the 1978 FIFA World Cup which was held in Argentina. On 2 June 1978 at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires Hungary played with Argentina. Although Károly Csapó scored an early goal, the home side won the match by 2–1. Hungary played their second group match against Italy and the Azzurri won by 3–1. Hungary's third match was played against Michel Platini's France and Hungary lost 3–1 which resulted the farewell of the national side. 

1980s

During the 1980s Hungary qualified for the FIFA World Cup twice. The first group match of the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain  was played against El Salvador and Hungary won by 10–1 at Estadio Nuevo in Elche.  The goals were scored by Nyilasi (2), Pölöskei, Fazekas (2), Tóth, Kiss (3) and Szentes. In spite of the big victory, Hungary lost to 4–1 to Maradona's Argentina in the second match of the group stages. Maradona scored twice, while the only Hungarian goal was scored by Pölöskei at the Estadio José Rico Pérez in Alicante.  Although Hungary drew in the last match against Belgium,  they were eliminated from the World Cup. However, Hungary was leading in the first half thanks to a goal by Varga. 
Hungary's last World Cup appearance was the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.  In the first match of the group Hungary lost 6–0 to the Soviet Union.  Football experts date the crisis of the Hungarian football from this match. Although Hungary won their second match against Canada by 2–0  (the goals were scored by Esterházy and Détári), they lost to Platini's France 3–0 in the last group match.  This has been the last World Cup appearance of the Hungarian national team.

1990s

During the 1990s Hungary were not able to qualify for any international tournaments except for the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, the United States. The 1980s were considered as the most bitter years of the Hungarian football, but the 1990s proved to be the worst. In 1996 Hungary reached its lowest FIFA ranking (87). The fall of the Communist regime caused financial problems to many Hungarian clubs. Formerly successful clubs like Ferencváros and Újpest faced financial crisis and bankruptcy. This had a profound effect on the Hungarian national team as well since earlier the biggest clubs from Budapest (Ferencváros, Újpest, Honvéd and MTK) produced the players for the national side. Another important reason for the decline can be attributed to the Bosman ruling. Since the Hungarian clubs lost the financial aid from the state in the early 1990s, they were not able to compete with the richer Western European clubs. The crisis in the Hungarian club football affected the performance of the national team.
The Hungarian legend Puskás was appointed as the head coach of the national side in 1993 in order to bring back earlier success. However, he led the team during only four matches. Consequently, the coaching of the former Honvéd and Real Madrid legend could not change anything. The only remarkable success in the 1990s was the qualification of the Hungarian national team for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Dunai's team played its first group match against Nigeria and lost to 1–0 in Orlando, in the United States.  In the second group match Hungary played with Brazil and lost to 3–1.  The only Hungarian goal was scored by Madar. The last group match was played against Japan. Hungary lost to 3–2.  The Hungarian goals were scored by Madar and Sándor. Although the Olympic qualification of the young team was a big surprise and people thought that Hungary would have a better future in football history, the team never reached any similar success later.
In the 1990s Hungary were the closest to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup but they were eliminated in the play-offs by FR Yugoslavia. 

2000s

Hungary were unable to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2000, 2004, 2008 and for FIFA World Cup 2002, 2006, and 2010. Moreover, during the UEFA Euro 2008 qualification Hungary finished sixth in their group reaching their nadir in their football history. They even lost to Malta which resulted the resignation of Bozsik. Couple of days later Várhidi was appointed who was famous for his appearances in the Sport 1, Hungarian sport television, and analysing the Italian Serie A clubs. He proved his talent by beating the 2006 FIFA World Champions Italy by 3–1 at the Ferenc Puskás Stadium in a friendly tie. However, neither Bozsik nor Várhidi could do well in the official matches which resulted their removal. The Hungarian Football Federation even tried out foreign coaches. Both Matthäus  and Koeman  failed to qualify for any tournaments.

2010s

Under 20's coach Egervári was appointed as head coach for the senior side ahead of Euro 2012 qualifying, in which Hungary were drawn against Finland, Moldova, the Netherlands, San Marino and Sweden.  Hungary won six, drew one, and lost three games as they finished the group in third place with 19 points. During the qualification process, in September 2011, Hungary reached 27th in the FIFA ranking, their highest position to date.  At the end of the year the national team played Liechtenstein as a commemoration of the recently deceased Albert,  the only Hungarian football player to win the  Ballon d'Or.

 Hungary were drawn in Group D in their FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifying, along with the Netherlands, Turkey, Romania, Estonia and Andorra. They had 14 points going into the penultimate round of games, but suffered a joint national record defeat 8–1 to the Netherlands, which resulted in the resignation of head coach Egervári.    For their final group game, a 2–0 win against Andorra, Hungary were led by caretaker manager József Csábi.   They finished in third place in the group, on seventeen points, missing out on qualification. After the match, striker Ádám Szalai gave a press conference delivering a poignant scathing monologue about his perception of "continuously lying to our supporters" when it came to suggesting that the team had a chance against current leading teams of the world.  Similar sentiments have been expressed before by midfielder Szabolcs Huszti.  During this period, a film crew began filming the team during both their preparations and matches; the film, Még 50 perc was eventually released in 2016 just before the European Championships. 

Pintér was appointed as the head coach of the national team in December 2013.  Some had seen this decision as controversial, given Pintér's low popularity with fans and players alike.  The team played their first game at the newly constructed Groupama Arena on 7 September 2014, a 2–1 defeat to Northern Ireland in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.  Pintér was subsequently dismissed, with Dárdai appointed as a temporary replacement for three matches.   He turned down an offer to manage the team on a permanent basis,  but was kept on.  Subsequently Pál Dardai was at Hertha BSC, where he had been passing youth coach, was promoted to manager of the first team, but he remained still coach. In the summer of 2015 he resigned as coach of the Hungarian national team to devote himself to his work as manager of Hertha BSC. He was eventually replaced by the German sports director of the Hungarian Football Association, Storck, in July 2015.  Storck exercised incidentally continue from the post of Sports Director of the Association. On 15 November 2015, Storck-led Hungary qualified for the UEFA Euro 2016 after 44 years when Hungary was qualified for the UEFA Euro 1972.  Hungary beat Norway in the first leg of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying play-offs 1–0. The only goal was scored by Kleinheisler.  On the return match, Hungary beat Norway 2–1 and qualified for the UEFA Euro 2016 finals.  After beating Austria 2-0 and drawing with Iceland, Hungary played an exciting 3-3 draw against eventual Euro champions Portugal. Hereupon, Hungary managed to qualify for the Round of 16 with a game to spare, marking their best Euro or World Cup performance in over 40 years.

Rivalry 

Hungary has a long-standing rivalry with their neighbours, Romania. The rivalry between the two nations dates back from the Treaty of Trianon, where Hungary lost Transylvania in favor of Romania, after World War I. Every time the two sides met, they threw flares and matches between the two sides usually end in a fight between Hungarian and Romanian supporters, however, recently also before the matches conflicts have emerged outside the stadium. These was seen as they shared the same group in 2014 World Cup qualifying and UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.

The match-up between Austria and Hungary is the second most-played international in football (only Argentina vs Uruguay met each other in more matches), although the two teams have only met each other 3 times since 2000.

Home stadium

The home stadium of the Hungarian national side is the Ferenc Puskás Stadium (also called Népstadion). The stadium was built between 1948 and 1953 using a large number of volunteers, including soldiers. The stadium was opened in 1953. On 23 May 1954 England lost to 7–1 against the Hungarian national team.
The capacity of the stadium is 35,100 (approved by the UEFA) though its original capacity exceeded the 100,000. The stadium also hosted one of the Derbies of Budapest, including Ferencváros, Újpest, MTK, Honvéd or Vasas. The stadium is going to be demolished after the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Finland in order to replace the old Ferenc Puskás stadium with a new multi-purpose stadium.

On 29 May 1974, Hungary host Yugoslavia at the Stadion Sóstói in Székesfehérvár in front of 16,000 spectators. The final result was 3–2 to Hungary.

On 25 April 2004, Hungary host Japan at the ZTE Arena in front of 7,000 spectators. This was the first national team match in Zalaegerszeg. The final result was 3–2 to Hungary. In the 53rd minute Kuttor scored for Hungary. In the 67th minute Juhász scored and Hungary was winning by 2–0, but in the 75th and 77th minutes Japan equalised. In the last minute Huszti scored a penalty kick and Hungary won the match by 3–2.

On 1 May 2014, Debrecen's Nagyerdei Stadion was opened.  On 22 May 2014, the first match of the Hungarian national football team was played at the stadium in front of 20,000 spectators which ended with a 2–2 draw against Denmark national football team. The first goal was scored by the former Debrecen legend Dzsudzsák. Eriksen equalised the score in the 56th minute. The debutant Varga took the lead in the 69th minute again, but the score was equalised by Schöne in the 72nd minute.   

On 10 August 2014, Ferencváros's Groupama Arena was opened which will host the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches. 

 PuskasFerencStadium-field2.JPG|Ferenc Puskás Stadium
 Stade Budapest 08667.jpg|Groupama Arena
 Nagyerdei stadium.jpg|Nagyerdei Stadion
 ETO Park, Hungary-Bulgaria.jpg|ETO Park

Colours and kits

Hungary's traditional home colurs are red shirts, white shorts and green socks. The combination of the colours represent the Hungarian flag. However, the team sometimes wears all white kit even at home. The coat of arms are worn on the left side of the shirt, where the human heart can be found. When the Hungarian players listen to the national anthem of Hungary, Himnusz, they put their arms on to their chest. The national anthem is considered beautiful by Hungarians but many football fans criticize it because of its melancholy which can have an effect on the players. The actual coat of arms could have always been found on the shirt of the national team in contrast with many other national teams which wear the logo of the football federation. Adidas is currently the main designer of the Hungary kits.

Evolution of the kits

Current kits (as of 2016)

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

2015

2016

2017

Squad

Current squad

The following 23 players are in the official squad for the UEFA Euro 2016 and for the Friendly match against Germany on 4 June 2016.
Caps and goals up to 26 June 2016 after the match against Belgium.

 

Recent call-ups

The following players have been selected by Hungary in the past 12 months.

INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.
RET Retired from international football.

Coaching staff

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

 Champions   Runners-up   Third Place   Fourth Place  

UEFA European Championship

 Champions   Runners-up   Third Place   Fourth Place  

Summer Olympics

The first 3 Olympic football events were only unofficial tournaments, with a few nations represented by a club team. Starting from 1908, the Olympic football tournament became an official event, with representation of the official national football teams.

After the Olympics 1988, the football event was changed into a tournament, with participation only for the Under-23 national teams.

 Gold medal    Silver medal    Bronze medal  

Honours

International titles

; FIFA World Cup
* Runner-up (2): 1938, 1954
;  UEFA European Championship
* Third place (1): 1964
* Fourth Place(1): 1972
;  Olympic football tournament
* Gold Medal (3):  1952,  1964,  1968
* Silver Medal (1):  1972
* Bronze Medal (1):  1960
* Central European International Cup
*  Winner (1): 1948–53
* Runners-up (1): 1955 – 60
* Third Place (2): 1931 – 32, 1933 – 35
*Nasazzi's Baton:
** Winners (6): 1941, 1943, 1983, 1984, 2007 and 2008
** Runners-up (5): 1940, 1941, 1943, 1983, 2007

Friendly titles

* Copa Kirin:
** Winners (1): 1993
* International Tournaments in Algeria: 
** Winners (1): 1967
* Nehru Cup:
** Winners (2): 1983, 1989
** Runners-up (1):  1991
* Triangular de Oro 1980:
** Winners (1): 1980
* Balkan Cup:
** Winners (2): 1947, 1948

Records

The match between Austria and Hungary in Vienna in 1902 was the first international match played between two non-British European countries.

Hungary was the first team from outside the United Kingdom and Ireland to beat England at home, famously winning 6–3 at Wembley on 25 November 1953. Six months later they beat England 7–1 in 1954, this time in Budapest. This still ranks as England's record defeat.

The trainer responsible for gelling together the elements of the Hungarian side on the 1950s, Gusztáv Sebes holds the highest ratio of victories per game past 30 matches with 72.06% (49 wins, 12, draws, 7 defeats). Brazil great Vicente Feola (1955–1966) owns the second highest with 71.88% (46 wins, 12 draws, 6 defeats).

Hungary owns the records for quality in offensive throughput in a single World Cup finals competition. Football historians often relate to the 27 goals (5.4 gls / game) and a goal differential of +17 as records likely never to be passed in the more preventive modern game.
Sándor Kocsis, along with his record 7 hat tricks in the international game, owns the single World Cup finals competition's record with 2.2 goals/match. In 1953, they also became Central European Champions

Hungary had the distinction of setting the then highest Elo football rating of 2166 in 1954, a record that stood for 60 years until it was bettered by Germany in the 2014 World Cup. It was set after Hungary's 4–2 victory over Uruguay in the 1954 World Cup semi-final on 30 June 1954, the final match in their 31-game unbeaten streak (see below). They also own the third highest rating of 2156, set in 1956. Brazil owns the fourth highest with 2153, and Spain with 2142 is the fifth.

Ferenc Puskás was recognized to be the top scorer of the 20th century, by the IFFHS.

Top international goalscorers of the 20th century

Two of the top six international goalscorers of the 20th century were Hungarian, both of them from the Golden Team of the 1950s. 

Undefeated run

Hungary, with its master narrative of being undefeated in the 1950s also broke one of football's timeless benchmarks being first to eclipse an 1888 Scotland national football team record of being undefeated in 22 consecutive matches. They bettered the old mark by nine additional games to 31 (or 32 counting the match against East Germany, that is not considered an official international for that team). Hungary holds the third longest consecutive run of matches unbeaten with 31 international games between 14 May 1950 and 4 July 1954, when they lost the World Cup final to Germany. 

Spain and Brazil hold the longest string of 35 unbeaten matches.

* = not official

Player history

Top appearances

Bold indicates players who are still active. As of 26 June 2016.

Top goalscorers

Head coaches

All-time team record

The following table shows Hungary's all-time international record, correct as of 26 June 2016.

FIFA ranking

Last updated 14 July 2016

;Notes
*Note 1: from January 1999 the FIFA changed the system of the ranking calculation
*Note 2: from July 2006 the FIFA changed the system of the ranking calculation The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third staging of the World Cup, and was held in France from 4 to 19 June 1938. Italy retained the championship (and thus became the only team to have won two FIFA World Cups under the same coach, Vittorio Pozzo), beating Hungary 4–2 in the final.

Host selection 

France was chosen as hosts by FIFA in Berlin on August 13, 1936. France defeated Argentina and Germany in the first round of voting. The decision caused outrage in South America where it was believed that the venue would alternate between the two continents; instead, it was the second tournament in a row to be played in Europe. This was the last World Cup to be staged before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Qualification 

Because of anger over the decision to hold a second successive World Cup in Europe, neither Uruguay nor Argentina entered the competition, while Spain became the first country to be prevented from competing because of it being at war.

It was the first time that the hosts (France) and the title holders (Italy) qualified automatically. Title holders were given an automatic entry into the World Cup until 2006 when this was abolished.

Of the 14 remaining places, eleven were allocated to Europe, two to the Americas, and one to Asia. As a result, only three non-European nations took part: Brazil, Cuba and the Dutch East Indies. This is the smallest ever number of teams from outside the host continent to compete at a FIFA World Cup.

Austria qualified for the World Cup, but after qualification was complete, the Anschluss united Austria with Germany. Austria subsequently withdrew from the tournament, with some Austrian players joining the German squad (not including Austrian star player Matthias Sindelar, who refused to play for the unified team).  Latvia was the runner-up in Austria's qualification group, but was not invited to participate; instead Austria's place remained empty, and Sweden, which would have been Austria's initial opponent, progressed directly to the second-round by default.

This tournament saw the first, and  the only, participation in a World Cup tournament from Cuba and the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). It also saw the World Cup debuts of Poland and Norway. Poland and the Netherlands would not reappear at a finals tournament until 1974, while Norway would not qualify for another World Cup finals until 1994. A unified Germany team would not appear again until 1994.

Format 

The knockout format from 1934 was retained. If a match was tied after 90 minutes, then 30 minutes of extra time were played. If the score was still tied after extra time, the match would be replayed. This was the last of the two World Cup tournaments that used a straight knockout format.

Summary 

Germany, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Cuba and Brazil were seeded for draw taking place in Paris, on 5 March 1938. 

Five of the seven first round matches required extra time to break the deadlock; two games still went to a replay. In one replay, Cuba advanced to the next round at the expense of Romania. In the other replay, Germany, which had led 1–0 in the first game against Switzerland, led 2–0 but eventually was beaten 2–4. This loss, which took place in front of a hostile, bottle-throwing crowd in Paris, was blamed by German coach Sepp Herberger on a defeatist attitude from the five Austrian players he had been forced to include; a German journalist later commented that "Germans and Austrians prefer to play against each other even when they're in the same team".  This remains, , the only time in World Cup history in which Germany failed to advance to the final eight (they did not enter in 1930 and had been re-admitted only after the 1950 WC).

Sweden advanced directly to the quarter-finals as a result of Austria's withdrawal, and they proceeded to beat Cuba 8–0. The hosts, France, were beaten by the holders, Italy, and Switzerland were seen off by Hungary. Czechoslovakia took Brazil to extra time in a notoriously feisty match in Bordeaux before succumbing in a replay; the South Americans proved too strong for the depleted Czechoslovak side (both Oldřich Nejedlý and František Plánička had suffered broken bones in the first game) and won 2–1. This was the last ever match to be replayed in a World Cup, with all winners of replay matches in 1938 having been eliminated in the next round.

Hungary destroyed Sweden in one of the semi-finals 5–1, while Italy and Brazil had the first of their many important World Cup clashes in the other. The Brazilians rested their star player Leônidas confident that they would qualify for the final, but the Italians won 2–1. Brazil topped Sweden 4–2 for third place.

Rumour has it, before the finals Benito Mussolini was to have sent a telegram to the team, saying "Vincere o morire!" (literally translated as "Win or die!"). This should not have been meant as a literal threat, but instead just an encouragement to win. However, no record remains of such a telegram, and World Cup player Pietro Rava said, when interviewed, "No, no, no, that's not true. He sent a telegram wishing us well, but no never 'win or die'." 

The final itself took place at the Stade Olympique de Colombes in Paris. Vittorio Pozzo's Italian side took the lead early, but Hungary equalised within two minutes. The Italians took the lead again shortly after, and by the end of the first half were leading the Hungarians 3–1. Hungary never really got back into the game. With the final score favouring the Italians 4–2, Italy became the first team to successfully defend the title and were once more crowned World Cup winners.

Because of World War II, the World Cup would not be held for another 12 years, until 1950. As a result, Italy were the reigning World Cup holders for a record 16 years, from 1934 to 1950. The Italian Vice-President of FIFA, Dr. Ottorino Barassi, hid the trophy in a shoe-box under his bed throughout the Second World War and thus saved it from falling into the hands of occupying troops. 

Venues 

Ten cities were planned to host the tournament:

Of these, all but Lyon ultimately hosted matches. Lyon did not due to Austria's withdrawal.

Squads 

For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1938 FIFA World Cup squads.

Results 

First round 

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Replays 

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Quarter-finals 

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Replay 

Semi-finals 

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Match for third place 

Final 

Goalscorers 

With seven goals, Leônidas is the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 84 goals were scored by 42 different players, with two of them credited as own goals.

;7 goals
*  Leônidas

;5 goals
*  György Sárosi
*  Gyula Zsengellér
*  Silvio Piola

;4 goals
*  Gino Colaussi
*  Ernest Wilimowski

;3 goals

*  Perácio
*  Romeu
*  Héctor Socorro

*  Harry Andersson
*  Arne Nyberg

*  Gustav Wetterström
*  André Abegglen

;2 goals

*  Oldřich Nejedlý

*  Jean Nicolas
*  Pál Titkos

*  Ștefan Dobay

;1 goal

*  Henri Isemborghs
*  Roberto
*  Tomás Fernández
*  José Magriñá
*  Vlastimil Kopecký
*  Josef Košťálek
*  Josef Zeman
*  Oscar Heisserer

*  Émile Veinante
*  Josef Gauchel
*  Wilhelm Hahnemann
*  Vilmos Kohut
*  Géza Toldi
*  Pietro Ferraris
*  Giuseppe Meazza
*  Arne Brustad

*  Fryderyk Scherfke
*  Iuliu Barátky
*  Silviu Bindea
*  Tore Keller
*  Sven Jonasson
*  Alfred Bickel
*  Eugen Walaschek

;Own goals
*  Sven Jacobsson (against Hungary)
*  Ernst Lörtscher (against Germany)

FIFA retrospective ranking 

In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition.   The rankings for the 1938 tournament were as follows:

Footnotes The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of ' (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is Germany, which won its fourth title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

The current format of the competition involves a qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase, which is often called the World Cup Finals. 32 teams, including the automatically qualifying host nation(s), compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month.

The 20 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams. Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The other World Cup winners are Germany and Italy, with four titles each; Argentina and inaugural winners Uruguay, with two titles each; and England, France and Spain, with one title each.

The World Cup is the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games; the cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the final match, a ninth of the entire population of the planet.    

History

Previous international competitions

The world's first international football match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England,  which ended in a 0–0 draw. The first international tournament, the inaugural edition of the British Home Championship, took place in 1884.  As football grew in popularity in other parts of the world at the turn of the 20th century, it was held as a demonstration sport with no medals awarded at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics (however, the IOC has retroactively upgraded their status to official events), and at the 1906 Intercalated Games. 

After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. 

At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition. Planned by The Football Association (FA), England's football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain (represented by the England national amateur football team) won the gold medals. They repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm.

With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup,  and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but the FA of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the offer to send a professional team. Lipton invited West Auckland, an amateur side from County Durham, to represent England instead. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title.

In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for managing the event.  This paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, and won by Belgium.  Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two open world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFA's professional era.

World Cups before World War II

Due to the success of the Olympic football tournaments, FIFA, with President Jules Rimet as the driving force, again started looking at staging its own international tournament outside of the Olympics. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a world championship itself.  With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament.

The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total, 13 nations took part: seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.

The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and USA, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France.  In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and in doing so became the first nation to win the World Cup. 

After the creation of the World Cup, the 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the schedule due to the low popularity of the sport in the United States, as American football had been growing in popularity. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games.  Olympic football returned at the 1936 Summer Olympics, but was now overshadowed by the more prestigious World Cup.

The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions, which Nazi Germany and Brazil sought to host,  were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath.

World Cups after World War II

The 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil, was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against foreign influence on football,  but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation.  The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again after defeating the host nation Brazil, in the match called "Maracanazo" (Portuguese: Maracanaço).

In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed in each tournament, except in 1938, when Austria was absorbed into Germany after qualifying, leaving the tournament with 15 teams, and in 1950, when India, Scotland, and Turkey withdrew, leaving the tournament with 13 teams.  Most of the participating nations were from Europe and South America, with a small minority from North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1982, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: USA, semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba, quarter-finalists in 1938; North Korea, quarter-finalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1970.

Expansion to 32 teams

The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982,  and then to 32 in 1998,  also allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. Since then, teams from these regions have enjoyed more success, with several having reached the quarter-finals: Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1986; Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990; South Korea, finishing in fourth place in 2002; Senegal, along with USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002; Ghana, quarter-finalists in 2010; and Costa Rica, quarter-finalists in 2014. Nevertheless, European and South American teams continue to dominate, e.g., the quarter-finalists in 1994, 1998, and 2006 were all from Europe or South America and so were the finalists of all tournaments so far.

Two hundred teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds; 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, while a record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 

Possible expansion to 40 teams

In October 2013, Sepp Blatter spoke of guaranteeing the Caribbean Football Union's region a position in the World Cup.  In the 25 October 2013 edition of the FIFA Weekly Blatter wrote that: "From a purely sporting perspective, I would like to see globalisation finally taken seriously, and the African and Asian national associations accorded the status they deserve at the FIFA World Cup. It cannot be that the European and South American confederations lay claim to the majority of the berths at the World Cup."  Those two remarks suggested to commentators that Blatter could be putting himself forward for re-election to the FIFA Presidency. 

Following the magazine's publication, Blatter's would-be opponent for the FIFA Presidency, UEFA President Michel Platini responded that he intended to extend the World Cup to 40 national associations, increasing the number of participants by eight. Platini said that he would allocate an additional berth to UEFA, two to Asia Football Confederation and Confederation of African Football, two shared between CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, and a guaranteed place for the Oceania Football Confederation.  Platini was clear about why he wanted to expand the World Cup. He said: "[The World Cup is] not based on the quality of the teams because you don't have the best 32 at the World Cup ... but it's a good compromise. ... It's a political matter so why not have more Africans? The competition is to bring all the people of all the world. If you don't give the possibility to participate, they don't improve."

In 2016 FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated his support for a 40-team World Cup in 2026. 

2015 FIFA corruption case 

By May 2015, the games were under a particularly dark cloud because of the 2015 FIFA corruption case, allegations and criminal charges of bribery, fraud and money laundering to corrupt the issuing of media and marketing rights (rigged bids) for FIFA games,  with FIFA officials accused of taking bribes totaling more than $150 million over 24 years. In late May, the U.S. Justice Department announced a 47-count indictment with charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy against 14 people. Arrests of over a dozen FIFA officials were made since that time, particularly on May 29 and December 3. 

By the end of May 2015, a total of nine FIFA officials and five executives of sports and broadcasting markets had already been charged on corruption. At the time, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced he would relinquish his position in February 2016. 

On 4 June 2015 Chuck Blazer while co-operating with the FBI and the Swiss authorities admitted that he and the other members of FIFA's executive committee were bribed in order to promote the South African, 1998 and 2010 World Cups. 

On 10 June 2015 Swiss authorities seized computer data from the offices of Sepp Blatter. 
Also, on 10 June 2015 FIFA postponed the bidding process for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in light of the allegations surrounding bribery in the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. Then-secretary general Jérôme Valcke stated, "Due to the situation, I think it's nonsense to start any bidding process for the time being." 

On 28 October 2015, Blatter and FIFA VP Michel Platini, a potential candidate for presidency, were suspended for 90 days; both maintained their innocence in statements made to the news media. 

On 3 December 2015 two FIFA vice-presidents were arrested on suspicion of bribery in the same Zurich hotel where seven FIFA officials had been arrested in May.  An additional 16 indictments by the U.S. Department of Justice were announced on the same day. 

Other FIFA tournaments

An equivalent tournament for women's football, the FIFA Women's World Cup, was first held in 1991 in China.  The women's tournament is smaller in scale and profile than the men's, but is growing; the number of entrants for the 2007 tournament was 120, more than double that of 1991.

Football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932. Unlike many other sports, the men's football tournament at the Olympics is not a top-level tournament, and since 1992, an under-23 tournament with each team allowed three over-age players.  Women's football made its Olympic debut in 1996, and is contested between full national sides with no age restrictions.

The FIFA Confederations Cup is a tournament held one year before the World Cup at the World Cup host nation(s) as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships, along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country. 

FIFA also organises international tournaments for youth football (FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup), club football (FIFA Club World Cup), and football variants such as futsal (FIFA Futsal World Cup) and beach soccer (FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup). The latter three do not have a women's version, although a FIFA Women's Club World Cup is planned for 2017.

When the U-20 Women's World Cup is held the year before the Women's World Cup, both tournaments are awarded in a single bidding process. The U-20 tournament serves as a dress rehearsal for the larger competition, the same role as the Confederations Cup plays in the men's game.

Trophy

From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winning team. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet who set up the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983 and has never been recovered, apparently melted down by the thieves. 

After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. The experts of FIFA, coming from seven countries, evaluated the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. The new trophy is 36 cm high, made of solid 18 carat (75%) gold and weighs . The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974. The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga was: "The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory." 

This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently. World Cup winners retain the trophy only until the post-match celebration is finished. They are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original immediately afterwards.

Currently, all members (players, coaches, and managers) of the top three teams receive medals with an insignia of the World Cup Trophy; winners' (gold), runners-up' (silver), and third-place (bronze). In the 2002 edition, fourth-place medals were awarded to hosts South Korea. Before the 1978 tournament, medals were only awarded to the eleven players on the pitch at the end of the final and the third-place match. In November 2007, FIFA announced that all members of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 were to be retroactively awarded winners' medals.   

Format

Qualification

Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament.  They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams.

The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup.  From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations receive automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify. Brazil, winners in 2002, were the first defending champions to play qualifying matches. 

Final tournament

The current final tournament has been used since 1998 and features 32 national teams competing over the course of a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage. 

In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded, including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings and/or performances in recent World Cups, and drawn to separate groups.  The other teams are assigned to different "pots", usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation. 

Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. This means that a total of six matches are played within a group. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams.  The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (before, winners received two points).

If one considers all possible outcomes (win, draw, loss) for all six matches in a group, there are 729 (= 36) different outcome combinations possible. However a certain number (207) of these combinations lead to ties between the second and third places. In such case, the ranking among these teams is determined as follows: 
# Greatest combined goal difference in all group matches
# Greatest combined number of goals scored in all group matches
# If more than one team remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined as follows:
## Greatest number of points in head-to-head matches among those teams
## Greatest goal difference in head-to-head matches among those teams
## Greatest number of goals scored in head-to-head matches among those teams
# If any of the teams above remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined by the drawing of lots

The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the round of 16 (or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final.

Hosts

Selection process

Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The locations were controversial because South America and Europe were by far the two centres of strength in football and travel between them required three weeks by boat. The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing.  The next two World Cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these in France was disputed, as the South American countries understood that the location would alternate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the 1938 FIFA World Cup. 

Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup, to avoid future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan, was the first one held in Asia, and the only tournament with multiple hosts.  South Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010. The 2014 FIFA World Cup is hosted by Brazil, the first held in South America since Argentina 1978,  and is the first occasion where consecutive World Cups are held outside Europe.

The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA's Executive Committee. This is done under an exhaustive ballot system. The national football association of a country desiring to host the event receives a "Hosting Agreement" from FIFA, which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid. The bidding association also receives a form, the submission of which represents the official confirmation of the candidacy. After this, a FIFA designated group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to host the event and a report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. However, there have been occasions where the hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time, as was the case for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively.

For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the final tournament is rotated between confederations, allowing only countries from the chosen confederation (Africa in 2010, South America in 2014) to bid to host the tournament. The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany's victory over South Africa in the vote to host the 2006 tournament. However, the policy of continental rotation will not continue beyond 2014, so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments, can apply as hosts for World Cups starting from 2018.  This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to the bidding process for the 2014 tournament, where Brazil was the only official bidder.

Performances

Six of the eight champions have won one of their titles while playing in their own homeland, the exceptions being Brazil, who finished as runners-up after losing the deciding match on home soil in 1950 and lost their semifinal against Germany in 2014, and Spain, which reached the second round on home soil in 1982. England (1966) and France (1998) won their only titles while playing as host nations. Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934) and Argentina (1978) won their first titles as host nations but have gone on to win again, while Germany (1974) won their second title on home soil.

Other nations have also been successful when hosting the tournament. Switzerland (quarter-finals 1954), Sweden (runners-up in 1958), Chile (third place in 1962), South Korea (fourth place in 2002), and Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986) all have their best results when serving as hosts. So far, South Africa (2010) has been the only host nation to fail to advance beyond the first round.

Attendance

QF Quarter-Finals (top 8) ; Group 
 did not advance beyond first round (group play)
 [Solna borders Stockholm, Pasadena borders Los Angeles and Saint-Denis is a suburb of Paris.]
The best-attended single match, shown in the last two columns, has been the final in only about half of the twenty World Cup series so far. Another match or matches drew more attendance than the final in 1938, 1954, 1966–1982, 1990 and 2006.

*Source: FIFA 

Broadcasting and promotion

The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world. The cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 World Cup is estimated to be 26.29 billion. 715.1 million individuals watched the final match of this tournament (a ninth of the entire population of the planet). The 2006 World Cup draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers. The World Cup attracts many sponsors such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Adidas. For these companies and many more, being a sponsor strongly impacts their global brands. Host countries typically experience a multimillion-dollar revenue increase from the month-long event. It is predicted that Brazil will bring in more than $11 billion in revenue for the 2014 World Cup.

Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot or logo. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot. Recent World Cups have also featured official match balls specially designed for each World Cup.

The World Cup even has a statistically significant effect on birth rates, the male/female sex ratio of newborns, and heart attacks in nations whose national teams are competing.     Hosting the World Cup or a home team's win tends to increase male births and total birth rate, and heart attacks are more common when home teams are on the field.

Results

*a.e.t.: after extra time
*p: after penalty shoot-out

;Notes

In all, 77 nations have played in at least one World Cup.  Of these, eight national teams have won the World Cup, and they have added stars to their badges, with each star representing a World Cup victory. (Uruguay, however, choose to display four stars on their badge, representing their two gold medals at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics and their two World Cup titles in 1930 and 1950.)

With five titles, Brazil are the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have played in every World Cup (20) to date.  Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962) are the only nations to have won consecutive titles. West Germany (1982–1990) and Brazil (1994–2002) are the only nations to appear in three consecutive World Cup finals. Germany has made the most top-four finishes (13), medals (12), as well as the most finals (8).

Teams reaching the top four

* 
 hosts
^ 
 includes results representing West Germany between 1954 and 1990
# 
 states that have since split into two or more independent nations

Best performances by continental zones

To date, the final of the World Cup has only been contested by teams from the UEFA (Europe) and CONMEBOL (South America) confederations. European nations have won eleven titles, while South American have won nine. Only two teams from outside these two continents have ever reached the semi-finals of the competition: USA (North, Central America and Caribbean) in 1930 and South Korea (Asia) in 2002. The best result of an African team is reaching the quarter-finals: Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010. Only one Oceanian qualifier, Australia in 2006, has advanced to the second round. 

Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Germany are the only teams to win a World Cup outside their continental confederation; Brazil came out victorious in Europe (1958), North America (1970 and 1994) and Asia (2002), Argentina won a North American World Cup in 1986, while Spain won an Africa in 2010. Germany was the first European team to win in South America in 2014. Only on four occasions have consecutive World Cups been won by teams from the same continent, and currently it is the first time with three champions in a row from the same continental confederation. Italy and Brazil successfully defended their titles in 1938 and 1962 respectively, while Italy's triumph in 2006 has been followed by Spain's in 2010 and Germany's in 2014. Currently, it is also the first time that one of the currently winning continents (Europe) is ahead of the other (South America) with two championships.

Awards

At the end of each World Cup, awards are presented to the players and teams for accomplishments other than their final team positions in the tournament. There are currently six awards: 
*The Golden Ball for the best player, determined by a vote of media members (first awarded in 1982); the Silver Ball and the Bronze Ball are awarded to the players finishing second and third in the voting respectively; 
*The Golden Boot (sometimes called the Golden Shoe) for the top goalscorer (first awarded in 1982, but retrospectively applied to all tournaments from 1930); most recently, the Silver Boot and the Bronze Boot have been awarded to the second and third top goalscorers respectively; 
*The Golden Glove Award (formerly the Yashin Award) for the best goalkeeper, decided by the FIFA Technical Study Group (first awarded in 1994); 
*The Best Young Player Award for the best player aged 21 or younger at the start of the calendar year, decided by the FIFA Technical Study Group (first awarded in 2006);
*The FIFA Fair Play Trophy for the team with the best record of fair play, according to the points system and criteria established by the FIFA Fair Play Committee (first awarded in 1978); 
*The Most Entertaining Team for the team that has entertained the public the most during the World Cup, determined by a poll of the general public (first awarded in 1994);
An All-Star Team consisting of the best players of the tournament has also been announced for each tournament since 1998.

Records and statistics

Two players share the record for playing in the most World Cups; Mexico's Antonio Carbajal (1950–1966) and Germany's Lothar Matthäus (1982–1998) both played in five tournaments.  Matthäus has played the most World Cup matches overall, with 25 appearances.  Brazil's Djalma Santos (1954–1962), West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer (1966–1974) and Germany's Philipp Lahm (2006–2014) are the only players to be named to three Finals All-Star Teams. 

Miroslav Klose of Germany (2002–2014) is the all-time top scorer at the finals, with 16 goals. He broke Ronaldo of Brazil's record of 15 goals (1998–2006) during 2014 semi-final match against Brazil. West Germany's Gerd Müller (1970–1974) is third, with 14 goals.  The fourth placed goalscorer, France's Just Fontaine, holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup; all his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament. 

In November 2007, FIFA announced that all members of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 were to be retroactively awarded winners' medals. This made Brazil's Pelé the only player to have won three World Cup winners' medals (1958, 1962, and 1970, although he did not play in the 1962 final due to injury),  with 20 other players who have won two winners' medals. Seven players have collected all three types of World Cup medals (winners', runner- ups', and third-place); five players were from West Germany's squad of 1966–1974 including Franz Beckenbauer, Jürgen Grabowski, Horst-Dieter Höttges, Sepp Maier and Wolfgang Overath (1966–1974), Italy's Franco Baresi (1982, 1990, 1994) and the most recent has been Miroslav Klose of Germany (2002–2014) with four consecutive medals.

Brazil's Mário Zagallo and West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer are the only people to date to win the World Cup as both player and head coach. Zagallo won in 1958 and 1962 as a player and in 1970 as head coach. Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as head coach.  Italy's Vittorio Pozzo is the only head coach to ever win two World Cups (1934 and 1938).  All World Cup winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached to victory.

Among the national teams, Germany has played the most World Cup matches (106) and appeared in the most finals (8), semi-finals (13), quarter-finals (16) as well as scoring the most World Cup goals (224), while Brazil has appeared in the most World Cups (20).  The two teams have played each other twice in the World Cup, in the 2002 final and in the 2014 semi-final.

Top goalscorers

All-time table for champions The Germany national football team ( or just Die Mannschaft) is the men's football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund), founded in 1900.   Ever since the DFB was reinaugurated in 1949 the team has represented the Federal Republic of Germany. Under Allied occupation and division, two other separate national teams were also recognised by FIFA: the Saarland team representing the Saarland (1950–1956) and the East German team representing the German Democratic Republic (1952–1990). Both have been absorbed along with their records   by the current national team. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" following the reunification in 1990.

Germany is one of the most successful national teams in international competitions, having won a total of four World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) and three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996). They have also been runners-up three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and a  further four third-place finishes at World Cups. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976.  Germany is the only nation to have won both the men's and women's World Cups. At the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Germany earned the highest Elo rating of any national football team in history, with a record 2200 points.  Germany is also the only European nation that has won a FIFA World Cup in the Americas. The current manager of the national team is Joachim Löw.

History 

Early years (1899–1942) 

Between 1899 and 1901, prior to the formation of a national team, there were five unofficial international matches between different German and English selection teams, which all ended as large defeats for the German teams. Eight years after the establishment of the German Football Association (DFB), the first official match of the Germany national football team  was played on 5 April 1908, against Switzerland in Basel, with the Swiss winning 5–3. Coincidentally, the first match after World War I in 1920, the first match after World War II in 1950 when Germany was still banned from most international competitions, and the first match in 1990 with former East German players were all against Switzerland as well. Germany's first championship title was even won in Switzerland.

At that time the players were selected by the DFB, as there was no dedicated coach. The first manager of the Germany national team was Otto Nerz, a school teacher from Mannheim, who served in the role from 1926 to 1936.  The German FA could not afford travel to Uruguay for the first World Cup staged in 1930 during the Great Depression, but finished third in the 1934 World Cup in their first appearance in the competition. After a poor showing at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Sepp Herberger became coach. In 1937 he put together a squad which was soon nicknamed the Breslau Elf (the Breslau Eleven) in recognition of their 8–0 win over Denmark in the then German city of Breslau, Lower Silesia (now Wrocław, Poland).  

After Austria became part of Germany in the Anschluss of March 1938, that country's national team – one of Europe's better sides at the time due to professionalism – was disbanded despite having already qualified for the 1938 World Cup. As required by Nazi politicians, five or six ex-Austrian players, from the clubs Rapid Vienna, Austria Vienna, First Vienna FC, were ordered to join the all-German team on short notice in a staged show of unity orchestrated for political reasons. In the 1938 World Cup that began on 4 June, this "united" German team managed only a 1–1 draw against Switzerland, and then lost the replay 2–4 in front of a hostile crowd in Paris, France. That early exit stands as Germany's worst World Cup result (excluding the 1930 and 1950 tournaments in which they did not compete).

During World War II, the team played over 30 international games between September 1939 and November 1942, when national team games were suspended, as most players had to join the armed forces. Many of the national team players were gathered together under coach Herberger as Rote Jäger through the efforts of a sympathetic air force officer trying to protect the footballers from the most dangerous wartime service.

Three German national teams (1945–1990) 

After the Second World War, Germany was banned from competition in most sports until 1950. The DFB was not a full member of FIFA, and none of the three new German states — West Germany, East Germany, and Saarland — entered the 1950 World Cup qualifiers.

The Federal Republic of Germany, which was referred to as West Germany, continued the DFB. With recognition by FIFA and UEFA, the DFB maintained and continued the record of the pre-war team. Switzerland was once again the first team that played West Germany in 1950. 
West Germany qualified for the 1954 World Cup.

The Saarland, under French control between 1947 and 1956, did not join French organisations, and was barred from participating in pan-German ones. It sent their own team to the 1952 Summer Olympics and to the 1954 World Cup qualifiers. In 1957, Saarland acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany.

In 1949, the communist German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was founded. In 1952 the Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR (DFV) was established and the East Germany national football team took to the field. They were the only team to beat the 1974 FIFA World Cup winning West Germans in  the only meeting of the two sides of the divided nation. East Germany won the gold medal at the 1976 Olympics. After German reunification in 1990, the eastern football competition was reintegrated into the DFB.

1954 World Cup victory 

West Germany, captained by Fritz Walter, met in the 1954 World Cup Turkey, Yugoslavia and Austria. When playing favourites Hungary in the group stage, Germany lost 3–8. West Germany met the Hungary Mighty Magyars again in the final. Hungary had gone unbeaten for 32 consecutive matches. In an upset, West Germany won 3–2, with Helmut Rahn scoring the winning goal.  The success is called "The Miracle of Bern" (Das Wunder von Bern). 

Memorable losses: Wembley goal and game of the century (1958–1970) 

After finishing fourth in the 1958 World Cup and reaching only the quarter-finals in the 1962 World Cup, the DFB made changes. Professionalism was introduced, and the best clubs from the various Regionalligas were assembled into the new Bundesliga. In 1964, Helmut Schön took over as coach, replacing Herberger who had been in office for 28 years.

In the 1966 World Cup, West Germany reached the final after beating the USSR in the semifinal, facing hosts England. In extra time, the first goal by Geoff Hurst was one of the most contentious goals in the history of the World Cup: the linesman signalled the ball had crossed the line for a goal, after bouncing down from the crossbar, when replays showed it did not appear to have fully crossed the line. Hurst then scored another goal giving England a 4–2 win.  

West Germany in the 1970 World Cup knocked England out in the quarter-finals 3–2, before they suffered a 4–3 extra time loss in the semi-final against Italy. This match with five goals in extra time is one of the most dramatic in World Cup history, and is called the "Game of the Century" in both Italy and Germany.   West Germany claimed third by beating Uruguay 1–0. Gerd Müller finished as the tournament's top scorer with 10 goals.

1974 World Cup title on home soil 

In 1971, Franz Beckenbauer became captain of the national team, and he led West Germany to victory at the European Championship at Euro 1972, defeating the Soviet Union 3–0 in the final.  

As hosts of the 1974 World Cup, they won their second World Cup, defeating the Netherlands 2–1 in the final in Munich. 
Two matches in the 1974 World Cup stood out for West Germany. The first group stage saw a politically charged match as West Germany played a game against East Germany. The East Germans won 1–0.  The West Germans advanced to the final against the Johan Cruijff-led Dutch team and their brand of "Total Football". The Dutch took the lead from a penalty. However, West Germany tied the match on a penalty by Paul Breitner, and won it with Gerd Müller's fine finish soon after.  

Late 1970s and early 1980s 

West Germany failed to defend their titles in the next two major international tournaments. They lost to Czechoslovakia in the final of Euro 1976 in a penalty shootout 5–3.  Since that loss, Germany has not lost a penalty shootout in major international tournaments.

In the 1978 World Cup, Germany was eliminated in the second group stage after losing 2–3 to Austria. Schön retired as coach afterward, and the post was taken over by his assistant, Jupp Derwall.

West Germany's first tournament under Derwall was successful, as they earned their second European title at Euro 1980 after defeating Belgium 2–1 in the final.  West Germany reached the final of the 1982 World Cup, though not without difficulties. They were upset 1–2 by Algeria in their first match,  but advanced to the second round with a controversial 1–0 win over Austria. In the semifinal against France, they tied the match 3–3 and won the penalty shootout 5–4.   In the final, they were defeated by Italy 1–3. 

During this period, West Germany's Gerd Müller racked up fourteen goals in two World Cups (1970 and 1974). His ten goals in 1970 are the third-most ever in a tournament. (Müller's all-time World Cup record of 14 goals was broken by Ronaldo in 2006 which has been further broken by Miroslav Klose in 2014 with 16 goals ).

Beckenbauer's coaching success (1984–1990) 

After West Germany were eliminated in the first round of Euro 1984, Franz Beckenbauer returned to the national team to replace Derwall as coach.  At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, West Germany finished as runners-up for the second consecutive tournament after beating France 2–0 in the semi-finals, but losing to the Diego Maradona-led Argentina in the final, 2–3.   In Euro 1988, West Germany's hopes of winning the tournament on home soil were spoiled by the Netherlands, as the Dutch beat them 2–1 in the semifinals. 

At the 1990 World Cup in Italy, West Germany won their third World Cup title, in its unprecedented third consecutive final appearance.  Captained by Lothar Matthäus, they defeated Yugoslavia (4–1), UAE (5–1), the Netherlands (2–1), Czechoslovakia (1–0), and England (1–1, 4–3 on penalty kicks) on the way to a final rematch against Argentina, played in the Italian capital of Rome.   West Germany won 1–0, with the only goal being a penalty scored in the 85th minute by Andreas Brehme. Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as the national team's captain in 1974, thus became the first person to win the World Cup as both captain and coach.

Olympic football 

Prior to 1984, Olympic football was an amateur event, meaning that only non-professional players could participate. Due to this, West Germany was never able to achieve the same degree of success at the Olympics as at the World Cup, with the only medal coming in the 1988 Olympics, when they won the bronze medal. However, for the next six Olympic games no German team has managed to qualify for the main tournament, even after the change of rules to include professionals, among them three athletes over 23 years old. West Germany also reached the second round in both 1972 and 1984. On the other hand, East Germany did far better, winning a gold, a silver and two bronze medals (one representing the United Team of Germany).

Berti Vogts years (1990–1998) 

In February 1990, months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the draw for the 1992 European Championship qualifying tournament saw East Germany and West Germany drawn together. After West Germany's 1990 World Cup win, assistant Berti Vogts took over as the national team coach from the retiring Beckenbauer. The members of the East German association Deutscher Fußball-Verband acceded to the DFB in November, while the 1990–91 seasons would continue, with the restructuring of leagues scheduled for 1991–92. The first game with a unified German team was against Sweden on 10 October. 

In Euro 1992, Germany reached the final, but lost 0–2 to Denmark. 
In the 1994 World Cup, they were upset 1–2 in the quarterfinals by Bulgaria.  

Reunified Germany won its first major international title at Euro 1996, becoming European champions for the third time.  They defeated hosts England in the semifinals,  and the Czech Republic 2–1 in the final on a golden goal in extra time. 

However, in the 1998 World Cup, Germany were eliminated in the quarterfinals in a 0–3 defeat to Croatia, all goals being scored after defender Christian Wörns received a straight red card.  Vogts stepped down afterwards and was replaced by Erich Ribbeck. 

Oliver Kahn and Michael Ballack era (2000–2006) 

In Euro 2000, the team went out in the first round, drawing with Romania, then suffering a 1–0 defeat to England and were routed 3–0 by Portugal (which fielded their backup players, having already advanced).  Ribbeck resigned, and was replaced by Rudi Völler. 

Coming into the 2002 World Cup, expectations of the German team were low due to poor results in the qualifiers and not directly qualifying for the finals for the first time. The team advanced through group play, and in the knockout stages they produced three consecutive 1–0 wins against Paraguay,  the United States,  and co-hosts South Korea. Oliver Neuville scored two minutes from time against Paraguay and Michael Ballack scored both goals in the USA and South Korea games, although he picked up a second yellow card against South Korea for a tactical foul and was suspended for the subsequent match.  This set up a final against Brazil, the first World Cup meeting between the two. Germany lost 0–2 thanks to two Ronaldo goals.  Nevertheless, German captain and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn won the Golden Ball,  the first time in the World Cup that a goalkeeper was named the best player of the tournament. 

Germany again exited in the first round of Euro 2004, drawing their first two matches and losing the third to the Czech Republic (who had fielded a second-string team).  Völler resigned afterwards,  and Jürgen Klinsmann was appointed head coach.  

Klinsmann's main task was to lead the national team to a good showing at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Klinsmann relieved goalkeeper Kahn of the captaincy and announced that Kahn and longtime backup Jens Lehmann would be competing for the position of starting goaltender, a decision that angered Kahn and Lehmann eventually won that contest.  Expectations for the team were low, which was not helped by veteran defender Christian Wörns being dropped (after Wörns criticized Klinsmann for designating him only as a backup player on the squad), a choice roundly panned in Germany. Italy routed Germany 4–1 in a March exhibition game, and Klinsmann bore the brunt of the criticism as the team was ranked only 22nd in the world entering the 2006 FIFA World Cup. 

As World Cup hosts, Germany won all three group-stage matches to finish top of their group. The team defeated Sweden 2–0 in the round of 16. 
Germany faced Argentina in the quarter-finals. The match ended 1–1, and Germany won the penalty shootout 4–2. 
In the semi-final against Italy, the match was scoreless until near the end of extra time when Germany conceded two goals. 
In the third place match, Germany defeated Portugal 3–1. 
Miroslav Klose was awarded the Golden Boot for his tournament-leading five goals. 

New orientation under Löw (2006–2014) 

Germany's entry into the Euro 2008 qualifying round was marked by the promotion of Joachim Löw to head coach, since Klinsmann resigned. 
At the UEFA Euro 2008, Germany won two out of three matches in group play to advance to the knockout round. 
They defeated Portugal 3–2 in the quarterfinal, 
and won their semifinal against Turkey. 
Germany lost the final against Spain 0–1, finishing as the runners-up. 

In the 2010 World Cup, Germany won the group and advanced to the knockout stage. In the round of 16, Germany defeated England 4–1.  The game controversially had a valid goal by Frank Lampard disallowed.   
In the quarterfinals, Germany defeated Argentina 4–0,  and Miroslav Klose tied German Gerd Müller's record of 14 World Cup goals. 
In the semi-final, Germany lost 1–0 to Spain.  Germany defeated Uruguay 3–2 to take third place (their second third place after 2006). 
German Thomas Müller won the Golden Boot and the Best Young Player Award.  

In the Euro 2012, Germany was placed in group B along with Portugal, Netherlands, and Denmark. Germany won all three group matches. Germany defeated Greece in the quarter-final and set a record of 15 consecutive wins in all competitive matches.  In the semi-finals, Germany lost to Italy by 1–2.

2014 World Cup victory 

Germany finished first in their qualification group for the 2014 World Cup. The draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals placed Germany in Group G, with Portugal, Ghana, and United States. They first faced Portugal in a match billed by some as the "team of all the talents against the team of The Talent (Cristiano Ronaldo)", routing the Portuguese 4–0 thanks to a hat-trick by Thomas Müller.   In their match with Ghana, they led the game with Götze's second half goal, but then conceded two consecutive goals, then at the 71st minute Klose scored a goal to help Germany to draw 2–2 with Ghana. With that goal, Klose also nudged home his 15th World Cup goal to join former Brazil striker Ronaldo at the pinnacle of World Cup Finals scorers. They then went on to defeat the United States team 1–0, securing them a spot in the round of sixteen against Algeria.

The round of sixteen knockout match against Algeria remained goalless after regulation time, resulting in extra time. In the 92nd minute, André Schürrle scored a goal from a Thomas Müller pass. Mesut Özil scored Germany's second goal in the 120th minute. Algeria managed to score one goal in injury time and the match ended 2–1. Germany secured a place in the quarter final, where they would face France.

In the quarter-final match against France, Mats Hummels scored in the 13th minute. Germany won the game 1–0 to advance to a record fourth consecutive semi-finals 

The semi-final win (7–1) against Brazil was a major accomplishment. Germany became the first team in history to score five goals in 18 minutes during the first half. They scored four goals in just 400 seconds and were 5–0 against Brazil by the end of the first half with goals from Thomas Müller, Miroslav Klose, Sami Khedira and two from Toni Kroos. Klose's goal in the 23rd minute, his 16th World Cup goal, gave him sole possession of the record for most goals scored during World Cup Finals, dethroning former Brazilian national Ronaldo.

In the second half of the game, substitute André Schürrle scored twice for Germany to lead 7–0, the highest score against Brazil in a single game. Germany did, however, concede a late goal to Brazil's Oscar. It was Brazil's worst ever World Cup defeat.  whilst Germany broke multiple World Cup records with the win, including the record broken by Klose, the first team to reach four consecutive World Cup semi finals, the first team to score seven goals in a World Cup Finals knockout phase game, the fastest five consecutive goals in World Cup history (four of which in just 400 seconds), the first team to score five goals in the first half in a World Cup semi final as well as being the topic of the most tweets ever on Twitter about a certain subject when the previous social media record was smashed after Germany scored their fourth goal. Also, Germany's seven goals took their total tally in World Cup history to 223, surpassing Brazil's 221 goals to first place overall. 

The World Cup Final was held at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro on 13 July, and billed as the world's best player (Lionel Messi) versus the world's best team (Germany).   Mario Götze's 113th-minute goal helped Germany beat Argentina 1–0, becoming the first-ever European team to win a FIFA World Cup in the Americas.  

Euro 2016 and present 

After several players retired from the team following the 2014 World Cup win, including Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker and Miroslav Klose, the team had a disappointing start in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers. They defeated Scotland 2–1 at home, then suffered a 2–0 loss at Poland (the first in their history), a 1–1 draw against the Republic of Ireland, and a 4–0 win over Gibraltar. The year ended with an away 0–1 friendly win against Spain, the reigning European champions of 2008 and 2012.

Throughout qualifying for the 2016 European Championship the German national team faced some difficulties, losing 2–0 against group rival Poland (defeating them on the return leg), and drawing at home, as well as losing away, to Ireland; the team also only narrowly defeated Scotland on two occasions, but handily won against Gibraltar (who competed for the first time). Eventually however topping their group and qualifying to the tournament through a 2–1 victory against Georgia on 11 October 2015 (having won the first match against them).

On 13 November 2015, the team was playing a friendly match against France in Paris when a series of terrorist attacks took place in the city, some in the direct vicinity of the Stade de France, where the game was held.  For security reasons, the team needed to spend the night inside the stadium, accompanied by the French squad who stayed behind in an act of comradery.  Four days later, on 17 November 2015, the German team was scheduled to face the Netherlands at Hanover's HDI-Arena, also in a friendly. After initial security reservations, the DFB decided to play the match on 15 November.  However, after reports about a concrete threat to the stadium, the match was cancelled ninety minutes before kickoff. 

Germany began their preparations for Euro 2016 in March with friendlies against England and Italy. They gave up a 2–0 lead and ended up losing 2–3 to England. They bounced back in their match with Italy however winning by a score of 4–1. It was their first win against the Italians in 21 years. 

Germany began their campaign for a fourth European title with a 2–0 win against Ukraine on 12 June. Against Poland, Germany were held to a 0–0 draw, but concluded Group C with a 1–0 win against Northern Ireland. In the Round of 16, Germany faced Slovakia and earned a comfortable 3–0 win. Germany then faced off against rivals Italy in the quarter finals. Mesut Özil opened the scoring in the 65th minute for Germany, before Leonardo Bonucci drew even after converting a penalty in the 78th minute. The score remained 1–1 after extra time and Germany beat Italy 6–5  in a penalty shootout. It was the first time Germany had defeated Italy in a major tournament.   In the semi-finals Germany played the host nation France. Germany's hopes of securing a fourth European championship were put on hold however as France ended Germany's run by eliminating them by a score of 0–2. It was France's first competitive win against Germany in 58 years. 

Results and fixtures 

Recent results and scheduled matches according to the DFB,   UEFA  and FIFA  websites.

2016 

2017

Stadiums 

Germany plays its home matches among various stadiums, in rotation, around the country. They have played home matches in 43 different cities so far, including venues that were German at the time of the match, such as Vienna, Austria, which staged three games between 1938 and 1942.

National team matches have been held most often (44 times) in the stadiums of Berlin, which was the venue of Germany's first home match (in 1908 against England). Other common host cities include Hamburg (33 matches), Stuttgart (31), Hanover (26) and Dortmund. Another notable location is Munich, which has hosted numerous notable matches throughout the history of German football, including the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final, which Germany won against the Netherlands.

Kit 

Adidas AG is the longstanding kit provider to the national team, a sponsorship that began in 1954 and is contracted to continue until at least 2018. In the 70s, Germany wore Erima kits (a German brand, formerly a subsidiary of Adidas). 

The national team's home kit has always been a white shirt and black shorts. The colours are derived from the 19th-century flag of the north German State of Prussia. Since 1988, many of the home kit's designs incorporate details patterned after the modern German flag (with the noted exception of the 2002 World Cup kit, which was a reversal to the pure black-and-white scheme). The away shirt colour has changed several times. For the 2014 World Cup, the German team used white shorts rather than the traditional black due to FIFA's kit clashing rule for the tournament.  Historically, green shirt with white shorts is the most often used alternative colour combination, derived from the DFB colours – though it is often erroneously reported that the choice is in recognition of the fact that Ireland, whose home shirts are green, were the first nation to play Germany in a friendly game after World War II.  However, the first team to play Germany after WWII, as stated above, was actually Switzerland.   Other colours such as red, grey and black have also been used.

A change from black to red came in 2005 on the request of Jürgen Klinsmann,  but Germany played every game at the 2006 World Cup in its home white colours. In 2010, the away colours then changed back to a black shirt and white shorts, but at the tournament the team dressed up in the black shorts from the home kit.  The German team next resumed the use of a green shirt on its away kit, but then changed again to red-and-black striped shirts with white stripes and letters, and black shorts.

Kit evolution 

Home 

Away

Media coverage 

Germany's qualifying matches are currently televised by privately owned RTL; friendlies by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF. World Cup & European Championships matches featuring the German national team are among the most-watched events in the history of television in Germany.

Competition records 

Germany has won the World Cup four times, behind only Brazil (five titles).  It has finished as runners-up four times. In terms of semifinal appearances, Germany leads with 13, two more than Brazil's 11, which had participated in two more tournaments. In the last 16 World Cup tournaments, Germany has always reached at least the stage of the last eight teams. Germany has also qualified for every one of the 18 World Cups for which it has entered – it did not enter the inaugural competition in Uruguay of 1930 for economic reasons, and could not qualify for or compete in the post-war 1950 World Cup as the DFB was reinstated as a FIFA member only two months after this tournament.  Germany also have the distinction of having the highest Elo football rating of all time (2200) following their victory in the 2014 World Cup.

Germany has also won the European Championship three times (Spain and France are the only other multiple-time winners with three and two titles respectively), and finished as runners-up three times as well.  The Germans have qualified for every European Championship tournament except for the very first European Championship they entered in 1968. For that tournament, Germany was in the only group of three teams and thus only played four qualifying games. The deciding game was a scoreless draw in Albania which gave Yugoslavia the edge, having won in their neighbour country. The team finished out of top eight only in two occasions, the tournaments of 2000   and 2004.  In all other editions Germany had participated in the finals but one they reached at least semi-finals, doing so nine times, an unparalleled record in Europe.

See also East Germany and Saarland for the results of these separate German teams, and Austria for the team that was merged into the German team from 1938 to 1945.

FIFA World Cup record

 Champions   Runners-up   Third Place   Fourth Place  

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
**Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won.
***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

UEFA European Championship record

FIFA Confederations Cup record

*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
**Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won.
***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Note All tournaments from 1950 to 1990 inclusively were competed as West Germany.

FIFA ranking history

Source: 

Honours

;FIFA World Cup
* Champions: 1954, 1974, 1990, 2014
* Runners-up: 1966, 1982, 1986, 2002
* Third place: 1934, 1970, 2006, 2010
* Fourth place: 1958

;UEFA European Championship
* Champions: 1972, 1980, 1996
* Runners-up: 1976, 1992, 2008
* Semi Final: 1988, 2012, 2016

;FIFA Confederations Cup
* Third place: 2005

;Olympics Men's Football Competition
* Gold Medal: 1976
* Silver Medal: 1980
* Bronze Medal: 1964, 1972, 1988
* Fourth place: 1952

Personnel 

Current technical staff 

Players 

Current squad 

The following players have been called up for UEFA Euro 2016. 

Caps and goals as of 7 July 2016 after the match against France.

Recent call-ups 

The following players have also been called up to the Germany squad within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.

Previous squads

;World Cup
* 1934 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1938 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1954 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1958 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1962 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1966 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1970 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1974 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1978 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1982 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1986 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1990 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1994 FIFA World Cup squad
* 1998 FIFA World Cup squad
* 2002 FIFA World Cup squad
* 2006 FIFA World Cup squad
* 2010 FIFA World Cup squad
* 2014 FIFA World Cup squad

;European Football Championship
* UEFA Euro 1972 squad
* UEFA Euro 1976 squad
* UEFA Euro 1980 squad
* UEFA Euro 1984 squad
* UEFA Euro 1988 squad
* UEFA Euro 1992 squad
* UEFA Euro 1996 squad
* UEFA Euro 2000 squad
* UEFA Euro 2004 squad
* UEFA Euro 2008 squad
* UEFA Euro 2012 squad
* UEFA Euro 2016 squad
;Confederations Cup
* 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup squad
* 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup squad

Famous past players 

Most capped players 

Below is a list of the 10 players with the most caps for Germany, . (bold denotes players still available for selection). Players who had played for the separate East German Team (in the scope of this list: Streich 102) do not appear in this list.

Top goalscorers 

Below is a list of the top 10 goalscorers for Germany, . (bold denotes players still available for selection). Former East Germany players (in the scope of this list: Streich 55 and Kirsten 34: 14 East Germany and 20 Germany) are not included in this Wikipedia list, though they are included in DFB records.

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